Why Women Are Reluctant to Admit They Are Nurturers at Heart

It seems that in an effort to eliminate gender bias, sometimes we have swung too far in the opposite direction. You will often notice that some women are reluctant to embrace the nurturing side of their nature because traditionally, women have been called such things as “the weaker sex.” Based on historical evidence, a great number of women have had trouble competing in a male dominated society. Great strides have been made towards equality, but in so doing, are we denying basic biological instincts?

Discovery of the “Mom Gene” Broadens Our Understanding of Nurturers

According to researchers from Rockefeller University, there may indeed be what they are referring to as a “mom gene.” However, not all women are born with this gene and in the study conducted at the university, they concluded that this gene has identified two different types of mothers. There are those who, from early childhood, dreamed of being a mother. Being a mother fulfills some innate need to be a mother.

Then, there are those who are content being mothers and although they love their children beyond compare, feel as though their lives would have been just as complete had they never had children. There is a third category of women who never had the urge to be a mom, and they feel their lives are just as complete as women who have raised children. Even so, there is a biological need in women to be nurturers and there is nothing wrong with embracing that side of her nature.

You Don’t Need to Be a Mom to Be a Nurturer!

In an article published in Psychology Today, Dr. Ellen L. Walker writes that women have a biological need to be nurturers. There is nothing wrong with admitting you are a nurturer at heart, even if you don’t want to raise a family. Some women find that their career enables them to satisfy their need to nurture and this could be why so many women went into nursing as a career. No, nursing isn’t only for women, but some women are just natural nurturers and what better occupation is there to satisfy that need than nursing?

Taking this a step further, what if you didn’t want children yet were a nurturer at heart? Some women would rather satisfy their need to nurture through their profession. For example, consider working for a Commercial Medical Transport Service in which you were an RN traveling with patients on non-emergency transports. Not only are you their nurse, but you are their caregiver, their guardian and their medical professional throughout the trip. Those women without families at home find their nurturing nature is completely satisfied in occupations like this.

Overcoming Stereotypes in the Professional World

Many professional women have gone through life without children but also embrace their need to nurture. Perhaps the most visible example is Oprah, known for her charitable works and her school in which she is highly active. She has said that she wouldn’t have reached her status had she had family cares, but still recognizes her womanly need to nurture. In short, there is nothing wrong with being a successful career woman who is a nurturer at heart.

You don’t have to be a mom to be a nurturer, but if it is part of your biological makeup, embrace it like Oprah does. Professional equality may mean overcoming stereotypes, but it doesn’t mean you are the weaker sex. Would you ever dream of calling Oprah weak? She is one of the strongest female role models in our times. It simply means you can do key jobs equally as well as your male counterparts and still be a woman who needs to nurture.

Thanks to Isabel Shuter