Mixed Bag with Nurse Jackie

    Nurse Jackie, not your typical medical television show drama.  The show begins by showing a medicine cabinet opening and some light music plays. As the opening music plays the viewer sees a bottle of pills, syringe, name tag and individuals floating seamlessly through the air. Some of the characters in this show are not typecast in stereotypical gender roles.  For instance, Nurse Jackie is a female nurse, a stereotypical career for many women. She is also a mother, a wife and a drug addict. Nurse Jackie lies to, and cheats on her husband, with the hospital pharmacist.
    Her husband, Kevin, is frequently seen taking care of their two children, as she is generally absent for some reason.  Her husband is the perfect epitome of masculinity; he operates a bar, he’s shown playing baseball, he wears jeans and sports jerseys. She is nearly always shown wearing the typical scrubs, therefore her clothing does not scream femininity. In fact, Nurse Jackie is rather tuff and domineering in her manner of speech and approach, typical of masculinity.
    There are several male nurses, one is gay, his name is Thor, a name associated with strength, and Thor refers to sex with women as “eww”!  The other male nurse is heterosexual, but like nurse Jackie, he too is a drug addict.  Obviously, male nurses are rare, and society perceives the nursing field to be a career for women, not males.  There is another male who plays the heterosexual doctor Cooper. However, Doctor Cooper whines, and behaves childishly; he likes to remind the staff he is a doctor. He thinks of himself as almost god-like, referring to his doctor status as a way to; “use his powers to do good”. The medical staff reciprocates, by treating him like he is beneath them; the pharmacist called him a, “stupid goat fuck”.  This guy shows none of the signs society equates with typical masculinity.
    Another character that is present is that of a female doctor. The female doctor is both classy, and feminine. She shows her femininity by wearing high heels, and couture clothing, clothing that she verbally acknowledges as such. The female doctor walks about with an air of authority and confidence, not because she is a doctor, but because she’s more in control than the male doctor. She shows her classiness by having a limo pick her up from work; while the male doctor walks to work. In today’s world it’s generally the man that is seen hopping into the limo.  There is some gender role reversal at play in this show. Clearly, the females are shown to be the mentally strong and dominate figures, and the men are seen as more sensitive and submissive.  A promo clip of Nurse Jackie can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjC-uSnTEE4