this report explores the changes in gender roles since the 1980’s and their impact on the nursing profession
Sex and gender
According to sociobiology our sex, or, our biological differences are what determines our gender. Sociobiologists suggest that biological elements such as our hormones, chromosomes and the size of our brain are what influence our behaviour and consequently what differentiates our gender. Because men produce more testosterone and androgens than women, which are linked to strength and aggression, sociobiologists argue that this explains men’s dominant and aggressive behaviour. (Haralambos & Holborn, 2000)
David Berash (1979) argues that behaviours are genetically determined and that those with physical characteristics more adaptable to the environment are more likely to survive. He also suggests that women are looking for quality in men's genes, and while men show off their strength and abilities, women hold back until they can identify the best males. Berash suggests that their ways of doing this is what leads to different social roles.
Critics of sociobiology argue that their assumption that all men are aggressive and all woman are evasive cannot be considered universally accurate and also does not explain behaviours such as homosexuality or celibacy (Haralambos & Holborn, 2000). Since it is common for women to display masculine behaviours such as being aggressive and men to display feminine behaviours such as being sensitive, Connell (1995) suggests that there are different types of masculinities and femininities and that gender is socially learned through cultural interactions, not through our biological differences.
Gender socialisation explains how gender roles are communicated through the family and also trough secondary agents such as the media and schools. Children learn their expected gender roles through social norms passed on from these agents which are dependent on the culture of the society they live in (Giddens, 2006). For example, in our culture, boys are likely to be dressed in blue while girls are more likely to be dressed in pink. Girls will be given dolls and playhouses to encourage them to see themselves as future mothers and homemakers, while boys will be given games and toy weapons in order to encourage them to see themselves as strong, aggressive and independent. This reinforces their gender differences and it is how they start to learn and differentiate between their expected gender roles.
How male and female roles have changed since the 1980’s and how it has impacted the nursing profession
Before and during the 70’s, feminist groups campaigned for equal opportunities for women through changes in legislation. These groups are behind the changes in the law that now promote and protect equal pay, access to education for women, birth control, women’s welfare as well as the women’s right to divorce their husbands (The British Library, ND). In the UK, the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) have empowered women to no longer feel inferior and pursue careers.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) women’s employment has been on the rise since the 1980’s. This has gone up from 55% to 67% in 2013 and it is mostly due to the increase of mothers in work. The percentage of mothers with a partner who chose to work has increased from 67% to 72% from 1996 (when records began) to 2013, and lone mothers’ employment has also increased from 43% to 60% over the same period.
The ONS also reported that there has been a decrease on men’s employment from 92% in 1971 to 76% in 2011, even though men continue to have consistently higher employment rates than women. This decrease can be explained by various factors such as: early retirements; men choosing to stay longer in or returning to education; the effect the recession had on the jobs market, which affected mostly sectors that were male dominated; and also, changes in gender roles.
The BBC (2014) reported that stay-at-home dads are on the increase with figures at 230,000, while The Telegraph (2013) reported this number to be 227,000. Both figures were reported according to the ONS.
These statistics show that gender roles have changed significantly and that women are no longer willing to conform to traditional gender roles and have become ambitious, refusing to rely solely on the man’s ability to make money. According to the ONS they have also given priority to getting an education as opposed to giving birth early and staying at home. They don’t mind taking on the breadwinner role and delaying the child bearer and nurturing role for later. These statistics also show that while female breadwinners are on the rise, men are becoming more acceptant and willing to take on the nurturing and homemaker role.
These statistics show that men and women are no longer afraid to display behaviours that were once stereotyped as male or female behaviours. Couples now share responsibilities in regards to child care and house work and lone parents have also more resources and support to bring up their children without a partner, which will influence the way they will socialise their children. Children and young adults no longer have strict expectations regarding masculine and feminine behaviours.
The ONS also reported that women dominate employment within caring and leisure occupations. Women are taking full advantage of the fact that they now have access to education which means that more women are going into nursing. Nursing as also seen an increase in men joining the profession. According to the BBC (2002), figures released by the Nursing and Midwifery Council showed that 1 in 10 nurses in the UK were a man.
This shows that old cultural and stereotypical barriers are being gradually brought down. Since gender expectations are no longer clear-cut, men and women are no longer afraid to pursue careers in areas dominated by the opposite sex. Men are pursuing careers in nursing because they no longer feel the fear of being stigmatised as effeminate or gay. Men are no longer afraid of exhibiting what’s perceived to be feminine traits such as being caring and compassionate, which are required in nursing.
Before the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) was introduced, there was as much discrimination against men trying to become nurses as there was discrimination against women trying to go into male dominated professions (Nursing Times, 2008). As women started to pursue careers which were often male dominated, some men felt that they would also be able to pursue female dominated careers. Whereas before men’s decision to go into nursing would be considered by some as ‘odd’, there has now been an improvement in tolerance and understanding of diversity in society.
