FEMINISM AND NURSING
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Simone de Beauvoir once wrote: "One is not born, but becomes a woman." Nurses may paraphrase that by saying, "One is not born a nurse, but becomes one." This is in the sense that nursing has taken on far greater responsibility and depth as modern medicine expands its horizons and as people live longer, if not always healthier lives. One major problem with even a brief overview of nursing and its professional status is that nursing is often seen as a woman's field. Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, even M*A*S*H's Hot Lips Houlihan are symbols of women fighting in a man's world- all too often in wartime or crisis. Now, with the advent of the feminist movement, the point of view is not so much that Nursing offers great opportunities for women, but that there is a need to fight for equality- in pay as well as in status. To bring some sense into today's nursing profession, one must look into two different and differing philosophies- that of feminism, and that of logical positivism. We will focus, primarily on the status and respect of the nurse in a medical environment and the knowledge required. "The term was first used by Alexandre Dumas the younger in 1872, in a pamphlet, L'Homme-Femme , to designate the emerging movement for women's rights" (Grendon, 1956 p. 107). Actually, the feminist movement in modern times came out of the family room, so to speak, after the publication of john Stuart Mill's Subjection of Women in 1869. "This book became the Bible of
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ifference runs the danger of creating essentialist understandings of people" (Drevdahl, 1999, p. 6).
What remains to be covered under this topic is whether feminism is truly relevant to nursing. Perhaps the best definition, applicable to nursing is: "A valuing of women and a validation of women's experiences, ideas, and needs" (Sigsworth 1995 2).
The very word "experiences puts this relevant definition of feminism at odds with logical positivism.
Logical positivism
"The Logical Positivist school differs from earlier empiricists and positivistsain holding that the ultimate basis of knowledge rests upon public experimental verification, rather than upon personal experience." (Britannica 2001 1) What makes this a debatable point is that much of nursing is based on experience, not merely verification of facts. TLC, a vital part of nursing interaction with patients, is not something that can be examined and verified. Yet, this positivist philosophy states that "there is only one reality" (Thomas, 1995, p. 1). Yet, nurses understand that there well may be more than one reality in dealing with patients, with doctors, with administration, and with patients' families. It certainly is true that, as the basics of logical p
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Approximate Word count = 1743
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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