Quote:
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Women can pursue any career, but if a man wants to be a nurse, there is still a stigma he faces,
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my husband was an RN in the 80's and early 90's -- he used that gender inequality issue to move up in that world very fast. It seems that men in nursing could then move into administration with far less trouble than the women.
But, considering gender roles and perception of men....
If I told you that:
my husband is a retired disabled veteran of the first Gulf War. He served in the Army and Army Reserve for 18 years before his injuries from the war forced him to retire. In the Army, he attended both the Infantry and Engineer schools among others. He has a class A commercial driver's license too -- shame he can't do that work any more, it pays very well. After he retired he was a coach at an NCAA-II college but then we moved here so I could go back to school.
then our initial perception would be "masculine" -- probably outdoorsy and definately not the least bit
fem
If I were to tell you instead:
My husband was an RN for more than a few years. He's also a very accomplished musician, he plays flute and piccolo very well. On top of that, he knows how to do hair and makeup! His theatre experience in costuming taught him to sew and to size a woman on sight. He's great to take shopping for clothes, he's got fantastic style sense...
then our initial perception would be
he's gay "Barbara Streisand ticket holding, friend of Dorothy"
Yet both of these statements about him are true. In his case, he has used those perceptions to his advantage -- but I know that he still takes issue with the "appearing gay" thing. It's a matter of gender role expectations -- many men believe that they are "less man" if they are percieved as bi or gay.
