Nursing Ambivalence In Care Gender And Masculinity
Men in Nursing: Ambivalence in care, gender and masculinity
Introduction
This paper examines some of the changes, which occurred as men entered nursing in the late twentieth century. Nursing is unique in that during the late nineteenth century it became an almost completely 'feminised' occupation, following what Theweleit calls a 'new female assault' on medical and caring work. Before this, women did little more than midwifery (1). During the late twentieth century men have increasingly found their way back into nursing. In this paper we shall contextualise the experiences of two of the men who pioneered this influx. This shift in gender ratios in nursing has proceeded in tandem with a variety of other tensions concerning nursing and gender, and the training and education, which was deemed to be appropriate. Nursing represents a sign of the times, within which dramas concerning the nature of medical knowledge, and indeed the nature of men and women themselves, are performed in particularly graphic detail. …show more content…
Examining the motivation and experience of men in nursing challenges traditional concepts of 'nursing' and 'masculinity'. Moreover, it illuminates the shifts between different ideologies of nursing. Let us begin by placing the mid-twentieth century experience of men in nursing in some historical context. Much modern nursing can be dated to Florence Nightingale, who promoted the idea that to be a 'good nurse' was also to be a 'good woman' (2). Klaus Theweleit describes this ideal vision of the female nurse as the 'white nurse' (3), a pure 'caring mother figure, who transcends sensuousness'
Introduction
This paper examines some of the changes, which occurred as men entered nursing in the late twentieth century. Nursing is unique in that during the late nineteenth century it became an almost completely 'feminised' occupation, following what Theweleit calls a 'new female assault' on medical and caring work. Before this, women did little more than midwifery (1). During the late twentieth century men have increasingly found their way back into nursing. In this paper we shall contextualise the experiences of two of the men who pioneered this influx. This shift in gender ratios in nursing has proceeded in tandem with a variety of other tensions concerning nursing and gender, and the training and education, which was deemed to be appropriate. Nursing represents a sign of the times, within which dramas concerning the nature of medical knowledge, and indeed the nature of men and women themselves, are performed in particularly graphic detail. …show more content…
Examining the motivation and experience of men in nursing challenges traditional concepts of 'nursing' and 'masculinity'. Moreover, it illuminates the shifts between different ideologies of nursing. Let us begin by placing the mid-twentieth century experience of men in nursing in some historical context. Much modern nursing can be dated to Florence Nightingale, who promoted the idea that to be a 'good nurse' was also to be a 'good woman' (2). Klaus Theweleit describes this ideal vision of the female nurse as the 'white nurse' (3), a pure 'caring mother figure, who transcends sensuousness'