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It's not a problem in cosmetology, but it's a huge problem in nursing and elementary education. Qualified people are being discouraged from fields that would b
by dgabriel 17y ago
It's not a problem in cosmetology, but it's a huge problem in nursing and elementary education. Qualified people are being discouraged from fields that would benefit greatly from their participation, based solely on their gender.
- bobbyi 17y agoI can't ever remember being "discouraged" from nursing or teaching. When does this happen? Did you have an experience in school where you were literally told that you shouldn't become a nurse or teacher?
- sfk 17y agohttp://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=333168 http://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=333168
- akeefer 17y agoThe discrimination against male nurses isn't overt, it's much more subtle: male nurses are the subject of jokes and people act as if there's something inherently effeminate and un-masculine about the profession. There's a general societal attitude that "nursing is for women" that certainly discourages men from entering the profession.
- moultano 17y agoThe profession's title literally means "to suckle at the breast." If it were commonly called something like "doctor's aid" I'd bet it wouldn't be as pronounced a problem.
- hugh3 17y agoIf that were true then you could check it by looking at the male nurse prevalence among non-English speaking countries. In French, Italian and Spanish a nurse is some variation on "infermier" coming from the same root as the word for "sickness", and they don't have higher rates of male nurses. In German it's the truly awesome word "Krankenschwester" meaning something like "sickness sister". Obviously this is gender-specific and has nothing to do with my point, but I just learned it and felt the need to share. I tried a few other languages in google translate but didn't know them well enough to figure out the etymologies. If anyone knows of non-gender-loaded "nurse" words in other languages it would be interesting to hear them.
- philwelch 17y agoI've gathered that the continuing witchhunt against pedophiles keeps a lot of men out of teaching, actually.
- TeHCrAzY 17y agoThis is why I am a programmer today. I was strongly pushed by guidance counselors + my parents to not pursue a teaching career purely because of the risk involved. My Mother works as a teachers aide, and often mentions the extreme levels that male teachers will go to to avoid any implication or suspicion. The mere rumor of anything would be both career ending and life threatening.
- dgabriel 17y agoThat's a terrible shame, but I hope you find your current career fulfilling. I hope we can all move past gender biases someday.
- bct 17y agoPeople who say that women are discouraged from computer science don't mean that women are literally told they shouldn't become programmers, either.