Why are nurses sexualized?

AllOfMyWat · Oct 8, 2016

Because women are sexualized. Men are sexualized within their professions: Doctors, police, fire fighters.

AlmostANurse321 · Oct 8, 2016

Everything is sexualized. Our society is messed up.

kakamegamama · Oct 8, 2016

I'm wondering where the stereotype of "naughty nurse" or "sexy nurse" came from.
Is it because nursing is a stereotypical woman's job, and women's jobs are, in general, sexualized in the media?
Is it because before nursing was a profession, it was considered an ill-reputed job by women who couldn't do anything else, and bracketed under the same umbrella as "prostitution"? (Apparently).
Just wondering why this is such a stereotype.

Yes, and yes. Nurses were often (this is after men served as nurses during the Crusades and other times similar to that.) seen as camp followers, i.e., women of ill repute. Not necessarily justified, but a woman of good repute was often seen as someone who wouldn't follow armies. Clara Barton helped change some of that, but throughout nursing history there have been nurses who have helped perpetuate the myth/sterotype.

AmmyRN · Oct 9, 2016

Who cares? America is WAY too sensitive anymore. I'm a woman and obviously a nurse and I could care less. Would I tolerate comments from somebody? No. have I ever dressed as one for Halloween? No. But I don't care enough about it to get upset. There is no such thing as Utopia in this life. We will never be rid of biases and prejudices and sexualization. It's what makes us different.

Sour Lemon · Oct 9, 2016

I'm wondering where the stereotype of "naughty nurse" or "sexy nurse" came from.
Is it because nursing is a stereotypical woman's job, and women's jobs are, in general, sexualized in the media?
Is it because before nursing was a profession, it was considered an ill-reputed job by women who couldn't do anything else, and bracketed under the same umbrella as "prostitution"? (Apparently).
Just wondering why this is such a stereotype.

I don't see that they are more than anything else is. There are "sexy" maids, pirates, school-girls, lions, bumble-bees, etc. It doesn't even have to be human to be turned into something sexual.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Oct 9, 2016

No. Women of ill-repute did not become nurses. Perhaps you should read up on the history of nurses. The very first nurses were men, then women took over. These women had very stringent rules and were not allowed to be married. They dedicated their lives to nursing, only being allowed to leave for church and sleep.

Women I guess, who were considered to be old maids and not eligible to marry became nurses, but not prostitutes. I'm curious as to where this info came from?

Im guessing that back in the day, since these were unmarried women, men fantascized about them. It probably took off from there. Married men want what they can't have. Thus, the huge divorce rate in our society.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Oct 9, 2016

Yes, and yes. Nurses were often (this is after men served as nurses during the Crusades and other times similar to that.) seen as camp followers, i.e., women of ill repute. Not necessarily justified, but a woman of good repute was often seen as someone who wouldn't follow armies. Clara Barton helped change some of that, but throughout nursing history there have been nurses who have helped perpetuate the myth/sterotype.

Not my understanding. I followed Dorothea Dix and she had very high standards for her nurses.

heron, ASN, RN · Oct 9, 2016

No. Women of ill-repute did not become nurses. Perhaps you should read up on the history of nurses. The very first nurses were men, then women took over. These women had very stringent rules and were not allowed to be married. They dedicated their lives to nursing, only being allowed to leave for church and sleep.
Women I guess, who were considered to be old maids and not eligible to marry became nurses, but not prostitutes. I'm curious as to where this info came from?
Im guessing that back in the day, since these were unmarried women, men fantascized about them. It probably took off from there. Married men want what they can't have. Thus, the huge divorce rate in our society.

Wrong - modern nursing was founded during the Victorian era and, prior to Nigjtengale's work in the Crimean war (I think it was), nursing care of unrelated people in hospitals was considered highly disreputable because of the intimate physical nature of the contact.

Part of the work Nightengale had to do was to make nursing respectable enough to attract a "higher class" of women. This is why early nursing schools and departments of nursing were run much like convents.

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 9, 2016

Just google "naughty nurse" images. I can't even post them here. That will answer the question.

allnurses Guide · Oct 9, 2016

I'm wondering where the stereotype of "naughty nurse" or "sexy nurse" came from.

