Gender, the complex of social relations and practices attached to biological sex, is one of the most important socio-cultural factors influencing health and health-related behavior. Although a large body of health research suggests that men with similar social disadvantages as women experience poorer health outcomes in relation to disability, chronic illness, injury rates and mortality, men's health is rarely deconstructed through the lens of gender. The purpose of this article is to increase understanding of the
For men nurses, the stereotype of men as sexual aggressors is compounded by the stereotype that men nurses are gay. These stereotypes sexualize men nurses' touch and create complex and contradictory situations of acceptance, rejection and suspicion of men as nurturers and caregivers. They also situate men nurses in highly stigmatized roles in which they are subject to accusations of inappropriate behaviour. For men nurses, this situation is lived as a heightened sense of vulnerability and the continual need to be cautious while touching and caring for patients. Ultimately, this situation impacts on the ability of men nurses to do the caring work they came into nursing to do.
The small but growing number of men in the nursing profession does not herald a progressive integration of masculine and feminine sex roles. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that even in female-dominated occupations such as nursing, patriarchal gender relations which reflect a high valuation of all that is male and masculine, play a significant role in situating a disproportionate number of men in administrative and elite specialty positions. At the heart of this gender dynamic is the need to separate the masculine from the lesser valued feminine. Male nurses do this by employing strategies that allow them to distance themselves from female colleagues and the quintessential feminine image of nursing itself, as a prerequisite to elevating their own prestige and power. They are aided in this task by patriarchal cultural institutions that create and perpetuate male advantage, as well as by women nurses themselves who, consciously or unconsciously, nurture the careers of men colleagues.
Failure to recognize men's participation in nursing leaves men nurses with little information about their professional background and historical position. It also maintains the invisibility of gender relations that have shaped the experience of men and women nurses alike. Such relations, understood within their broader social context, remain poorly understood and hence uninterrupted, to the detriment of nurses and the profession of nursing.
The feminization of nursing constitutes a significant barrier to men choosing to enter nursing, and in part accounts for the low numbers of men in the profession. Men who choose non-traditional occupations such as nursing are at greater risk than their women counterparts of being unsupported, devalued, and even ridiculed for engaging in gender-inappropriate behavior. For the small number of men who defy prevailing gender norms by engaging in this work, the perception of a spoiled masculinity reflects the gendered and sexed relations within the profession. Men nurses are faced with the reality of defending their career choice, their contribution to nursing, and their sexuality. As a consequence, men who do nursing work are continually reminded that they are different from other men. The experience of eight men registered nurses in Nova Scotia, Canada, reveals the tensions and contradictions of men's lives in a non-traditional occupation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.