Feminist Psychology Research Articles

In Our Own Voice: The Impact of Feminism on Canadian Psychology

Interviews with four feminist psychologists are used to explore the impact of feminism on psychology in Canada. Using a thematic analysis, three levels of impact - individual, disciplinary and institutional - are derived and discussed with specific examples from the Canadian context. We highlight opportunities and obstacles to feminist influence, and make tentative suggestions for strengthening feminism’s current and future presence in Canadian psychology.

Feminist Psychology in Canada

Feminist Psychology in Canada

Evolving Canadian Guidelines for Therapy and Counselling with Women

This article presents an analysis of two sets of Canadian guidelines for therapy and counselling with women, one that was adopted by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) in 1980 and a new version that has just been developed. It shows how the issues and the context of Canadian feminist psychology have, and have not, changed in the intervening years. Although Canadian women have made some substantive gains within psychology and more generally, many systemic gender inequities remain. While the 1980 guidelines arose from a broad-based demand within the feminist community, the new guidelines were a response to a routine policy review by CPA. A primary goal of the 1980 guidelines was to challenge stereotypic assumptions about women. The current guidelines give practitioners direction about how to provide non-sexist therapy that is informed and recognizes the complex and diverse contexts of Canadian women’s lives.

The Postmodern Life Cycle and Pastoral Care and Counseling

Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory of life cycle development has had a profound influence on the field of pastoral care and counseling. At the same time, Erikson's theory has been resoundingly critiqued from the standpoint of feminist psychology and theology, multiculturalism, and, more recently, from that of postmodernist theory. It is difficult to imagine, however, approaching the work of pastoral care and counseling without having some reconstructed form of life-cycle developmental theory in mind. By developing the capacity to hold in dialectical tension Erikson's psychosocial theory of the life cycle and various critiques of this particular framework, practitioners and clergy will discover that certain developmental issues, such as intimacy, identity formation, generativity, and integrity, still apply to the postmodern individual.

Feminist Psychology in the Service of Women: Staying Engaged Without Getting Married

This article, based on the 2005 Society for the Psychology of Women Presidential Address, presents a definition of feminism and evaluates feminist psychology and its current challenges through that lens. The principal theme is the tension between feminist psychology's engagement with the discipline and its ability to critique and alter both the discipline and the world. The article includes an analysis of the original 52 demands presented by women activists to the APA's Council of Representatives in 1970. Those demands are evaluated both in terms of progress and lack of achievement, as well as in terms of the limitations of the professional women's movement reflected in those original demands. The lack of success in achieving demands associated with structural change is highlighted. A framework for future feminist work that might achieve transformational change is offered.

Choirs and Split Voices: Female Identity Construction in Lorrie Moore's Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?

Moore's novel is, in many ways, a story about growing up. The fiercely intimate friendship Moore depicts between two girls, Berie and Sils, and the effects of that friendship on Berie and Sils as adults push us to ask ourselves: is this the way all girls mature into women, or is this just the path that these particular fictional girls follow? As it happens, Moore's portrayal of female maturation closely mirrors the path Adrienne Rich and Carol Gilligan argue many, if not all, girls follow. The novel's clever narrative structure, in which a discontented middle-aged woman remembers longingly the emotionally intimate friendship of her girlhood, reveals that, at least with Berie, women who experience such intimate friendships in adolescence may feel as though the rupture of such friendships results in a rupture of their sense of self. Moore's novel encourages us to re-examine the notion of sisterhood and how female friendships affect the lives of girls and women.

IV. Men as Individuals, Women as a Sexed Category: Implications of Symbolic Asymmetry for Feminist Practice and Feminist Psychology

IV. Men as Individuals, Women as a Sexed Category: Implications of Symbolic Asymmetry for Feminist Practice and Feminist Psychology

VII. What Feminist and Political Psychologists Can Learn from Each Other: The Case of Authoritarianism

VII. What Feminist and Political Psychologists Can Learn from Each Other: The Case of Authoritarianism

Feminisms without Borders: Exploring the Relationships between Feminist and Political Psychology

Feminisms without Borders: Exploring the Relationships between Feminist and Political Psychology

