Proposal Paper For Philo.docx

STEFFI GABRIELLE R. GOLEZ III-NUR-5 RLE: 1A “Gender stereotyping in Nursing”

The purpose of this paper is to present feminism and insight of Simone de Beauvoir's provocative declaration, “He is the Subject, he is the Absolute—she is the Other,” signals the central importance of the self for feminism. To be the Other is to be the non-subject, the nonperson, the non-agent—in short, the mere body. The reason, appetites, emotions, mind, and body are all biased in favor of men and against women, yet the rationalist and Judeo-Christian view is framed in terms of these sexist concepts. Reason, rationality, and mind are seen as superior "male" traits that must rule over the inferior "female" traits of emotion and bodily appetites, and this idea appears to be fundamentally sexist. This theory will contribute to the nursing profession like for example, Gender bias and role stereotyping in nursing educational programs because men have greater power and prestige within the profession. Nursing is seen as a feminine occupation and is thus devalued in male dominated patriarchal society. It is stereotyped as having the traits of nurturing, caring, dependence and submission. This contrasts with the perceived male traits of strength, dominance and aggression. Male nurses separate themselves and the masculine sex role from their female colleagues. When someone forms an identity that is incompatible with society’s expectations, people become uncomfortable and are unsure how to behave. In a society where nurses are seen as female, it is difficult for people to know how to relate to a male nurse. They find it hard to understand why anyone would choose a job dominated by the lower status sex, and make a choice that is likely to involve negative sanctions. Men are deterred from the profession by believing that other people will see them as unmanly. They may also believe that nurses only take orders from doctors, have limited career opportunities, and are poorly paid. They also said that the “He-man” label arose as men are perceived to have greater physical strength, greater IQ and etc. This translates into men being expected to do all the heavy lifting and able to answer all questions that being asked by someone. In reality however, male nurses use lifting aids as often and can also answer questions as female nurses. The stereotype that male nurses are gay is based more on ideas of what is masculine and what is not than any objective assessment of sexual life styles. If a man has ‘feminine’ traits, such as empathy and caring, they are assumed to be gay. This is a deterrent to men becoming nurses, but few male nurses find this a day to day problem. The label of homosexuality is assigned to all men who work in jobs emphasizing attributes traditionally assigned to females, such as empathy and caring. Men who work in a ‘woman’s job’ are seen to be incompetent, because women’s

work is ‘easier’. If they were true men, they would go and be doctors, and do a ‘Man’s Job’. Is nursing profession just only for women? Are women really more compassionate than men? Do men have higher IQ than women? Gender Bias and Discrimination in Nursing, Can We Change It? In the arguments, Males are superior to females. It is not basically like that because in the theory of Carol Gilligan on Moral Development and Gender. Her theory specifically states that there is a social construct differentiating boys and girls. This is as evidenced by other moral development theories like that of Sigmund Freud and Erik Erickson. The two theories denote a male-centered developmental psychology. According to her book, “In a Different Voice”, women thought about caring more than the current rules allowed. Furthermore, her book stated that certain developmental stages mentioned by Freud and Erickson focused on skills. It is said that because of these skills, one becomes more developed. However, putting this into context, men scored higher than women, therefore insinuating that men, according to the two theorists, were superior compared to women in general. In conclusion, Carol Gilligan’s basic claim is that society has imposed roles on gender, and that women are different, and not inferior. Schools and universities have been more proactive into promoting gender equality. As this mindset has been instilled into our culture, educational systems such as schools, colleges and universities have had the initiative to change the mindset with the belief that in changing one’s mindset toward the issue, gender equality would be achieved. However, even if a lot of schools, colleges and universities promote gender equality, gender discrimination may still be present. Nonetheless, the initiatives for decreasing gender discrimination have increased, and many have hoped for the development into gender equality. References: 

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