Misogyny in Nursing

Nurses Relations

Published

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

[color=#111180]here's a small sample of statements i've read on allnurses.com:

[color=#111180]"the majority of nurses are women and women are catty individuals."

[color=#111180]"unfortunately, i don't think backstabbing is confined to nurses, but rather in the female gender."

[color=#111180]"women can be the most canniving(sp?) things on the face of the earth.

[color=#111180]i think it's just the hormone thing."

[color=#111180]"because women are such catty b*tches!!!!"

[color=#111180]"you are right that nursing is a female dominated field & females are the biggist back stabbers. a instructed told me this."

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]misogyny is defined as "the hatred, mistrust or dislike of women."

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]what i never realized until reading "allnurses.com" the past few years is how many women are misogynists.

[color=#111180]the first time i read a header like "why are nurses such backstabbers?" or a post that flatly stated "women are nasty, catty, backstabbers" i fully expected the poster to be jumped upon with both feet by every woman reading the post. when that didn't happen, it surprised, then disappointed, then dismayed me. when so many female posters jumped in to agree with these misogynistic statements, i was shocked and saddened. i am no longer shocked by how many members of this board appear to hate, mistrust or dislike women, but i continue to deplore the pheonomenon. and that so many of these misogynists are women themselves -- that i find even more deplorable. hypocritical and deplorable.

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]anyone defining an entire gender through a lens of hatred or mistrust is, at best, a bigot. a woman defining her entire gender this way is, unless she attributes these same negative stereotypes to herself, her sisters and her best friend is also a hypocrite.

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]how many of us these days would publicly refer to a person with black skin as "the 'n' word"? it's just not done. would you refer to your gay male cousin and his long-term partner as "a pair of ****"? probably not in polite company. yet women are called -- even in popular music -- names describing female dogs, names intimating that they earn their livings taking money for sex or names defining them by their genitalia.

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]if we feel so negatively toward an entire gender, how are we treating our female patients? i find it difficult to believe that someone can make a bald statement about how they hate working with women because they're all catty and backstabbing and then go out and treat their female patients with caring and respect. and if we're working so hard to respect races, cultures and religions other than our own, why are we not working equally hard to respect both genders?

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]the fact that so many nurses are women would have led me to believe that this is a female-friendly web site. instead, the opposite is true. never have i read the hatred and vitriol against women that i've read here, much of it spouted by other women who then go on to say "i can say that because i am female myself."

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]well, honey, i'm so sorry for you. i'm sorry that you define an entire gender by negative stereotypes when i'm almost completely certain you don't define people of other races or cultures by similar standards. and i'm so very sorry that you hate yourself so much you define your entire gender that way. misogynists are sad, emotionally stunted people. female misogynists are worse.

Thank you!

Specializes in CICU.

Right on.

I hate it when girls/women refer to each other (friends!?!) as "hoe", etc. Please don't dare to call me anything other than my name, Miss, Ma'am, or nurse.

I wish I could like this post a thousand times.

Internalized misogyny is something that really upsets me. In our society it is ingrained from a young age that women are worth less than men. Women are taught very quickly to hate themselves and each other. Many don't necessarily realize that what they're saying is misogynistic, but it all comes from a dark place. How many times have we all heard, "I only hang out with guys! Girls are too much drama!", "I'm not like most girls", "All these women working together is a recipe for disaster," "Ugh, that's a chick movie", "She's nasty today, she must be on her period", "She got raped? She shouldn't have worn that skirt it was like she was asking for it!" FROM OTHER WOMEN!

I'm not implying that people who say these things/think this way are inherently bad people, because it is understandable why this mentality exists. I can only suggest that people consciously try to change the way they think about themselves and other women.

The only way the nursing profession, which is still primarily comprised of women, will ever receive the respect it deserves will be if we challenge the way society and the media constantly oppresses the female gender.

Specializes in Mental Health, Hospice Care.

I have heard those same things said by my classmates and co-workers about women....and I have at times seen that behavior myself.....but to generalize that for all women (or men) is just wrong....Maybe I have a different perspective being that I am a guy that was raised in a household of women but I found that I have always preferred working with women versus men....I work well with everyone regardless, but given the choice I would prefer to work with women....I am not sure what that say's about me, but my wife likes to say that it's because I'm smart ;-)......all in all we just need to be suppotive of one another regardless of our gender, age, race or customs....it just ain't that hard folks....be nice!....

