Feminism, Nursing, and Gender

[fakenurse]

Early last week we discussed the mistrust of intelligence and education in nursing. One or two nurses suggested that perhaps the frustration stemmed from some sort of "shame" of being in a caring profession where our emotional intelligence is regularly called into practice.

I thought this was a really interesting reaction to my discussion. If a nurse demands more from her field intellectually, this must be reaction formation: she or he is only exaggerating an opposition to traits he or she perceives to be embarrassing, unacceptable, or weak. This also implies that these traits- being maternal, caring, selfless, tender, loving- are inherently female.

Nursing has a complicated history with sexism and feminist issues. In a time where there is an increased presence (or acknowledgement) of males and transgendered individuals in nursing, how will the assigning of these traits affect their job performance and satisfaction? Does the misogyny that still lingers in nursing affect men and the LGBTQ community differently? How will the interaction between nursing and feminism change in the future?

What have been your experiences with gender norms and sexism in your nursing career?

[MaleMan123]

There is a lot here that I could post from various different perspectives that I have experienced. But I will illuminate on three specific instances/experiences. A little background on myself to help. I attended a four-year liberal arts, all women's institute for my (non-nursing) undergraduate degree. While there I changed my mind from wanting to become a physician to wanting to become a nurse-midwife because I feel that the philosophical underpinnings of nursing and midwifery better fit my ideals than the medical framework. Since this time I have worked as a nursing assistant on a medical-surgical floor. And this month I will be beginning an accelerated BSN-MSN for nurse-midwifery program.

Unfortunately, many of my peers and professors at my undergraduate institution were NOT supportive of my choice to enter the nursing profession. I was told I am "too smart" and that it would be a waste of my talents. Nursing to many of my peers and professors was seen to be "easy" and that you only need to be "nice and caring" to be good at it. They also felt that by entering a "woman's profession" I was hurting all the work of women before me who had pushed against the glass ceiling and became physicians. It was very hurtful to hear these things from my peers, many who were applying to/are currently in medical school. They view nursing as a field full of unintelligent women. Many believed that to be a "strong woman" you had to abandon your ability to care for others. OBVIOUSLY there are wrong. And I hope when they become physicians they have some revelation and begin to respect ALL of their nurses (male, female, heterosexual, homosexual, black, white, Asian, etc, etc) and understand the value of nursing and its philosophy in our health care system. So I have felt first hand how society/the public (and unfortunately, many physicians-to-be) feel about nurses/nursing and have been said that I am a "weak" woman for going into nursing instead of medicine.

At the hospital I worked as a nursing assistant, we had one male nurse on my floor. Often when he and I would go into a room to do a procedure, PM care, etc, the patient would ask if "he" was the "doctor". When corrected, the patient (or family members) would say, "Oh I assumed because you were a man". I also had patients who said that even though a male doctor had seen them in some state of undress during their stay (for an assessment, etc) they thought it was "weird" to let a "male nurse" see them like that. When asked why, most patients said it "just felt weird, because they are a guy NURSE".

Another facet of myself that intersects with this topic is that I identify as lesbian. For the most part my coworkers have no problem with this (and I avoid any mention of it with patients, lying that I'm not "dating anyone" right now, because yes, I am always asked if I have a boyfriend, or if I have a husband, or why I'm not married yet and it's not a conversation I feel safe to have with patients, even though my heterosexual co workers could so so without issue. Though also I think it's good to not share a lot about yourself in the first place with patients since its about them and not about you). However, interestingly enough, a lot of my coworkers will ask if I have a hard time taking care of (especially PM care) male patients. When I ask them (my straight, female coworkers) if they have a hard time with female patients, they reply "well of course not". I then ask them to think again about their question to me. I've never had an argument with anyone at my work over it - it just has illuminated to them preconceived ideas they had that they hadn't realized were judgmental (and many of them feel awful for how they felt and find themselves thinking differently afterwards).

In general yes, there are still issues surrounding gender and orientation in nursing. It does stem from a historical understanding of nursing as maternal, feminine, etc and the dichotomy against the medical framework. And in general it stems from the dichotomy in our society of maleness vs. femaleness. Personally, I'd LOVE if we lived in a world where we didn't need to worry about these things - but unfortunately we do. And even if you try to be "colorblind" (for a lack of a better phrase) you are actually hindering forward movement because it is not systematically eliminating the issue in our society. I WISH that I could just relax at work (and in life) about who I am (as a lesbian) and I wish that I didn't hear such demeaning words from patients, peers, and academics describing the nursing profession.

Sorry for spelling errors, grammatical errors, etc. I'm not much of a writer to be honest. But I felt the need to reply here because there were some things said in this thread that I personally found hurtful and as one reader pointed out, the original poster was looking for people's experiences in nursing regarding this specific topic as a means of educating others about difficulties that may or may not be present to them in their lives or their workplaces. I hope my examples were helpful in some way. And thank you to everyone who has written supportive words on this thread :) You are the kind of co-worker I'd love to have!

