M.

Baldessari 1

To: Supervising Editor

Cc: Chris Turpin, English 100 Instructor
From: Marie Baldessari
Date: October 1, 2014
Subject: Gender Analysis of “Are you Man Enough” Ad

Introduction
A Women’s Profession
When I hear the word nurse, I immediately imagine a woman in a white outfit with a red cross

on her hat. This is the stereotype for the profession of nursing. Most stereotypes exist because

either at one point they were true, or it makes it easier for people to classify certain groups. In

the case of nursing it is easier to think of nurses as women, because women are stereotypically

caring and nurturing. Men are stereotypically stoic and aloof. This being said, just because it is

easier to imagine all nurses being women does not make it true. Men can be nurses as well, but

because of the stereotype, may not want to because they would feel inferior to other medical

professions.

The “Are You Man Enough to Be a Nurse” advertisement tries to reverse this stereotype by

showing that men who are nurses are just as manly as men with other jobs. Many of these men

shown on the advertisement are nurses as a part of a job that is considered a more masculine job.

This advertising campaign, launched by the Oregon Center for Nursing (OCN), was trying to

reverse this stereotype because there was a shortage of nurses in general.

Target Audience

An argument could be made that the Oregon Center for Nursing is trying to appeal to women in

this advertisement having to do with toughness. Women want to be seen as equal to men in some

cases. The main target audience, however, would be towards males.

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The OCN website stated that this advertisement was shown in the form of a poster. This poster

could be put up in high schools, colleges, or maybe even hospitals. Many young men could see

the advertisement and want to be like the men. Even though the men in the advertisement are

nurses, they appear masculine instead of the usual feminine look that the nursing profession is

associated with.

Layout and Color

The layout of this advertisement is set up in just a way to draw attention to the men in the

picture. These men are in the exact center of the poster in order to draw our eyes to them.

Everything in the advertisement is in lines. The heading, the people, and the subheadings all

follow the lines so the viewer will read up to down. It is also visually appealing to have the lines

and gets attention more than if it were jumbled.

Another important aspect of the layout is the way the text gets smaller as your eyes move down

the page. This makes the viewer read from top to bottom. In the corner of the page is a very

small logo for the Oregon center for nursing. It is the last thing a viewer would read and is

therefore left with the name.

This advertisement utilizes the technique of black and white coloring. The lack of color could be

to emphasize a lack of feeling associated with most males. If color were to be incorporated into

the picture, the viewer could be drawn more to the outfits than to the men themselves. The black

and white also makes the men appear in unity. Race and age are not shown as well without color

and shows that any man can be a nurse. The logo in the corner for the OCN appears to be
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slightly lighter and almost a shade of green instead of gray. This could be to draw the viewer’s

eyes to it, but to not distract from the main picture.

People

There are several men in this advertisement and they all look very tough. The camera angle is

looking up at them emphasizing that these male nurses are dominant. Some of the men have their

arms crossed to look even tougher. Although the usual stereotype is that the female nurses work

for the male doctor, these men seem to be in charge of themselves. They show dominance and

look very serious, almost demanding that others must take them seriously even though they are

male nurses.

An important thing about these men is the clothes they are wearing. Some of them are wearing

clothes associated with a manly hobby they may have. For example, one man is wearing his

black belt from karate because he does that on the side of nursing. Another man carries a

snowboard, which to some could be considered a manly sport.

Although there is no age written for each man, the viewer can tell some men are older and some

are younger. Not only is it going against the stereotype that they must be women, but that nurses

can be of all ages. The races of the men are not emphasized because the advertisement is in black

and white. Upon closer analysis, however, the viewer can see that many races are represented

and therefore welcome to this profession.

Words

Very significant aspects of this advertisement are the words on the poster. The main headline

“Are you Man Enough to be a Nurse” instantly grabs the viewer’s attention. This headline is in
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bold print and all capitals to stand out. These words are also the largest words on the page. It is a

strong statement because all men want to be “man enough”. The advertisement may even seem

to suggest that men that are afraid to be nurses are not manly.

The subheading on the advertisement reads, “If you want a career that demands intelligence,

courage and skill, and offers unlimited opportunity, consider nursing.” This challenges men on

the idea that nursing is just the easy way out of becoming a doctor. Instead it states that nursing

itself is a promising profession that will test your abilities. It is meant to appeal to many men

because it almost sounds like a challenge.

Some of the most important words on the page are under the men. Below each man is his name,

and a manly hobby he enjoys. This says to other men reading the poster that these men are very

masculine and enjoy similar things to most men. It says just because you are a nurse does not

mean you are not masculine.

Media

The stereotype came in to existence over many years of women being the primary ones in the

profession of nursing. Instead of trying to reverse this, however, the media has also joined in on

the stereotype. Many medical TV shows portray the doctors as being dominant males, and the

nurses as submissive females or assistants.

If a TV show or movie does have male nurses they are often made to look less masculine, nurse

Don Anderson gives the example in the movie Meet the Family a character who is a male

nurse is named Gaylord Focker, which is almost just stating how we should feel about male

nurses and that they are not manly. (Anderson)

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Even when I put the word nurse into a search engine for images, several women showed up

wearing the classic white outfit. Obviously most people just associate nurses with being women.

Another reason this may be the case is because most nurses are still women. According to a

government census, in 2011 only nine percent of nurses were men, the other ninety-one percent,

women. (Landivar) The “Are you Man Enough” advertisement hopes to soon reverse the trend.

Conclusion

The “Are you Man Enough to be a Nurse” poster has most likely changed the mind of some men,

maybe even convincing some to consider nursing. Through the analysis of the target audience,

layout and color, people, words, and media, one can see that this advertisement seeks to change

the minds of many young people, especially males, in order to get them to consider nursing.

Nurses no longer need to be stereotyped as those young nurturing women in the starch white

outfits. Instead they can also be seen as tough men who are committed to their patient’s well

being in order to help them heal. This world needs more nurses… are you man enough?

Works Cited

Anderson, Don. "Man Enough: The 20 X 20 Choose Nursing Campaign." Minority Nurse. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

Landivar, Liana C. "Men in Nursing Occupations." American Community Survey Highlight

Report (n.d.): n. pag. Census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.