– I am in favor of doing things more gender-neutral. I don’t really think midwives are an exception, says 22-year-old Henrik Øverby. He is studying in his final year of nursing studies at Høgskolen i Innlandet in Elverum. In 1972, it was allowed to train men to become midwives. Since then, 22 men have received midwifery authorization. The last man graduated in 2021, according to the Nurses’ Association. Øverby believes the professional title may be a reason why so few men are midwives. – If I had been passionate about what midwives do and the profession that they stand for, I might think that it would not have been a decisive factor. But I probably thought it would have been a little easier to be presented with a more gender-neutral title. FEMALE DOMINATED: – Nursing is generally a fairly female-dominated profession. If you are already a nurse, I don’t think a title would stop you when you have already entered a profession that is dominated by women, says Vegard Isene from Gjøvik. Photo: Viktoria Hellem-Hansen / news Students can apply to become a midwife after several years of work. Fellow student Vegard Isene thinks that can be exciting. – I have not considered becoming a midwife, but it is not something that is impossible. It could be exciting, he says. These professional titles will be gender neutral There are state professional titles that can be changed. Occupational titles that have not been changed: The title of midwife in the Ministry of Health and Welfare (exception) These have been changed or are being worked on now: In progress: The title of foreign official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Proposal is a foreign service employee. In the main tariff agreement in the state 1 May 2022–2024 for LO state and YS state, mate under the Coastal Administration was changed to deck officer, the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries informs. In 2018, health nurse was changed to health nurse. In 2021, the county governor became a state administrator. In 2021, the governor of Svalbard became the governor. Constable and bailiff in the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Management. In 2021, it became police station chief instead of sheriff. It is not yet clear when the title will be formally adopted. Although bailiff is not a job title, the ministry took the initiative in that hearing to replace the term bailiff with the term bailiff. Ombudsman for children in the Ministry of Children and Families has been changed to ombudsman for children. In Norwegian it is called the children’s ombud. It is therefore only the English title that was changed. The chairman of Norway’s Directorate of Water Resources and Energy and the Ministry of Oil and Energy has been changed to supervisor. Sources: Ministry of Culture, regjeringen.no, Language Council. Got exceptions Many gender-based titles are missing from the language. But the midwife title will not be changed. But is there something that should be simpler and more gender neutral? How about “birth nurse” or “birth assistant”? That, and “Maieutikk”, which is the Greek word for “midwife”, are among the titles that have been proposed for the Language Council. Because “midwife” was among the titles that were going away. In April 2019, the Storting decided that all occupational titles in the state should become gender neutral. EXCEPTION: The Ministry of Health and Care explains that this had to do with the origin of the term. “Earth mother” means that children were born on an earthen floor and given to their mother. But that is not true, according to the Language Council. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB In connection with the review of terms to be replaced with gender-neutral words, “midwife” was seen as an exception. – Under the previous government, it was considered, but it was concluded that the history of the term and wishes from professionals indicated that it should be retained, replies State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng in the Ministry of Health and Care in an email. But the reason for the initiative to change gendered titles is because the titles are gendered, not the meaning of the word itself. “Mann” does not just mean male, but also human, says section head Daniel Ims in the Language Council. – Midwives do not have a gender-neutral successor, says Ims. What is the etymology of midwife? Many believe that the term “midwife” means that children were born on an earthen floor and given to the mother, which is the reason why the title is allowed to pass, according to the Ministry of Health and Care. But is this where the term comes from? – There are no dictionaries that will explain it that way, says section manager Daniel Ims at the Language Council. The etymology of “jord” is not entirely certain, but it may be an old word for a newborn child or “jord” in today’s Norwegian. But there is no uncertainty about “mother”, says Daniel Ims in the Language Council. He says that “mor” is the same word as “mother” in modern Norwegian, and it is the person who helps at the birth. “Mother” is then not used in the sense of “woman who has children”, but of “woman”, such as in a word such as “mother”. One linguist has already found the earth floor theory to be the least likely of four that exist. MIDWIFE: Daniel Ims, head of section in the Language Council, says the midwife title is about a woman welcoming the child. Photo: Moment Studio Male nurses thought the title should be changed 38-year-old Heidi Renberg is a municipal midwife in Halden. In 2022, she published a study with male nursing students, in which she investigated why men did not choose the midwifery profession. The seven participants talked about several reasons why men do not consider the profession. They described, among other things, that the profession was linked to femininity, experienced it as a closed environment, that there were few male role models and future work opportunities. Uncertainty related to being accepted into the education and the title was also mentioned. – They thought that it might be appropriate to change the title if you wanted to recruit more men to the profession, says Renberg. STUDY: Heidi Renberg is a municipal midwife. In 2022, she published a master’s thesis in which she investigated why men did not choose the midwifery profession. Photo: Privat She has herself worked with male midwives, and believes that more of them are needed. She does not want to change the title. – The midwife title is a very sensitive topic among us midwives, she says. In 2019, the health nurse became a health nurse. More men applied for the profession. A reader post in 2018 pointed out that you may have lost many good midwives because of those who do not consider the profession because of the title. The participants of the study also thought so. Do you think the midwife title should become gender neutral? Yes, it’s an old title. It might bring in more male applicants if you make it gender neutral. No, it is an established professional title with a lot of history. I don’t care Show result I don’t want to be anything other than a midwife – I live very well being a midwife, says 39-year-old Åsgeir Almvik from Lillehammer. In 2021, he was the only man to be educated in a master’s degree in midwifery. He is proud of the title, but is very often asked what he calls himself. Almvik believes that it is not possible to find a word as comprehensive as midwife, but that it might be easier to get more men in with a gender-neutral title. – But if you had managed to focus on what the midwifery profession is, and that it is desirable to have more men into the midwifery profession, I think it would have been a good little boost, like changing a name. MIDWIFE?: In 2021, Åsgeir Almvik was the only man who trained to become a midwife. Photo: Privat Strong reactions In dialogue with professionals, organizations and other representatives, it was considered that the term “midwife” should be retained, according to the Ministry of Health and Care. – There was no need for the Storting to push this to the limit, says Peter Frølich, head of the control and constitutional committee. NO CHANGE: The Midwives’ Association and the Midwives’ Association did not want to change the title. They had strong objections to it, explains Frølich. Photo: Casper Lehland / Right – If we are required to come up with something, we will do it, but we are very much against changing the midwife title, says head of the Norwegian Midwives Association, Lena Henriksen. She says the title is a very well incorporated occupational title, and that she does not think anything of the proposals that came in. – It has been discussed that the title is not about gender, but that it refers to the birth assistant lifting the child from the earth to the mother. Although this is one of several explanations, and perhaps not the most likely, we believe that the land title is a historical title that must remain. Lena Henriksen is professor of midwifery at Oslo Met and political leader of the Norwegian Association of Midwives. She believes the title should not be changed. Photo: Sonja Balci / OsloMet – Both to honor the women who give birth, but also for the midwives who have this protected title and their own authorization, says Henriksen. In order to get more men into the education, she believes that you need to tell more about what a midwife does, and that you don’t necessarily need to change the title. The Norwegian Nurses’ Association is concerned with gender-neutral titles, but also believes it is important to get more men to think about the profession as an alternative when seeking education. – A large number of today’s nurses are women, says union leader of the Norwegian Nurses’ Association, Lill Sverresdatter Larsen.
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Gender-marked occupational titles will disappear – midwives are the only one who will not become gender-neutral – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
