OK we get it STUD, you're straight

[bigrigcowboy]

Something has been bothering me for quite some time on this forum and I have not known exactly what it was. Well I figured it out and y'all may not like it.

So often when reading posts on the Men in Nursing or Male Nursing Student sections I feel like I am part of one of the most homophobic systems I have been a part of since I left the US Navy.

If I read one more post in which the man feels he must refer to himself as "Normal", "Married", "not one of them", "Real Man" etc. [not kidding, direct quotes] I am going to scream. You can say it STUD, we get it, you are straight and we're damn glad for you. [better you than me]

One question I want to ask you students is just how the hell do you know for sure which of the guys in your class are "abNormal", "unMarried", "one of them", "not a Real Man" etc. have your instructors had everyone disclose their sexual orientation during introductions? I have seen pretty well adjusted men turn up the testosterone so far when in the presence of a known gay man that they loose all sense and become flaming A**HOLES to prove that they are not "one of them". Not a way to become part of the team sparky.

Let me give all you Normal, Married, Real Men a reality check. The cold hard truth is that there are gay men in nursing. Thank goodness nursing has been a profession that really didn't care one way or the other as long as you were a good nurse. Unfortunately the schools and media in an effort to make sure everyone knows all male nurses aren't gay [Are you man enough campaign?] that it feels like we are being pushed back into the closet.

Last piece of advice and I will shut up. DO NOT ASSUME. I assure you when you meet me you will not know that I am gay; I love NASCAR, Rodeo, Horses, Motorcycles, camping, just like a real man. The only difference is that my SO is a man. The one stereotype I will admit to here is I can be one vindictive ***** and I will not be receptive to your good ole boy jokes or you making sure I know you are not "one of them".

So yes there are more and more men entering nursing which is a great thing, but like any change their will be growing pains, we need to identify them, not sweep them under the rug and hope they go away.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

No I have not come to prefer that at all. I think it is insulting. A female officer to me is still an officer. A female soldier to me is still a soldier. I will not add a gender label to any position simply because it is not the norm.

Wouldn't bother me. The gender assignment doesn't diminish the occupation.

[Z A C H]

If someone were a true homophobe I doubt they would ever become a nurse to begin with.

[extermin8tor]

Completely agree with OP's writeup, I think until Men get more accepted into the industry, this issue will plague the nursing field for a while simply because men are a relative oddity.

If someone were a true homophobe I doubt they would ever become a nurse to begin with.

Nursing is not excluded from orificeholes, racists, homophobes and douchebags.

Nursing has maybe a higher proportion of people who are caring due to the lowly paid and difficult nature of the work, however there are an incredible number of jerk-offs just like you find on the street

[Z A C H]

Completely agree with OP's writeup, I think until Men get more accepted into the industry, this issue will plague the nursing field for a while simply because men are a relative oddity.

Nursing is not excluded from orificeholes, racists, homophobes and douchebags.

Nursing has maybe a higher proportion of people who are caring due to the lowly paid and difficult nature of the work, however there are an incredible number of jerk-offs just like you find on the street

I know, I'm just saying that homophobic people tend to try to act truly masculine across the board and generally won't ever begin to pursue a job like nursing or as a hairstylist etc. Just the fact hat they decided to begin a career where people might potentially think that they are gay is a pretty good indicator that they aren't homophobic, they most likely just don't want people to assume that they are gay so they go out of their way to make it known that they aren't. Slight insecurity doesn't make someone a homophobe.

[vegas2009]

Lol, yup... men and sexuality are perceived a little different compared to women and sexuality. I don't really get the, "I need to prove I'm not gay" of the male mind/psyche. Maybe society has something to do with this.

Here's the 411: Women who aren't exactly straight are a little more accepted than gay/bisexual men. I'm not sure why it's like that.

For instance, when Stacy dates a man who is (may or may not be) admittedly bisexual and she tells her friends, she's dating him -- her friends WILL say: Girl, he's gay... what are u doing with him??

Scenario two: A female who is NOT particularly straight (may/may NOT) admit that she is bisexual/gay and decides to date a man, for some reason will not be seen as being gay. A female who dates another female is NOT necessarily gay. She's either too freaky, confused, just honestly looking for love in both sexes, or all of the above. Oh, there's also "straight women" who date "other or straight women" -- I think most people are just confused (lol).