Also, since nursing now requires a university degree and training, not just being caring and empathetic, men’s qualities are welcomed to the profession, such as their ability to make quick decisions, their ability to think rationally without letting emotions cloud their judgement and even their physical strength. Nurses are also more involved in decision-making, whereas before they were not supposed to question doctors’ decisions as it would be seen as trying to undermine them. The skills and knowledge that nurses acquire at university mean that their judgment is taken into consideration and that they are no longer looked down upon by doctors, which was once a male dominated profession. Since nurses now have to specialise in specific areas of practice they now have the authority to identify and solve problems as well as being more independent of medical power. This has made the profession more attractive to men. (Denny & Earle, 2005)
Nursing is still a female dominated profession but nurses’ gender is no longer questioned as the profession requires personal skills which transcend gender differences. Nurses’ intellect is now being taken into consideration regardless of them being men or women, and this has been achieved through education and challenges to gender stereotypes.
Sociological explanations of femininity and masculinity in relation to changes in gender roles
Functionalism sees these changes in gender roles and the no longer sharply defined notions of masculinities and femininities as a process of ‘social evolution’ (Haralambos & Holborn, 2000). Functionalists believe that our society is progressing to a more complex form of society, and this is due to humanity’s capacity to evolve. They believe that changes in society’s values are behind these changes in gender roles. Changes in society’s values are what influences individuals to pursue new ways of behaving and acting that will contribute to the progress of society.
Since schools are educating increasingly more people, especially women, this will be evident in society as women aspire to have careers and take on or partake on the breadwinner role. As access to education and job opportunities increase and changes in legislation protect new lifestyles, there has been a change in attitudes towards traditional gender roles. Many people in society now operate based on new values which allows them to adopt both feminine and masculine traits. This is only a sign of progress towards a new society.
Connell (1995), a feminist, writes that there are different types of masculinities and femininities and that these are better explained as a hierarchy whereby masculinities are at the top and femininities at the bottom. Hegemonic masculinity which represents the social and cultural dominance of men over women and also over other types of masculinities, refers to the ‘ideal’ men who exhibit authority, physical strength, are breadwinners and also heterosexual. Under, comes the complicit masculinity which represents men that cannot live up to the standards of hegemonic masculinity but benefit from this society embedded stereotype, which allows them to also have advantages over women. Subordinated masculinity represents men who are seen as the opposite of the ‘ideal man’, such as homosexuals who are stigmatised for it, thus, coming at the bottom of men’s hierarchy.
Emphasised femininity represents women who are compliant and subordinate to men. They are characterized by being caring and empathetic in order to accommodate men’s interests. Under them and under all other masculinities come the resistant femininities who resist being subservient and passive towards male authority.
According to Connell, interactions between these groups have led to a change in the ‘gender order’ where gender relations and roles started to change (Giddens, 2006).
Through interactions with men, women realised that if they adopted what were previous called ‘masculine’ behaviours that would avail a certain degree of freedom. Also, women can change from emphasised femininities to resistant femininities by no longer wanting to feel trapped in positions of subordination to men and pursuing non-subordinated lifestyles such as feminists and lesbians (Giddens, 2006).
Since many women adopted ‘masculine’ behaviours, this allowed men to also change their approach to gender roles. Through interactions with women and men from other positions in the hierarchy, men have also adopted ‘feminine’ behaviours, such as no longer having a problem of being stay-at-home dads or even joining female dominated professions such as nursing.
Radical Feminism, Marxist Feminism and Liberal Feminism views of gender roles and their impact on the nursing profession
Radical feminists’ views do not justify the impact changes in gender roles have had in nursing because nursing is still a very much female dominated profession. There has also been a very slow increase in men joining the profession which indicates that nursing never was or is in danger of becoming male dominated. Even though male nurses are more likely to be in senior posts than their female colleagues (Nursing Times, 2013), which radical feminists argue is always what men endeavour, there is no patriarchal system in nursing that denies women’s access to the profession or to positions of power in the profession.
Marxist feminists’ views also do not fully justify the impact of changes in gender roles in the nursing profession. Nursing is not being vigorously pursued by men, one of the reasons being, men prefer to work in other more financially rewarding sectors (Nursing Times, 2013). This strengthens Marxists feminists’ argument that since nursing isn’t a profession whereby men can make much more money than and dominate women, the profession continues to be overlooked by them and pursued by women. On the other hand, even though nursing isn’t as financial rewarding as other professions, many women prefer to embark on a career that is personally rewarding to them, and do not see it as being exploited, as there are increasingly more opportunities to progress in their nursing careers as well as opportunities to go into male dominated professions.
Liberal Feminists’ views are the ones that better justify the impact that changes in gender roles have had on nursing. Because of changes in legislation, which liberal feminists have campaigned for, more women have access to education which lead more women to pursue nursing careers. Also, the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) has contributed to men being more likely to go into women dominated professions such as nursing, promoting equality between men and women, which liberal feminists aim for. Although the Equal Pay Act (1970) and Equal Opportunities Act (1977) may not be carefully followed, since, male nurses are still slightly better paid and more likely to be promoted than women, changes in legislation are the reason behind changes in gender roles whereby women are not as disadvantaged as before, and also, have strong chances of progressing in their nursing careers.
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