Feminist Psychology

Previous articleNext article No AccessFeminist PsychologyAbigail J. Stewart and Andrea L. DottoloAbigail J. StewartDepartment of Psychology and Program in Women’s StudiesUniversity of Michigan Search for more articles by this author and Andrea L. DottoloDepartment of Psychology and Program in Women’s StudiesUniversity of Michigan Search for more articles by this author Department of Psychology and Program in Women’s StudiesUniversity of MichiganPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 31, Number 2Winter 2006 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/491683 Views: 510Total views on this site Citations: 17Citations are reported from Crossref © 2006 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Lanice R. Avery, Alexis G. Stanton Subverting the Mandates of Our Methods: Tensions and Considerations for Incorporating Reproductive Justice Frameworks into Psychological Science, Journal of Social Issues 76, no.22 (Jun 2020): 447–455.https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12386Stephanie A. Shields From “Gender Difference” to “Doing Gender” to “Gender and Structural Power” in Psychological Science, (Dec 2020): 333–361.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48501-6_14Alexandra Rutherford “Making better use of U.S. women” Psychology, sex roles, and womanpower in post-WWII America, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 53, no.33 (May 2017): 228–245.https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.21861Jemma Tosh Kritische Feministische, Queer- & Trans-Psychologie. Zur Dekonstruktion von Geschlecht und Sexualität, (Sep 2016): 127–153.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-14020-5_7Leah R. Warner, Isis H. Settles, Stephanie A. Shields Invited Reflection, Psychology of Women Quarterly 40, no.22 (Jun 2016): 171–176.https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316641384Stephanie A. Shields The Legacy of Transformational Moments in Feminist Psychology, Psychology of Women Quarterly 39, no.22 (Jun 2015): 143–150.https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684315574502Laura C. Ball, Jennifer L. Bazar, Jenna MacKay, Elissa N. Rodkey, Alexandra Rutherford, Jacy L. Young Using Psychology’s Feminist Voices in the Classroom, Psychology of Women Quarterly 37, no.22 (Jun 2013): 261–266.https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684313480484Alexandra Rutherford, Jeanne Marecek, Kate Sheese Psychology of Women and GenderThe authors acknowledge the contributions of Mary Crawford, Rachel T. Hare-Mustin, and Ellen B. Kimmel, who were co-authors of the chapter that appeared in the first edition of the volume., (Sep 2012).https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118133880.hop201014Lilia M. Cortina, Nicola Curtin, Abigail J. Stewart Where Is Social Structure in Personality Research?, Psychology of Women Quarterly 36, no.33 (Sep 2012): 259–273.https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684312448056Kamesha Spates “The Missing Link”, SAGE Open 2, no.33 (Jul 2012): 215824401245517.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244012455179A.D.B. do Val, J.L. Ferreira, J. Vieira Neto, M. Pasqual, A.F. de Oliveira, A. Borém, G.M.A. Cançado Genetic diversity of Brazilian and introduced olive germplasms based on microsatellite markers, Genetics and Molecular Research 11, no.11 (Jan 2012): 556–571.https://doi.org/10.4238/2012.March.8.4Rhoda K. Unger Through the Looking Glass Once More, Psychology of Women Quarterly 35, no.11 (Mar 2011): 180–182.https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684310395919Alexandra Rutherford, Kelli Vaughn-Blount, Laura C. Ball Responsible Opposition, Disruptive Voices, Psychology of Women Quarterly 34, no.44 (Dec 2010): 460–473.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2010.01596.xAlexandra Rutherford, Leeat Granek Emergence and Development of the Psychology of Women, (Dec 2009): 19–41.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1465-1_2Suzanne Damarin Toward Thinking Feminism and Mathematics Together Damarin, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 34, no.11 (Jul 2015): 101–123.https://doi.org/10.1086/588470Stephanie A. Shields Gender: An Intersectionality Perspective, Sex Roles 59, no.5-65-6 (Jul 2008): 301–311.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9501-8Abigail Stewart, Lilia Cortina, Nicola Curtin Does Gender Matter in Personality Psychology?, Social and Personality Psychology Compass 2, no.55 (Sep 2008): 2034–2048.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00145.x

Feminist Psychology Goes to Court

Feminist Psychology Goes to Court

Reviewing and Revisting Feminist Psychology: Problems and Permutations

Reviewing and Revisting Feminist Psychology: Problems and Permutations

Feminist critique of developmentalism

Drawing on published feminist literature, this essay deconstructs developmentalism as a metanarrative that contributes to the oppression and exploitation of women and underpins educational practice. First, I examine feminist critiques of developmentalism, distinguishing between ‘insider critiques’ formulated by feminist psychologists evaluating and trying to improve traditional theories of human development and ‘outsider critiques’ articulated by feminists, both within and outside psychology, challenging science itself. Second, I address educational implications of the insider and outsider critiques of developmentalism. Educational reforms spawned by insider feminist critiques consist largely of efforts to make curriculum and pedagogy more ‘girl-friendly’. Reforms aligned with outsider feminist critiques call for ‘critique-friendly’ schooling that provides opportunities for reconceptualizing gender dualisms, critiquing school practices that strengthen dualisms and ongoing critique of educational reforms initiated in the name of such critiques. Following the outside critiques, I argue for feminist learning communities with authentic relationships between teachers and students whose diverse and changing identities and ideas are respectfully and compassionately acknowledged.

Q-methodology and the political opportunity of feminist psychology

Q-methodology and the political opportunity of feminist psychology

Remembering Embodied Domination

During the 1990s, texts of critical and feminist psychologies challenged taken-for-granted notions of natural, empirical bodies. The implications of these challenges for speaking of embodiment have become increasingly troublesome. Drawing on poststructuralist theories, this paper reads three critical and/or feminist psychological texts to problematize the theoretical constitution of embodiment. These readings are focused on the question of how the multi-vocal possibilities of critical/feminist psydiscourse enable us to speak of embodying domination and transforming social power relations.