For a man to be bisexual -- just means he IS gay! For a woman to be bisexual, NOT necessarily. This is how most of society sees it. Funny huh?

Kinda unfair, but it is what it is.

[justashooter]

"you can go crazy all you want, just don't do it in my front yard" Smokey Yarick

seriously, we don't want to know you're gay, buddy, and we ain't gonna tell you we're straight all day, either.

[jjnRN]

I too have noticed the need to state preference in some way and don't get it at all. If you are worried about what someone may think then why choose the career path? I know who the straight and gay men and women are in my class and at the clinicals I have been at and it has not made a difference in the friendships and learning experiences I have attained.

In today's world I would like to think that it does not matter what your preference is, what your race is, or what gender you are because throughout history it has been shown that all humans have similar abilities. I introduce myself as a nurse, not a male nurse. The only thing a patient or employer should care about is whether you can give the care that you would expect to get yourself.

I'll step down now,

James

[2ndyearstudent, CNA]

I just haven't run into this type of thing at all. After working in LTC, Home Health, and a couple hundred hours of clinicals at hospitals, I have not seen a scrap of tension over sexual preference. Some of the nurses I worked with might have been gay, but really, I couldn't tell and nobody cared.

Two of my instructors (one male, one female) have been gay, but again, nobody gives a damn.

From my personal observations, the percentage of male nurses who are gay is probably about the same as the general population.

[CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Something has been bothering me for quite some time on this forum and I have not known exactly what it was. Well I figured it out and y'all may not like it.

So often when reading posts on the Men in Nursing or Male Nursing Student sections I feel like I am part of one of the most homophobic systems I have been a part of since I left the US Navy.

If I read one more post in which the man feels he must refer to himself as "Normal", "Married", "not one of them", "Real Man" etc. [not kidding, direct quotes] I am going to scream. You can say it STUD, we get it, you are straight and we're damn glad for you. [better you than me]

O...kay. I don't care if my coworkers are straight, bent, curved, loop-de-loop, or whatever. Either they do a good job for their pts, or they don't. If they don't, doom on them.

Not all allnurses folks are focused on gender roles, and I'd hope that you don't get too bent out of shape by your perception of how or what various folks post.

Excuse me while I go sharpen my manly straight married Wusthof and Thai Kiwi kitchen knives, followed by swigging manly whisky (Islay Scotch spelling, don'cha know), then do some manly car oil change maintenance and use manly power tools to fix stuff around the home before playing with my 2.4 heterosexually-generated children. Or something like that.

Then I need to bake some bread, make dinner, & do laundry & dishes.

Straight...gay....it doesn't matter. Either you're a good person or you're not.

[blackberrie_281]

^^^^^^^^^

[CNABESS]

Can a woman chime in here? This headline caught my attention, and some of the responses have sent my coffee shooting across the room in laughter. As a straight married female I want to say, really??? I thought we were past this. I have had nurses care for loved ones who were very ill (my son, and mother) and all that occured to me was "wow, doing a great job" . I want the people who care for me to be competent, responsible and happy in their profession. I enjoy working with many male CNAs who are ....I don't know, never asked, but they are great to work with. I have also worked with some who have told me they are straight, or not , and they were great to work with. I have found that if we all concentrate on what is important, nobody will care one way or the other. I am just thrilled to have had some great people to work with, and thrilled my son was made more comfortable because he had a great nurse. I have not heard "male nurse" in a long time. We all just say "nurse, LPN, RN, CNA" .

[Ackeem, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

Gay or straight at the end of the day all i come to do is, be the best nurse i can be Not to prove I'm gay or not.

If they assume I'm gay, so be it, if not still don't really care " I don't come to make friends , I came to do my job"

I think you guys need to stop getting worked up of what people think about your sexual orientation. If anybody try to call me out , try to humiliate me, or disrespect me to my face, my respond won't be pleasant at all, this 206 pounds of pure MEAT has a really short fuse. For them and my sake, just fall back do your damn job and don't worry about who I sleep with.( For the record I'm straight )