Professions such as law, business, medicine, and economics have been deemed in our society as prestigious work that pays well and is well respected. These are also professions that have been and still are male-dominated and have required qualities of having a business mentality and being emotionally detached, like a bull ready to bulldoze through any obstacle and driven to compete and succeed.
Many of the qualities that are deemed positive in these fields are also understood as qualities men generally tend to have and not females. According to society, females make good mothers and do well in fields of caring for others.
Many male and female fields such as nursing and business have defined themselves as drawing in people based on set characteristics. The problem here is that these characteristics are deemed “male” and “female.”
Nursing becomes a female field based on its high need for nurturing and personal care, and business becomes a male field based on its need for clear-cut decision-making completely detached and void from anything emotional or nurturing.
These male and female qualities that each of us are defined by are socially constructed, they are not biologically determined, and they are changeable.
Our society has added values to certain adjectives and then placed them into categories for men and women to fit into. In actuality, both men and women possess qualities deemed male or female, regardless of their gender.
Hopefully each of us can move forward in the direction we feel is right for us, regardless of gender.