# Used to be Female-dominated; now Male-dominated: examples? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411 "2007-02-23T18:10:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/41 "2007-02-26T13:40:19Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] True, I’ve got very few male classmates in my K-6 program, but I think that’s due to the economics of teaching, not to a cultural climate–unless you’re talking about a cultural climate that devalues teachers. [/QUOTE] I hope I’m wrong, and that men _are_ still making inroads into elementary education. I’m thinking about an attitude I’m hearing more around these parts, where at least five minutes of every 6:00 PM newscast is devoted to child predators, that men shouldn’t be trusted with young children if they’re in a position of power. Another place where males are making inroads: retail positions in clothing stores catering to teens and young adults. Back in the 1980s, stores like The Gap, Chess King (YO!), Jeans West and the like used to be staffed almost exclusively by women. Today, the retail workers at Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, American Apparel, and, yes, The Gap, are mixed. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/42 "2007-02-26T13:50:44Z")
What are nurses who happen to be male called in French and German? The normal words for nurse in those languages are soeur and Schwester. I think this goes back to the time that most nurses were nuns, but that is just a conjecture. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/43 "2007-02-26T14:41:56Z")
[QUOTE=SailBunny] The trend of veterinarians being pre-dominantly women is seen by some as a bit troublesome. Many young women, with stars in their eyes and horses in their hearts beat the men into vet school. They then graduate, specialize in large animals, and realize Hey! This is Hard Hard Physical work! I dont want to work with cows/sheep/livestock, ect! Whoa, I have to work with nasty horses that might try to physically harm me! [/quote] Ahem. I know this is a hijack and all, but the reason why there is a shortage of large animal vets is more complex than just the high prevalence of weakling girls. It is easy to point to the gender imbalance because that’s what is most visibly obvious, but it probably has a lot more to do with the rising percentage of students coming from urban areas. More people nowadays associate vet med with doggie health care. In years past, they were a lot more apt to think of cows and horses. Veterinary student bodies simply reflect public perception. Unless you can show some stats that show a disproportionate number of male graduates go into large animal medicine even after background is controlled for, I have little reason to blame genitalia on what we’re seeing . Of all the large animal/mixed practicioners coming out of my class, almost all of them are women. All the men (with the exception of one, _maybe_) gravitated to small animal medicine. The one thing that the large animal vets have in common is the fact that they were raised in a rural environment where the care of large animals is a way of life. Because there are fewer and fewer people out there with this particular background, it should come to no surprise that we’re seeing fewer vets that want to devote their lives to large animals. > [@](#): > > But there is definitely a changing tide, and its a shame…because who’s going to sew up Mr. Amish Farmer’s cow with the prolapsed uterus at 8 pm? Probably not the book smart girl who really got into large animal veterinary medicine because she competed in horse shows as a girl. I feel like rolling my eyes at this, sorry. As a woman, I encourage you not to go around saying such disparaging remarks like this about female veterinarians. It’s insulting and ignorant. Seeing how I was taught how to sew up “Mr. Amish Farmer’s cow prolapsed uterus” by two veterinarians who happen to be women (who grew up on farms, by the way), I hope you see why I feel this way. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/44 "2007-02-26T14:48:17Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Well, most computer voices _in general_ seem to be modeled on a female voice. What’s up with that? [/QUOTE] I blame Gene Roddenberry. Actually, I think it’s probably just the belief that women’s speaking voices are more pleasant and friendly-sounding than men’s. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/45 "2007-02-26T17:21:45Z")
“Stewards” and “stewardesses” have been called “flight attendants” in the industry for some time. I presume the name change came about as they changed the focus of these jobs from passenger comfort to passenger safety. It has not been my experience that the person serving in these roles are now just as likely to be male as female, but perhaps that varies by airline. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/46 "2007-02-26T18:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=Hari Seldon] What are nurses who happen to be male called in French and German? The normal words for nurse in those languages are soeur and Schwester. I think this goes back to the time that most nurses were nuns, but that is just a conjecture. [/QUOTE] Every nurse’s office in my Health Center in Spain says “enfermera”. My doctor’s nurse has a beard (so, he’s an “enfermero”). There’s been proposals to change the signs to “enfermería” (which means both “sickroom” and “the profession of a nurse”) but so far no go. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/47 "2007-02-26T18:29:57Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] [QUOTE=alphaboi867] Well, most computer voices _in general_ seem to be modeled on a female voice. What’s up with that? [/QUOTE] I blame Gene Roddenberry. [/QUOTE] Not to mention HAL. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/48 "2007-02-26T19:08:21Z")
I’m going to go with Anne Heche. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/49 "2007-02-26T19:09:21Z")
[QUOTE=stolichnaya] I’m going to go with Anne Heche. [/QUOTE] You win the thread! Bravo! BTW, has anybody run across a computress or a computrix? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/50 "2007-02-26T19:32:23Z")
[QUOTE=Hari Seldon] What are nurses who happen to be male called in French and German? The normal words for nurse in those languages are soeur and Schwester. I think this goes back to the time that most nurses were nuns, but that is just a conjecture. [/QUOTE] Interesting question. From a _Fawlty Towers_ episode I recall that “Sister” is a term of address for a nurse, or used to be, in England as well. The full German term is _Krankenschwester_, or sister to the sick, so would a man doing this job be called a _Krankenbruder_? ---
**Author:** ![Homo\_Ergaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Homo\_Ergaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homo_Ergaster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411/51 "2007-02-27T01:22:17Z")
And the winner is “changing nappies” (diapers). Guys of my dad’s generation would eat yellowcake , straight no chaser, before changing one. In Spanish the word “enfermero” makes you think of ordely, particularly in psych wards. The only “male nurses” (sorry) you find, aside for the extremely rare exceptions, are in military hospitals. The “Colegio de Enfermeras” (College/Association of Nurses) uses the feminine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-to-be-female-dominated-now-male-dominated-examples/393411.md?page=2)