Specializes in Med-Surg, Neuro, Respiratory.

Maybe this is silly, but I don't think society in general will start to value women more until we start treating ourselves better. Just my two cents.

I don't care what the environment is... you put a bunch of women working together and drama ensues. Womankind's behavior towards each other perpuates the stereotype.

Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.
[color=#111180]here’s a small sample of statements i’ve read on allnurses.com:

[color=#111180]“the majority of nurses are women and women are catty individuals.”

[color=#111180]“unfortunately, i don't think backstabbing is confined to nurses, but rather in the female gender.”

[color=#111180]“women can be the most canniving(sp?) things on the face of the earth.

[color=#111180]i think it's just the hormone thing.”

[color=#111180]"because women are such catty b*tches!!!!"

[color=#111180]“you are right that nursing is a female dominated field & females are the biggist back stabbers. a instructed told me this.”

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]misogyny is defined as “the hatred, mistrust or dislike of women.”

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]what i never realized until reading “allnurses.com” the past few years is how many women are misogynists.

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]the first time i read a header like “why are nurses such backstabbers?” or a post that flatly stated “women are nasty, catty, backstabbers” i fully expected the poster to be jumped upon with both feet by every woman reading the post. when that didn’t happen, it surprised, then disappointed, then dismayed me. when so many female posters jumped in to agree with these misogynistic statements, i was shocked and saddened. i am no longer shocked by how many members of this board appear to hate, mistrust or dislike women, but i continue to deplore the pheonomenon. and that so many of these misogynists are women themselves -- that i find even more deplorable. hypocritical and deplorable.

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]anyone defining an entire gender through a lens of hatred or mistrust is, at best, a bigot. a woman defining her entire gender this way is, unless she attributes these same negative stereotypes to herself, her sisters and her best friend is also a hypocrite.

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]how many of us these days would publicly refer to a person with black skin as “the ’n’ word”? it’s just not done. would you refer to your gay male cousin and his long-term partner as “a pair of ****”? probably not in polite company. yet women are called -- even in popular music -- names describing female dogs, names intimating that they earn their livings taking money for sex or names defining them by their genitalia.

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]if we feel so negatively toward an entire gender, how are we treating our female patients? i find it difficult to believe that someone can make a bald statement about how they hate working with women because they’re all catty and backstabbing and then go out and treat their female patients with caring and respect. and if we’re working so hard to respect races, cultures and religions other than our own, why are we not working equally hard to respect both genders?

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]the fact that so many nurses are women would have led me to believe that this is a female-friendly web site. instead, the opposite is true. never have i read the hatred and vitriol against women that i’ve read here, much of it spouted by other women who then go on to say “i can say that because i am female myself.”

[color=#111180]

[color=#111180]well, honey, i’m so sorry for you. i’m sorry that you define an entire gender by negative stereotypes when i’m almost completely certain you don’t define people of other races or cultures by similar standards. and i’m so very sorry that you hate yourself so much you define your entire gender that way. misogynists are sad, emotionally stunted people. female misogynists are worse.


me too!

I don't care what the environment is... you put a bunch of women working together and drama ensues. Womankind's behavior towards each other perpuates the stereotype.

Some chicks say they prefer to hang out with guys instead of other girls because there's less drama.

I prefer to hang out with myself because there's NO drama and I don't have to wear pants.

I often like to keep my mouth shut on those types of threads because *I* can become very angry, and I do not want to post anything nasty. I am a feminist, and it angers and saddens me to see these things.

How do you feel about the message conveyed on the book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughters Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence. (The movie Mean Girls, was based on the book.)

The premise is that girls are much more skilled at emotional manipulation than boys are — boys are fairly clueless and emotionally simple in comparison. They tend to settle matters through physical means. While a boy can punch another boy in the nose, a girl can scheme to destroy another girl's entire social life.

That's not my opinion. It's just my very superficial summary of the book.

Another superficial idea: Women become accustomed to stabbing one another in the back as they vie for the attention of men, and that habit carries forward even when there are no men around. It's a primitive drive, the same sort of thing that drives men to have fist fights.

+ Add a Comment