where did the whole sexualized view of nursing come from?

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I was just looking on photobucket for a cute image to put on my myspace having to do with nursing, and nothing is appropriate! Everything is ....sexy nurse. A couple are actually cute and not that bad, but there's no way I'm gonna contribute to this view by putting it on my page.

Also when I tell guys I'm gonna be a nurse, a lot of them always have some inappropriate comment, like "you can give me a bed bath any day!!"

I even have a gay friend who's a nurse who says he gets the same comments also. They don't bother him. I bet even heterosexual get it too.

It doesn't bother me a whole lot now cuz I'm young and single, but I know as I get on the workforce and get older, I'm gonna get real tired of it.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

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Specializes in peds and med/surg.
I was just looking on photobucket for a cute image to put on my myspace having to do with nursing, and nothing is appropriate! Everything is ....sexy nurse. A couple are actually cute and not that bad, but there's no way I'm gonna contribute to this view by putting it on my page.

Also when I tell guys I'm gonna be a nurse, a lot of them always have some inappropriate comment, like "you can give me a bed bath any day!!"

I even have a gay friend who's a nurse who says he gets the same comments also. They don't bother him. I bet even heterosexual get it too.

It doesn't bother me a whole lot now cuz I'm young and single, but I know as I get on the workforce and get older, I'm gonna get real tired of it.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

Well, they told us in nursing school that nursing wasn't seen as a profession back years ago, in fact the only ppl were the ones who couldn't be anything else, such as prostitutes, homeless...that sort of thing.

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To me, it seems that any movie or tv show made prior to say 1970's, the nurse wore a longer dress with white stocking and usually a cap. Then the night time talk shows started to have skits with nurses in mini skirts, then it seemed evening programs and movies picked up on this. Sad to say,Media industries. I have not worked with anyone who dressed like that, they would probably be sent home or told to put scrubs on.

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It isn't just nurses. There are over-sexualized images of teachers, nannies, cheerleaders, even nuns, for pity's sake. This is less a reflection of the women involved than the limited imagination of the "men" dreaming them up.

Nurses are particularly susceptible to this kind of crud because any time you put a female and a bed in close proximity, immaturity runs rampant. The old va-va-va-vooom mentality just can't seem to resist double entendres, dirty jokes, and wink-wink innuendo.

I'm all for a little humor now and then, but this "naughty nurse" stuff is so outdated and so tired and unfunny that I roll my eyes and feel like saying, "Would you just grow up already."

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Suzanne Gordon provides an interesting interpretation for this image of nurses in "Nursing Against Odds." The book is surprisingly accessible and a good read, although I have heard fellow students say they would have thought twice entering the profession had they read this book first. I am sure that was not Gordon's intention.

I cant summarize her complex and multidisciplinary interpretation but it is all tied more into labor history and exploitation of women who had no viable skills or support (ie, girls who were homeless, unemployed, or formerly prostitutes). I recall one section where Gordon discusses how many young girls were promised training at what I guess we would call diploma houses and essentially did everything from laundry, meals - hence the literal image and stereotype of nurses as scullery maids and serving wenches. These women were indentured servants until released. They had very few options.

Some women were given approval to nurse and some were kept on servants. As I mentioned in one other post that nursing is one of the few unreformed professions that still has working hours left over from the 19th century. We reformed child labor laws but not health care hours.

You will be surprised as I was that nursing originally began with men. Religious orders ran most of the charitable care and then with the Industrial Revolution and Protestant reformation for-profit hospitals arose and displaced free care. There are in-depth reviews of the book at Amazon.

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Thank you grv68, you are 100% right on about the monks as the first nurses. I read Suzanne Gordon as well and she is truly insightful and gifted. Unfortunately, the rest of the world will need eons to catch up. I think that women in any profession get some of this bunk. How about the "Sexy librarian" who takes off her glasses and undoes her tight hairbun and shakes her head...yes, the image is right there isn't it?

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http://nursingadvocacy.org/news/news.html

This website deals with this immature, hurtful image of nursing in the media. Check it out.

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The bottom line is that the typical "naughty nurse" image juxtaposes a vision of aggressive female sexuality with the profession of nursing. It suggests that nurses are sexually available to patients and/or physicians in the workplace, and thus reinforces long-standing stereotypes. As the Center explains in our main "naughty nurse" FAQ, those stereotypes discourage practicing and potential nurses, encourage sexual abuse in the workplace, and contribute to a general atmosphere of disrespect. Presenting working nurses primarily as sex objects conveys the idea that nursing consists of satisfying sexual needs, or at best, that nursing is so unimportant that nurses have the time and energy to focus on sex while supposedly caring for patients.

From the above mentioned website -

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It isn't just nurses. There are over-sexualized images of teachers, nannies, cheerleaders, even nuns, for pity's sake. This is less a reflection of the women involved than the limited imagination of the "men" dreaming them up.

Nurses are particularly susceptible to this kind of crud because any time you put a female and a bed in close proximity, immaturity runs rampant. The old va-va-va-vooom mentality just can't seem to resist double entendres, dirty jokes, and wink-wink innuendo.

I'm all for a little humor now and then, but this "naughty nurse" stuff is so outdated and so tired and unfunny that I roll my eyes and feel like saying, "Would you just grow up already."

Not saying the 'sexual' nurse is a good image to portray, but as long as men breathe air, they'll fantasize about anything! I have a sexy little accountant at home myself :lol2::lol2::lol2:

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You should have seen what I pulled up when I was looking for a graduation outfit and Google'd such phrases as "nurse outfit", "white nurse dress", "nurse white uniform" and such!

Oh, wait, you probably DID find those same sites!

Couldn't believe how much latex was dedicated to nursing garb ;)

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Wow thanks for the posts. I didn't know monks were the original nurses. I'll check out that book and website.

I do agree that a lot of profession have that sexy image, but nurses get it the most BY FAR.

On myspace I have what school I go to and that I'm majoring in nursing. Just the other day, a guy who has a latex glove fetish contacted me. I died laughing. hehe um :uhoh21:

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Even Florence Nightingale had to face this problem when she was gathering a group of nurses for her first campaign in Crimea. A woman alone with men, unclothed men at that was suspect. A woman surrounded by large numbers of male soldiers was at risk. It is no accident that many of those first group of nurses were nuns, the rest were seasoned mature women. The sexed up image was something to be avoided if nursing was to become a legitimate profession.

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