There is a new form of degradation affecting me, a male nursing student, and millions of other students across the nation. You could be involved in insulting students just like me without even knowing it. It mainly occurs during the primary stages of meeting and polite conversation.
One of the standard getting-to-know-you questions is, “What is your major?”
While trite, this question often brings about an interesting result when asked of me. Whenever I tell people I’m a nursing major they feel the need to immediately make me defend my decision. Now, I wouldn’t try to convince anyone that their degree in English will open the door to job opportunities, so please don’t try to halfheartedly convince me that you know something about the benefits of nursing that I don’t.
Sadly, I’ve found as people continuously provide this style of response, I grow increasingly aware of its condescension.
Granted, I am pleased to see that people aren’t asking me, “So why are you going to be a nurse and not a doctor?” That question is about as relevant as if I had asked them, “Why are you just going to be a mechanical engineer and not a race car driver?” It’s quite beneficial that we don’t have to go down that road.
While I’m proud of the general public for realizing they shouldn’t ask that question, I am quite disappointed that they’ve found a brand new way to subtly insult me. They can appear to sound supportive and pleased, while a tacit tone of condescension fills the conversation. Apparently when I said “nursing,” they heard “nursing, and it is horrible. I am just ashamed of myself. I wish you hadn’t asked me about it because now I find myself somehow feeling inferior to a communication studies major. Please console me.”
Maybe they wouldn’t have heard all that if I were female. I can only assume that as a male nursing major I am supposedly obligated to feel some level of shame or embarrassment. The truth is, I don’t. Maybe I did at some point, but after being in a hospital and having a patient tell me that I’ve changed their life, saved their life or made even made the slightest difference in their day.
The general public is slowly starting to do a much better job of not asking us why we don’t want to be doctors, but there is a new threat to consider. Are you agreeing with me on the benefits of being “just a nurse,” or are you consoling me? The two are very different and, trust me, we can tell. So please, talk to your friends about tacit insults before they talk to me.
– Ryan Devaney is a middler nursing major.