Feminist Psychology Notes

A Feminist Psychology

  • Overview:
    • Feminist psychology is a subfield focusing on the experiences of girls and women, expanding to include gender more broadly.
    • It grows with political and social movements connected to feminism.
    • Feminism, as defined by bell hooks, is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.

Feminism: Riding the Waves

  • Rainbow capitalism: Corporations use rainbow marketing campaigns to show support for LGBTQ+ people during Pride month.
    • Reactions vary from encouragement to feeling shallow and exploitative.
  • "Like a Girl" campaign by Always:
    • Aimed to challenge the decline in girls’ confidence during puberty.
    • The commercial was considered feminist and inspiring, but it didn’t display the product it was selling.
  • #GirlsCan ad campaign by Cover Girl:
    • Aimed to empower young women to overcome barriers.
    • Stars like Queen Latifah and Ellen DeGeneres appeared in the ads.
  • #shinestrong campaign by Pantene:
    • Launched after the viral video Labels, addressing workplace discrimination experienced by Filipino women.
    • The commercial encouraged women to be confident and not apologize for their strength.
  • Empowertising:
    • Advertising that generates a strong emotional response but doesn’t offer solutions.
    • These campaigns feature financially stable, able-bodied, cisgender, conventionally attractive women.
    • The ads raise awareness of social issues but don’t call for changing policies.
  • Feminist Psychology Definition:
    • Feminist psychology is explicitly informed by feminism, distinguishing it from general work about sex and gender.
    • Feminist psychologists argue that research is never value-neutral or objective.
    • They are attentive to issues of oppression and believe that addressing oppression will improve everyone’s well-being.

Sex/Gender

  • Sex vs. Gender:
    • Sex refers to biological differences, while gender indicates social or cultural aspects.
    • However, the terms are often used interchangeably and can be confusing.
    • Contemporary scholars note the interdependence of biology and social factors.
    • The term sex/gender signifies the interdependence of the two categories.
  • Intersectionality:
    • Different types of oppression (e.g., racism, classism, heterosexism, transphobia, ableism, sexism) are interconnected.
    • Identities are formed through larger social structures, making identity fluid and dynamic.
    • A person has multiple social identity characteristics (e.g., age, cultural identity, race, religion).
  • Progress and Challenges:
    • Women have made substantial strides in creating more opportunities.
    • In 1970, 14% of U.S. women graduated from college, and 38% worked outside the home.
    • In 2021, 46% of women and 36% of men ages 25-34 held a bachelor’s degree, and 59.5% of students enrolled in college were women.
    • In the 2020 general election, U.S. voters elected six trans and/or nonbinary representatives to state office.
    • Men’s roles have also changed, with 17% of stay-at-home parents being fathers in 2016.
    • Discrimination and bias are still prevalent.
      • Women are the fastest-growing group who are incarcerated, increasing 700% over the last 40 years.
      • 86% of incarcerated women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime.
      • More than 50 trans and/or gender nonbinary people were murdered in the United States in 2021.
      • The COVID-19 pandemic has caused women to drop out of the workforce at unprecedented rates.
      • The United States continues to be the only industrialized nation that does not offer paid parental leave.
      • Many states have passed legislation preventing trans and/or gender nonbinary students from joining sports teams that align with their gender identity.

Subtle Bias

  • Subtle Incidents:
    • Bias often takes the form of subtle incidents.
    • Women are expected to do low-status tasks such as setting up meetings or planning office parties.
    • The cumulative effect can be costly if women spend more time doing mundane tasks.
  • #Empowertising
    • Companies selling products feature themes of female empowerment to market their products.
    • This consumer-based approach generally doesn’t lead to substantial changes in the lives of girls and women.
  • Empowerment:
    • Refers to the capacity to attain power.
    • A consumer-based approach toward empowerment generally doesn’t lead to substantial changes in people’s lives.
    • The word empowerment is often used to discuss the achievements of individuals.
    • Focusing on the individual limits the potential for larger-scale change.

The Personal is Political

  • Interconnectedness:
    • Our personal lives are interconnected with larger social systems.
    • Individual struggles are part of larger social struggles.
    • What seems personal is actually political.
  • Gender-Role Expectations of Masculinity:
    • Boys are taught to act stoic and suppress emotions like sadness and fear.
    • Boys and men often experience shame when expressing vulnerability.
    • All of these issues are connected to the larger gender-role expectations of masculinity.
  • The boys don't cry example.

Feminist Psychology

  • Research focusing on both the individual and the culture in which that individual lives is important.
  • Power exists in relation with other people and larger social structures.
  • Feminist psychologists are attentive to many disciplinary perspectives.

