It turns out that dressing up as a naughty nurse is … well, naughty.
There are calls around the world to ban sexy nurse Halloween costumes, with one nursing council claiming the raunchy outfits are “offensive and degrading.”
Spain’s nursing council, which represents 330,000 workers, said the costumes perpetuate “sexualized, trivial and frivolous” images of women.
“As people prepare to celebrate Halloween and All Saints’ Day, the general nursing council regrets the proliferation of costumes that have offensive and degrading connotations as far as the profession is concerned,” it declared in a statement, reported by the Guardian.
Closer to home, an organization in Canada and influencers in America are also pushing for the costumes to be forbidden.
Spain’s nursing council took issue with several types of nurse costumes.
“Take, for example, the very short and sexy nurses’ outfits that bear no resemblance whatsoever to real uniforms,” it stated. “And then there are the outfits bathed in blood, the killer ones, and the living dead ones, all of which are now typical of this celebration that has become so entrenched in our country, especially among children and young people.”
The council’s president, Florentino Pérez Raya, further told the Guardian: “Female and male nurses don’t like having to endure the annual wave of ‘sexy nurse’, ‘killer’ or ‘zombie’ nurse costumes as it bewilders and offends them.
“[These outfits] damage the public image of a profession whose dedication demands not only top-tier academic and university qualifications, but which is also recognized as a bastion of health care quality,” he continued.
In Canada, Quebec’s order of nurses launched a social media campaign similarly urging people to stop dressing up in the costumes.
“Nurses take care of everyone,” the video states, according to CBC. “Let’s take care of their image.”
The order’s president, Luc Mathieu, further told the population: “Sexualizing nurse uniforms perpetuates sexist and degrading stereotypes and fantasies about nurses’ profession and expertise.”
Registered nurse Natalie Stake-Doucet agreed.
“I’ve been a nurse for 12 years. I’ve seen pretty much everything you can think of,” she told CBC. “The things we’ve been subjected to from patients, friends, family … we often get stuff like, ‘Oh, you’re a nurse, that means you’re a nymphomaniac’ or something like that. But we’re all educated and trained to take care of people in professional ways.”
Meanwhile, Yahoo has reported on the US movement to move away from naughty nurse outfits, saying they present the professionals as “sex candy.”
Some people slammed the move — in response to a TikTok posted by the outlet — arguing that people have become humorless and too sensitive.
“I have every right to dress up in any costume I want,” one railed. “No one can change my f–king mind.”
