The idea of the “sexy nurse” seems to be well established in our culture. Why? Most of the nurses I’ve met remind me of my matronly aunties. Furthermore, in my experience, the presence of a nurse means something unpleasant is going to happen, likely something painful, and probably involving blood leaving my body. My guess is that in the past, when nurse was one of the few ‘respectable’ jobs for women, they were amongst the very few women that the average man saw, aside from his family, and therefore were sexualized in men’s minds, only because they were there, kind of like Mt. Everest. Anybody have a better hypothesis?
I think it’s about feeling vulnerable. And I’ve seen more than enough hot nurses to be able to scrub my mind of the other 90% of nurses (sorry nurses).
I don’t get it either. Most of the women I’ve worked with would hardly inspire any fantasies.
That doesn’t seem to stop people (men) from trying their “helllooooo nurse” line whenever they can. I wish I had a dollar for each time.
I’ll look forward to reading responses.
There’s something about being taken care of and nurtured. I think it’s an Oedipal thing that’s probably better left unexplored.
and sometimes their duties require them to stick things up your ass. Don’t forget that aspect of it.
Plus, if it’s a uniform, someone’s going to find it sexy.
Two words:
Sponge.
Bath.
This is exactly what I was coming in to say.
Never underestimate the appeal of a uniform.
Now, one could start talking about the historical link between nursing and comfort battalions in pre-industrial armies. AIUI one of the reasons that the Red Cross was so revolutionary, at the time, was because prior to that point the majority of women involved in nursing duties who weren’t from dedicated religious orders were perceived to be little better than harlots or camp followers. I find it hard to believe that that’s actually a conscious consideration for many people who lust after nurses. OTOH, it’s probably one of the social factors that contributed to the fantasy becoming established in fiction. And once established a number of people would continue the fantasy in each generation. Without needed to have any knowledge of the history behind the fantasy.
In some ways, it’s similar to the generic appeal to garter belts - they are considered sexy, in part, because they were considered sexy in the past.
What in the world makes a uniform “sexy”? A nurse is someone who takes your weight, measures your height, and takes your blood pressure. What could be “sexy” about that?
If you think a nurse is “sexy” simply because she (or he) wears a uniform, what about the meter maid or meter man who issues you a parking ticket?
Around here, most nurses are in such a hurry to get their job done that you barely have a moment to give them a second thought.
I suppose if you’re a man who is attracted to Filipinas, that may have something to do with it.
This one is easy. I don’t have cites, but I think there may have even been a passage in some coming-of-age book I read as a youth that even spelled it out.
Way back when, nurses, teachers, secretaries, etc. only worked until they got married, so the average age of nurses was young.
Plus, nurses had a thorough training in human biology, therefore they had a working knowledge of how to get pregnant and how not to. This also extended to “they know stuff other women don’t.”
Plus, working in medicine, they (supposedly) had access to all sorts of “protection” that the typical teacher, secretary, etc. wouldn’t have.
So, young+knowledgable+protected = hot to trot!
I was once in the hospital, in traction, for two and a half weeks.
I was bored. I was hurt. I was scared. I was lonely. My family lived several hours away from the hospital and couldn’t visit me every day. The doctor spent, like, fifteen seconds in my room each morning, initialed my chart, and went away. I’m not criticizing my medical care, but I didn’t need him and hardly ever saw him.
It was the nurses who provided me with daily human contact, and this was unspeakably comforting. They chatted with me, and seemed sympathetic and interested and kind. And in return, I adored them. Even the stern ones. I can’t even describe how warmly I felt towards the one nurse who, twice during my 18-day stay, washed my hair. I *love *her. I want to know her name so I can send her a thank-you note, and this was 20 years ago.
Now, I’m a straight woman, and my nurses were all women. I can only imagine the passion I might have conceived for them if they had been of the opposite sex. Lordy.
Hmm…I’ve never thought the biology and contraceptive angles. Somehow, I doubt this is on the mind of most men interested in nurses, but I could be wrong.
For me, it’s simple. It’s the caring, compassionate, take-care-of-you image they have, with a dose of the uniform thing thrown in. Heck, when I was in second grade and ended up in the hospital for a three-day stay, I almost didn’t want to leave because I had developed the hugest pre-pubescent crush on the nurse. I just loved her attentive bedside manner. Who, man or woman, doesn’t love being taken care of from time to time?
…and they’re intelligent, but without much of any smarter-than-you attitude. And they care for you. And they can bring you pain killers if they’re sympathetic, which they mostly are. And as much as any other women, they seem to like being admired - and looking pretty.
(Hmm? My mom was a registered nurse, why do you ask? No, I’ve never so much as dated one, but I sure as hell respect them.)
There was a time when any “civilian” nurse (that is, not a nun) was likely to be young. Any 20yo who can walk on her own two legs will look hot to most of her male patients. The hotness likelihood is only increased by the presence of painkillers and pain, both of which are known to muddle the eye.
Also, it’s a woman in a position of authority, yet one who exercises her authority with kindness rather than yelling “Thomas Beaufourt Mapother VII, get yourself right here or so help me God I shall give you such a spanking!” And if the patient was into spanking? Well, those head nurses can scare the bejesus out of anybody.
If you’re going to ask that, though - what makes any particular fetish sexy?
I’ll be honest, 90-95% of the fashion highlighted at any Hollywood shindig leaves me cold. Even if I happen to think that the actress wearing it is hot, normally. But put that same woman in BDUs and I’m fighting to keep my tongue in my mouth. Now, I can say that on reflection a woman in a uniform will hint at a healthy, and shapely body beneath her clothes, with more “scope for imagination,” than more overtly sexy clothing might offer. But, while I don’t think that’s a false argument, it’s very clearly (to me) thinking about a reaction that I’m already having.
I think you’re asking for a rational explanation of something that isn’t often rational.
You mean like this? (yes they really are meter maids.)
Perhaps the idea of sexy nurses gained strength during the various wars when nurses would be young and also the only women a soldier was likely to see.
As I’ve mentioned more than once on this Board, a friend of mine once said “The Engineer’s Best Friend is the Nurse.” He’d dated a lot of nurses.
So, for that matter, have I. I haven’t made an effort to do so, but I notice that every woman I’ve gone out with for any length of time has been a Health Care Professional. (Including Pepper Mill, who I married.)
Why? I don’t know.The whole bnurturing/caring thing might be part of it. Nurses also know their way around the human body and aren’t squeamish about it. They’re culturally allowed and even required to do things to your body. It’s easier to imagine getting physical with a nurse than with, say, an accountant.
For my part, I just read a report in the newspaper that said that intelligent women aren’t incapable of math and physics, but for some reason choose not to go into those fields, preferring work in the biological sciences. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but it squares with my experience. Going with a nurse gives you a smart date.
Could be that most of the time when one has regular encounters with nurses, one is in bed and, well, y’know what else beds are good for? I’m gonna’ endorse the idea that one is vulnerable, usually almost naked, and receiving nursing care is a very personal thing.
Since the nurse uniform has gone by the wayside, a bit of the mystique has, too.
I spend a lot of time in ERs as an EMT, and I see a lot of nurses. In my personal and anecdotal experience, there are nurses and ER docs that catch my eye, but the percentage is no greater than the eye-catching women I encounter in my day job as an engineer.
It has? What do they wear now?