Feminism: Riding the Waves

  • Understanding the Past:
    • Understanding the history of the feminist movement is key to understanding feminist psychology today.
    • Some scholars view the history of the feminist movement as progressing through a series of waves.
    • Others claim that activism is ongoing, flowing more like a river.
    • Still others prefer to move away from water-based metaphors and instead use the metaphor of a kaleidoscope.
  • The First Wave
    • Historians generally believe that the first wave of feminism in the United States formally began in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention.
    • In reality, this first wave was much more expansive and gained momentum from the 1820s through the 1850s.
    • The largest coalition was made up of radical Quakers and Black women who were devoted abolitionists.
    • They didn’t have legal authority over their children, they weren’t allowed to own land, and they couldn’t give sermons at church, keep their wages, or refuse to have sex with their husbands.
    • A top priority, though, was gaining women’s right to vote—something that didn’t happen until 1920, when the 19th Amendment was passed.
      • The passage of the 19th Amendment did not guarantee any woman the right to a vote; it simply guaranteed that a ballot would not be denied based on sex/gender
      • Jim Crow laws made it impossible for Black people, including Black women, to safely vote.
    • Today, historians see the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a marker for when voting became accessible to people of color.
    • After the 2020 elections, many states passed laws further limiting access to voting, some of which consolidated polling places and limited both mail-in voting and early voting on Sundays.
  • Timeline of Key Events for Feminism in the United States
    • 1848 The first U.S. women’s rights convention, the Seneca Falls Convention, is held in New York.
    • 1851 Sojourner Truth gives her famous “Ain’t I a Woman” speech.
    • 1920 Ratification of 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives women the right to vote.
    • 1923 The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), originally drafted by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, is first introduced in Congress.
    • 1924 The Snyder Act, which grants full U.S. citizenship (and voting rights) to all Native Americans born in the United States, is passed by an act of Congress.
    • 1952 Christine Jorgensen is the first American whose gender affirming surgery, then referred to as sex reassignment, becomes public.
    • 1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is enacted, prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.
    • 1969 Trans and/or gender nonbinary people are some of the first to resist arrest at the Stonewall Inn in New York, an event credited with igniting the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
    • 1972 Title IX is enacted, prohibiting sex discrimination in all aspects of education programs that receive federal support.
    • 1972 The ERA is passed by both houses of Congress, after being reintroduced in 1971, and is submitted to the states for ratification.
    • 1973 The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade declares it legal for a woman to terminate an early pregnancy.
    • 1974 The Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist lesbian organization focusing on intersectionality, holds its first meeting.
    • 1978 The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women.
    • 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life.
    • 1994 The Violence against Women Act funds services for victims of rape and domestic violence.
    • 2006 Thousands of Latine immigrants and others boycott work, school, and shopping as part of the Day Without Immigrants to highlight the contributions immigrants make to the economy.
    • 2009 The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act allows employees, usually women, to file pay discrimination complaints within 180 days of their last paycheck.
    • 2013 Restriction of same-sex marriage is deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor.
    • 2017 The Women’s March on Washington, the largest single-day protest in U.S. history, is held. It sparked some renewed interest in the ERA, and Nevada became the 36th state to ratify it.
    • 2022 The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturns Roe v. Wade, returning decisions about regulation of abortion to individual states.
  • The Second Wave
    • A second wave of feminism emerged in the 1960s, when feminists were primarily interested in changing the day-to-day lives of women.
    • Many people characterize, and some critique, the second wave as being largely defined by the struggles of white, middle-class women who wished to enter the workforce.
    • Women of color had a three-front approach to feminist activism
      • worked in collaboration with white-dominated women’s groups
      • organized women’s caucuses in mixed-gender organizations
      • developed autonomous Black, Latine, Native American, and Asian American feminist organizations.
    • Another notable marker of the second wave was overt rejection of body restrictions. These included unrealistic beauty ideals as well as restrictions on reproductive freedom. The bra-burning feminist stereotype comes from this era.
  • The Third Wave
    • The third wave of feminism began in the mid-1990s and is best described as a struggle to change mainstream ideas of feminism by rejecting the notion that everyone’s experience of being a woman is the same.
    • Third-wave feminism challenged previous historical accounts of feminist activism and brought the contributions of women of color, immigrants, and working-class women into focus.
    • Another important feature of third-wave feminism was the use of technologies to build social connections and political movements.
    • The revival of feminine aesthetics (e.g., lipstick, high heels) and raunch culture (i.e., female self-sexualization) was a contentious aspect of third-wave feminism.
    • Another aspect of third-wave feminism was the increase in male participation.
    • One challenge faced by third-wave feminists was a cultural resistance to feminism and feminists.
  • A Fourth Wave?
    • In the mid-2010s, there was a revival of feminist self-identification, and many celebrities associated themselves publicly with feminism.
    • Some scholars have argued that postfeminism came to an end after the 2016 election of Donald Trump, which provoked women’s marches around the country, coupled with the resistance associated with the #MeToo movement.
    • Whether or not these events constituted a fourth wave of feminism is up for debate.
  • Breaking the Waves and Becoming a Kaleidoscope
    • Although the wave metaphor is often used to describe aspects of women’s history, it has been criticized.
    • A wave suggests that there are direct connections between movements and that activism peaks at certain points and retracts at others.
    • The metaphor also implies that there was one unified set of ideas, organized around feminism, that united sex/gender activism in the history of the United States.
    • The historian Linda Nicholson (2010) believes that a more useful way of thinking about the history of sex/gender activism in the United States is to use the metaphor of a kaleidoscope.
    • The view in a kaleidoscope is complex and dynamic. When you turn it, the colors and patterns shift, showing a new constellation of colors.