Neutral Claims - Gendered Meanings: Parenthood and Developmental Psychology in a Modern Welfare State

Psychology, particularly developmental psychology, plays an important role in a modern welfare state. In this article three ‘cases’ within the frame of the Norwegian welfare state are analysed to produce a picture of psychological constructions of care and parenthood. The three cases are: (1) practices within the child welfare system; (2) debates about the cash benefit scheme; and (3) debates about joint physical custody. The argument in the article is that the crucial contribution of feminist psychology is that it deconstructs the ongoing debates on parenthood and childcare, speaks the experience of the actors who are continuously involved in caring for children into existence, and destabilizes naturalized and taken-for-granted understandings of children.

2004 Division 35 Presidential Address: Gender and Leadership in Higher Education

Literature on gender, higher education administration, and leadership is reviewed using the framework of five principles derived from feminist psychology ( Worell & Johnson, 1997 ): (a) sociocultural context influences leadership situations, (b) power dynamics impact sociocultural structures, (c) people are active agents of coping and environmental change, (d) multiple perspectives are useful, and (e) collaboration is an important technique for changing organizations. Within this framework are discussions of the effects of historical context, gender discrimination and stereotyping, hierarchical organization, masculinized context, the interconnection between gender and status, and leadership as empowerment. Examples of administrative strategies that may promote feminist leadership behavior by college administrators are given, such as understanding behavior in context, promoting structural change, using active survival strategies, changing behavioral incentives, striving for activism and social justice, fostering interdisciplinary perspectives, and encouraging collaboration. Difficulties encountered by women attempting to change the higher education context and assume feminist leadership styles are discussed.

‘I’m Straight, but I Kissed a Girl’: The Trouble with American Media Representations of Female-Female Sexuality

Nearly 20 years ago, Kitzinger (1987) argued that the shift in psychological research in the 1970s and 1980s toward a liberal-humanistic view of lesbians and gay men as ‘just like’ heterosexuals (rather than intrinsically deviant and pathological) was not, in fact, as positive and progressive as it might have seemed. Rather, she noted that this conceptualization actually reinforced the dominant social order by presenting same-sex sexuality as a matter of private lifestyle, thereby neutralizing its political challenge to heterosexuality. This was, of course, an insidiously effective way of maintaining the social institution of heterosexuality, given that outright condemnation of homosexuals had gradually become less socially acceptable. An analogous critique can and should be made regarding the ‘positive’ and ‘accepting’ portrayals of female same-sex sexuality that have increasingly proliferated in American entertainment media. Over the past 5–10 years, there has been an upsurge of openly lesbian (and less often, bisexual) characters and relationships on American films and television shows (recent films include The Hours, Chasing Amy, But I’m a Cheerleader; Gigli, Lost and Delirious, Everything Relative; television shows include Ellen, ER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, NYPD Blue, All My Children, Friends, JAG, Melrose Place, Popular, Once and Again, Nip/Tuck, K Street, Coupling, Queer as Folk). More interestingly, however, there have also been numerous depictions of presumably heterosexual women hinting at or experimenting with same-sex sexuality, a phenomenon that has been called ‘heteroflexibility’ (Essig, 2000) (films include Kissing Jessica Stein; 8 Women, Laurel Canyon; Heavenly Creatures, television shows include Ally McBeal, Friends, Will & Grace, Party of Five, Sex and the City – see also the recent Madonna/Britney Spears and Madonna/Christina Aguilera kisses on the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards: ‘Madonna smooches with Britney and Christina’ [MTV, 2003]). On the one hand, feminist psychologists might hopefully surmise that these mass

LGBT psychology and feminist psychology: Bridging the divide

In this paper, we outline some of the similarities and differences between lesbian and gay psychology (more recently known as LGBT psychology) and feminist psychology. Both fields developed in response to the oppressive practices of psychology; however, lesbian and gay psychologists have been far more willing to use the theoretical and methodological tools of mainstream psychology than have feminist psychologists. Feminist psychologists have enthusiastically embraced qualitative and critical approaches, whereas, until recently, lesbian and gay psychologists have been more cautious about adopting these approaches. Both feminist psychologists and lesbian and gay psychologists have debated which theories and methods best fit their goals for social change, and both have fought for and won professional recognition. Feminist psychology and lesbian and gay psychology have remained largely distinct from each other; however, there have been some encouraging signs of late – including this Special Issue – that suggest the gap between these two fields may be lessening.

"Female Body Concerns in Health Research: A Feminist Psychological Perspective "

The biological model in health research is biased to women issues by minimizing them into anatomical and physiological factors. As one critical article put it 'women are studied for what distinguishes them from men their breast-and genitals"[Meyerowitz and Hart,7993]. The paper presents a critical review of strands of health research and feminist psychology, which have drawn upon biological concepts (eg,hormones) and processes (eg, reproduction) to account for perceived tigender differences in health research. The overemphasis of biological dimension of gender differences is analysed with the background of philosophical assumptions of health research. The social construction of gender bias in eating disorders is also explored in the later section of the paper. Thus the paper attempts to bring the attention of health researchers to the problem of endorsing stereotypical accounts of women gender in health research and neglecting social, discursive practices, which define femininities.