Masculine in Feminine World: The Story of Male Nurses and Bridal Make-up Artist (Mak Andam)
University Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
These qualitative studies were intended to explore the involvement of men in the two careers dominated by women which are nurses and bridal make-artists (mak andam). There were two studies involved in this research. The first study was among male nurses who currently working at governments’ hospital and clinic in Terengganu. In study one, 14 male nurses were interviewed to understand their involvement in nursing. Meanwhile, in the second study five bridal make-artists were interviewed to obtain more understanding on their involvement in their non-traditional career. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and written documents. The data were analyzed using Nvivo software. All the participants in this research were Malay Muslims and aged between 25 and 33 for nurses and 26 to 54 years for bridal make-artists. The findings of this study indicated that the involvement of male nurses was caused by external factors which were family, economic, fate and self-interest. For family factor, three issues involved which were experience having family members who are poorly, family influences and role model. The second theme was participant self-interest to choose a career as male nurses. The third theme was due to economic pressure and the last theme identified was their belief in fate. These factors were slightly different for the bridal make-artist as the main factor of their involvement as mak andam were due to their personal interest. The second theme identified in study two was support from friends. Other themes were family work experiences and family support. This paper will further discuss the participants’ involvement in their non-traditional careers in the context out Malaysian culture.
KEYWORDS
male nurses, bridal make-artists, mak andam, non-traditional career