Nursing: a ghettoized profession relegated to women's sphere

Feminists have suggested that the predominance of women in professions such as social work and nursing has led to their identification with that other domain of female exclusivity, the housewife, and has reduced, rather than enhanced choices for women (Clifford, 1988). If so, has this identification led to a ghettoization that prevents nurses from joining and reaping the benefits from the mainstream of the feminist movement? The concepts of ghettoization and women's sphere will be used to explore nursing's relationship to the women's movement, the medical profession, and the larger society.