Girly Nurse

[Doctor Fate]

I think it's wonderful that the number of men in the nursing field is rapidly growing. Especially considering the increasing shortage and need for nurses, the world really needs us men to help out!

Once upon a time, not too long ago, male nurses were virtually non existent because nursing was seen as a feminine job by general society. But now that double is steadily breaking apart and men can become nurses without being viewed as sissies or "girly". Ah yes, I so love it when double standards are broken.

Although the majority of nurses are still women, I still notice that I see a lot more men than I did when I was a child. And that's good. Very good.

But I do have to wonder, how did this double standard begin in the first place? How did nursing evolve to become a stereotypically female job that the vast majority of men are afraid to enter, lest their masculinity be threatened?

I don't see why nursing should be a "girly" occupation or why it should be embarrassing or shameful for a man. I think all nurses should be proud of what they do, regardless of whether they are male or female... because nurses are heroes.

[Bougainvillea]

It's because women are naturally more...nurturing than men.

[Sapphire]

Women have been deemed to be more caring and compassionate than men for centuries. The men were the hunter-gatherers and the women looked after everyone and were very domesticated.

So when you have a job like nursing that is about caring for others, who would have been judged as being best for the job? Surely it would be the women since they were already deemed to be better in the compassionate, subserviant roles.

[INFERNO]

Look at most societies, specifically old ones. Males for the most part were stronger physically and would be more warrior-like or hunter-like, while females stayed at home and did some gathering of food but no major hunting. As a result, when the males were injured, the females who were more docile and submissive would mend their wounds. This not only was great for the males but also great for the females because it strengthened their relationship.

In combat, typically men would go fight and women would not fight. If trained, women could help in mending wounds.

Studies of sociology have shown girls are raised as being more dependent, being given assistance more often even if they don't need it and so forth, while boys were the opposite. So it seems that as children, they were socialized to follow in the double-standard. When a male takes the role of a nurse, it requires him to not be at the same higher status that the male doctors are and to be more submissive, obedient and caring, in other words, being more feminine. This goes against what has been socialized for men so fewer would want that position.

It seems as though this difference in roles prevailed and so in current medicine, nurses are mostly female while doctors are mostly male. This seems to be consistent with the view of males being more dominant because they're in a higher position. The question of why females didn't revolt is answered by saying they did revolt on more than one occasion.

[Baudelaire]

this is true, in most civilizations in africa have the women pick and learn about medicinal plants so I guess thats how its always been seen as.