Sometimes they come from Halloween costume catalogs, occasionally in tasteless television commercials, and sometimes on daytime television, such as the Dr.Oz show, which while not 100% sexy/naughty, had dancers dressed as nurses dancing around Dr.Oz, much as a musical may have one female and a group of men dressed as waiters carrying her aloft, spinning silver trays,etc.

This may not the type of information you're seeking,though.

Is it because nursing is a stereotypical woman's job, and women's jobs are, in general, sexualized in the media?

I don't see that in general. Although with "media" vastly larger and more diverse these days, one's preferences can be altogether different than another, like a parallel media universe.

Is it because before nursing was a profession, it was considered an ill-reputed job by women who couldn't do anything else, and bracketed under the same umbrella as "prostitution"? (Apparently).
Just wondering why this is such a stereotype.

Again, I would say that while sexy/naughty certainly exists, it's one of a number of stereotypes that we see in popular culture.

An example of what I mean, a 70s era show called "Julia", which successfully blended ethnicity, gender, competence, independence...there are others, but I don't want to write a tome!

DoGoodThenGo · Oct 9, 2016

You are blending a bunch of serotypes that while related aren't the same.

Prior to the work of Florence Nightingale and others what passed for "trained" nursing care came from mostly two areas; religious orders (and their affiliates or lay branches) and the military.

Prior to this and for years afterwards (until governments began licensing and regulating the profession) what we call nursing care today could and often was done by a variety of women both high and low.

In most if not all instances a well born/respectable (usually married) woman did *NOT* provide nursing care to anyone outside of her own family, this especially was true when it came to men. Unmarried girls may have been called upon for sickroom/nursing care but again within their own families and if possible not to men. Females were supposed to be ignorant regarding sex until marriage to the idea of a "nice" girl touching, seeing, bathing or whatever any man even her own family was just beyond the pale.

As such a group of women from the lower rungs of society (supposedly without reputations to worry about), and or thanks to their profession (prostitution) were already acquainted with men and the "ways of the world" so that was that.

Within this demographic you also had older married women who while lacking formal training were educated (self or perhaps from another woman such as their mother) in various aspects of nursing/midwifery care. They knew about herbs, medicines and so forth. These are the women you see mentioned in books and seen on films where someone was brought in to care for a sick person.

Main theme here is that "nursing" in terms of providing care to the sick, invalid, infants, children, women great with child, confinement, etc... was historically mainly the domain of women. High born women such as queens, princesses, duchesses, etc... took care of family members within their own homes. They may have founded and or supervised hospitals that cared for the poor, military or whatever, but it isn't likely you would find them doing direct patient care.

Under the old religious (Catholic) model of care while nuns and sisters often founded and ran hospitals; they did various levels of direct patient care, from much to nil to none. What often happened is the religious supervised/instructed care while what would be called UAPs today did the grunt work. Part of this was at one time as with many other things only the children of the wealthy had any sort of formal education. This was true of convents/religious orders as well. So often the only ones who could read, write and understand the say making up of medications would be the sister/nun (who often came from a well off family as in many Catholic countries convents acted as a repository for daughters surplus to requirements). It took France many years to finally accept the Nightingale methods of nursing for instance.

Even after Florence Nightingale and others sought to elevate the profession over the years another flank opened; because of the education "trained" nurses received (A&P in particular) and their intimate contact with men who aren't their husbands it was assumed nurses "knew" things. That is they saw and were educated about the human body and *all* its functions in a way "nice" girls were ignorant.

Truth to tell in a world historically mostly run by men any female dominated space or whatever is suspect. Convents and abbeys of female religious orders were widely assumed to be hot beds of lesbian behavior. You can find Mediaographic texts, drawings and other period media on this subject going back to the Middle Ages.

Into this picture you now inject a single young (supposedly virginal) woman (remember many early nursing programs did not take married women and even widows were suspect, and all had clauses about "moral character"...), and via her education expose her not only to the functions of a human body but perhaps for the first time she will see a man naked below the waist. More still as part of her daily duties from bathing to surgical prep she will have *very* intimate contact with said males from newly born to 90 years of age.

Think about it; with a professional/trained nurse you have a nice wholesome female, completely accessible (you ring a bell or otherwise summon and she arrives), who via her education and training is there to take care of your bodily needs/fluids and functions. So began the fetishzation of nurses.

The serotypes I think you are referring to began in earnest with the pulp fiction books and films about nurses that began in the 1950's or maybe 1940's and lasted until the 1970's.

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