Role Play

[penfield]

From the "The French Maids Would Like to Have a Word with You" Department:

Nurses Complain About Heart Attack Grill

"Nurses are the most sexually fantasized-about profession," said Sandy Summers, executive director of the Center for Nursing Advocacy, based in Baltimore. "We're asking people, if they're going to have these fantasies, please don't make it so public. Move these sexual fantasies to other professions."

Summers and her nurse pals should get over themselves. I've always thought of nurses as just one of the "five stars" of sexual fantasy, and not necessarily the first. You have:
- Cheerleaders
- Catholic schoolgirls (18 and over, obviously)
- French maids
- Stewardesses
- Nurses

I am tempted to include librarians on this list, but that may just be my own personal sub-fetish.

POST SCRIPT:

Obviously, this list applies to male fantasies. Women are far too sensitive and thoughtful to engage in such stereotypical objectification. But if they did, it would probably look something like:
- Doctors
- Lawyers
- Firemen
- Shipping magnates
- Daddy substitutes

Comments

Fantasies

[smithie98.livejournal.com]

I understand that men have fantasies about nurses, but what makes that restaurant different, from say, Hooters, is that it is objectifying a profession that has made enormous strides in the 30 years in terms of raising the professional bar. Most nursing programs are now bachelor's degrees, and, if anything like the nursing program I am in, much harder than the impression the general public has. Many, many nurses also go on to get advanced degrees of some kind. I also take beef with one of the quotes from the men in that article--nurses don't, on a regular basis, change bedpans anymore. It is this kind of portrayal of nurses that keeps the general persona of nurses from advancing to the status that it deserves. Come spend a day in my shoes, and you'll see what I mean.

Nurses (men and women), in general, work harder and longer hours than the average person works (and are really the people who get to know and help the patients--not the doctor), and yet still continued to be considered by men as just some ditsy, sexy woman who comes in and wipes their brow cool all the while showing off ample cleavage and long legs. Ick.

I know what most objections to my comments would be--I'm a prude, get over it, I am taking this too seriously, etc., etc. BUT if girls and boys are exposed to this kind of objectifying, the stereotype will continue to permeate throughout society. Who would want to go into that kind of profession where you think men are just going to drool all over you every day? What if I opened a restaurant that objectified the male middle manager and cube life? No one would come because it would hit too close to home!

Also, I have 2 problems with your list--of the 5 women listed, only one of those requires professional training (disregarding the addition of the librarian). Why oh why don't men find smart women as something to fantasize about?

And looking at the list you wrote for women--it appears that we only like men with money (except for the firefighter). Did you write that list based on what you think are women's fantasies (in a general manner)? I don't think that money (or a Daddy substitute) is what turns women in our age bracket on these days. Or at least, I hope not.

OK, enough of my rant.

"ample cleavage and long legs. Ick."

[enchanted-pants.livejournal.com]

I apologize for offending the sisterhood of nurses out there. I regret contributing to any erroneous impressions of the profession, and I say that not just as a big booster of nurses but also as someone who may eventually need medical assistance.

I want to reiterate that my musings were about sexual fantasies, which we must all know to have no basis in reality. When guys dream about fucking a woman, they are generally more concerned with her appearance and her uniform than the amount of graduate work she has completed. This is, essentially, a discussion of outfits.

Which is probably why the accompanying list of women's fantasies is ripe for criticism. It was intended to poke fun at women's attraction to status and money -- as opposed to men's obsession with physical attributes -- and apparently failed. More importantly, though, it confirms that I have about as much idea what women want as I do about what African lions want.

(The answer: hot meat.)

Re: Fantasies

[hbinc.livejournal.com]

Hey! Now I'm offended. I find smart women incredibly attractive. In fact, I always fantasized about intelligent cheerleaders -- having them do my chemistry homework after we had finished lovin' was always part of the fantasy. These days, I could use some help with my taxes. Where the sexy accountants at?

Re: Fantasies

[(Anonymous)]

I just got my taxes done. With sexy results.

Italy?

[(Anonymous)]

I thought your next post would be a recap of your Italian adventures. Don't they have sexy women to fantasize about?

Re: Italy?

[enchanted-pants.livejournal.com]

It's coming. I've been waiting for my photos to be developed.

Keep your pants on. (I really mean that.)

Re: "ample cleavage and long legs. Ick."

[(Anonymous)]

As far as the list of guys women might fantasize about, I only agree with the firemen. As you said about not being all that worried about a women's education when fantasizing about her, I feel the same about men. Status and money are not the most important thing to me.
As far as the woman studying to me a nurse, it shouldn't matter to you what other people think of you or your profession, or how they portray you in their fantasies. If you are truly in a profession that you want to be in, and it is important to you, then concentrate on that, and forget the rest of the world. You can't control how others think, only how you think and how you react to others. Good luck in your chosen profession and in life!

Re: Fantasies

[arealariel.livejournal.com]

As a nurse myself, I feel compelled to reply as well to this posting. I take only mild offense when nurses are portrayed as solely sexual beings. I cringe when nurses are portrayed as working only until they find that special doctor to marry and "take them away from it all". I take much greater offense when nurses are portrayed as know-it-all bullies that compels the kind-hearted doctor to stay all night at the patient bedside (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) to a) protect his patient from afore-mentioned Nurse Ratched and b) must then come to prove how wrong/cold/insignificant/ignorant the nurse really is, thus sending bully-nurse off in a huff.

But which is worse for the image of nursing as a profession? I will have to go with the bully-nurse. She is often dressed and looks more like what a nurse looks like in real life. People who see bully-nurse on TV and then go to the hospital will have a much easier time associating bully-nurse with their real nurse whereas with sex-kitten-nurse, you would be hard-pressed (sorry for the phrasing there) to find a nurse in real life that dresses like a floozie. Sex-kitten-nurse, in the end, is only the exaggerated fantasy--much like the men portrayed on the covers of smut novels. REAL men don't look like that and we women know that. Most of us can separate bodice-ripping man from the men we see in real life. I like to think that most men can separate sex-kitten-nurse from real life nurses.

And let's be honest here. The restaurant thing IS awfully funny.