I don't understand why people don't want more diversity (especially smart people) in nursing. Don't we WANT smart nurses taking care of us? What's up with this "you're too smart for nursing" business?

[joyouter]

The above comments indicate a frustration and lack of understanding and empathy within nursing practitioners which includes all gender related issues. It is commonly assumed that nursing attracts women but I have also worked with excellent gay and transgender nurses all of whom I enjoyed a truly professional interactio in knowledge sharing and delivery of reseach based evidence in practice.

The underlying issues in nursing roles for women/ males / transgender/ gay are related in that the frustration borne out of lack of education in transgender issues or homosexuality is being applied within the practice of the nursing profession. This is not professional practice, nor does it strengthen our professional role as it is constantly under scrutiny and sometimes first in line for attack. Yes, education in nursing does require upgrading and updating especially in transgender topics. However, we cannot lose sight of why we are practitioners in nursing - for the greater good of health and healing.

Transgender issues, as I see, should not be our political platform as it risks dividing the profession even further. Transgender culture and behavious has been present in our society since BC. ( Before Christianity) and maintains its presence today. It should have its own platform for greater representation and for education. Nor should it be part of a feminist movement which has not addressed the topic in depth and remains reactionary rather than enlightening.

[qedy]

Thank you, lizbit. I can identify with so much of what you wrote. There were responses to this topic that I found offensive as well and while I don't usually comment, I felt a bit compelled to respond to this thread. Before I became a nurse I also felt a great deal of shame about my desired career field after I was told over and over "but you're smart enough to be a doctor." It's unfortunate that we live in a world where entering a female dominated career field is seen as less than.

I wish you luck in your journey to become a midwife!

[Ron Oswald]

Identifying as gender fluid makes it near impossible to avoid confusion. If I was caring for a gender fluid patient, which pronoun would I use to describe that person? The biological traits are useful in the medical setting because they provide us with anatomical and physiological information that may be pertinent to the situation.

[Ron Oswald]

After reading the posts for this article, I wonder how much of history some of you are aware of. Historically, nursing was one of the few professions that women could choose. Times have changed. Nursing is no longer a female dominated profession. The idea that "caring, selfless, loving and tender" are feminine traits could be challenged ("maternal" not so much). Compassion and respect are traits that some circles would argue cannot be taught and are inherent in the individual's personality. These traits, often times, separate the really good nurses from the sort of good nurses. The fact that non-nurses look for these traits in nurses suggests that they are important. If you consider that most people who are under medical care are afraid, of what is happening and what is going to happen, you can see how important soft skills are. For every time that "mistrust of intelligence and education in nursing" stems from reaction formation there is also a time when it stems from simple observation. Although I do believe that everyone deserves respect and understanding, nursing is a profession where care is provided for people who are at their worst. We would do well to remember that we are there for the patient.

[gypsyd8]

I have been asked by a physician if I was "doing my nails." The same dialogue included him saying words I cannot put here because they would violate the terms of service. When I wrote him up my boss asked how I could have better handled the situation, and what I did to cause him to yell, swear at, and belittle me. I told her his behavior was not my problem (he is known for his temper tantrums). Male nurses are generally treated with more respect by physicians. I would say the problem is huge.

[qedy]

Identifying as gender fluid makes it near impossible to avoid confusion. If I was caring for a gender fluid patient, which pronoun would I use to describe that person? The biological traits are useful in the medical setting because they provide us with anatomical and physiological information that may be pertinent to the situation.

It's not confusion that gender non conforming people are trying to avoid, it's the assumptions and microaggressions based on ignorance. I don't expect you to know everything. If you have questions about pronouns, ASK. Being respectful and admitting that you are confused is fine, most gender fluid people will answer your questions. It's much better to start by asking me my pronoun of choice than to make insulting assumptions about me, or worse treating me poorly because of your confusion.

I as well as most gender queer people of all shades of grey have unique relationships with their healthcare providers. Healthcare providers that are sensitive to their issues and can meet their needs.

In my post I was addressing the interactions I've had and continue to have with my coworkers in the nursing field as a gender fluid person. The "biological and anatomical" differences that you mentioned have no bearing on these relationships. Biological differences between people refers to the sex they were born. Gender is a social construct.

[Ron Oswald]

I would like to reply to qedy. My intention was not to offend and I apologize, if that is what I have done. The post that you quoted was sincere. My co-worker's gender (as in the social construct and/or the biological trait) is of no consequence to me unless it interferes with our ability to provide appropriate patient care. I cannot think of any circumstance where this would be the case. I agree with you that assumptions and microaggressions (assumptions) are based on ignorance. They are also the product of confusion.