The F-Word

  • Defining Feminism:
    • The journalist Rebecca West captured some of the ambivalence associated with feminism when she said, “I, myself, have never been able to find out what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat."
  • The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA):
    • The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
    • This amendment was originally proposed in 1923 and passed both houses of Congress in 1972.
    • In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA. However, it still did not become a constitutional amendment because the deadline had passed.
  • Seven Major Feminist Perspectives
  • Liberal Feminism
    • Ruth Bader Ginsburg said: If I could choose an amendment to add to the Constitution, it would be the Equal Rights Amendment. I think we have achieved that through legislation, but that can be repealed, it can be altered. So, I would like my granddaughters, when they pick up the Constitution, to see the notion—that women and men are persons of equal stature—I’d like to see that as a basic principle of our society.
    • This quote exemplifies liberal feminism, a form of feminism that focuses on the similarities between women and men and on using government policies to eliminate barriers that keep women from achieving their potential.
    • Even in the absence of the ERA, liberal feminists continue to work to change laws and policies that give men (and members of other privileged groups) more resources and advantages than women (and members of less privileged groups).
    • Such structural inequalities exist within organizations, institutions, and governments.
    • Liberal feminism also focuses on equal education and the belief that at their core, women and men are more similar than different.
    • Contemporary liberal feminists are especially interested in making sure that girls and women have access to resources that help them compete in the global economy.
    • Psychologists who hold a liberal feminist perspective tend to believe that even when research finds differences between women and men, they’re generally the result of girls’ and boys’ different experiences rather than innate biological differences.
  • Radical Feminism
    • radical feminism claims that it’s naïve to think that women can achieve equal treatment through attaining legal rights. Therefore, radical feminists advocate for separatism
    • radical feminists argue that in order to achieve equity, women must develop new ways of thinking separate from androcentric, or male- centered, ways of thinking.
    • Some radical feminists have advocated for cultural separatism as a way to achieve this goal.
    • One type of radical feminism is lesbian feminism, which focuses on sexuality and reproduction as a central place of oppression.
    • A significant contribution of radical feminism is the concept of compulsory heterosexuality, the idea that sexual preferences are formed through the social ideal of heterosexuality.
    • Misperceptions of radical feminists have fueled negative stereotypes of all feminists.
    • Radical feminists are also criticized by advocates for trans and nonbinary people’s rights.
  • Socialist Feminism
    • socialist feminism, links gender oppression with capitalism, an economic system in which power is constructed through work and production
    • contemporary research shows a widening gap between the upper-middle class and everyone else that appears to be more a factor of inherited wealth than merit (Reeves, 2017)
    • According to socialist feminists, merit alone is not responsible for the accumulation of wealth. Other factors, such as class, sex/gender, and race, not only influence earning potential but also affect the perceived value of what a person does
    • For example, socialist feminists have claimed that in capitalist societies men are primarily defined as workers and women are primarily defined as caregivers
    • Another example of how class is vitally important to our understanding of gender dynamics is the fact that many wealthy white women are able to dedicate time to high-profile jobs because of their reliance on women of color for domestic and childcare support
    • Socialist feminists would argue that changing the way domestic and care work are compensated and valued would promote greater equality (Saris & Johnston-Robledo, 2000)
    • Another concern of socialist feminists is that living as a girl or a woman is more expensive than living as a boy or man. The term pink tax refers to the additional cost of a product because it is marketed to women
    • that the average woman spends 55 minutes doing hair and makeup each day—approximately 335 hours per year
  • Cultural Feminism
    • focuses on the differences between women and men and that views women’s inequality as related to a lack of value placed on the unique experiences, perspectives, and qualities of women
    • Underlying cultural feminism is a belief in gender essentialism, the idea that women and men are fundamentally different because of deep and unchanging properties that are generally due to biology or genetics.
    • cultural feminists view girls and women as having certain innate characteristics, such as intuition and emotionality, that are complementary to the characteristics of boys and men, such as competitiveness and being analytical.
    • contemporary example of cultural feminism is the rise of mompreneurs. Between 2007 and 2016, women-owned businesses increased by 45%, compared with just a 9% increase among all businesses, and a 2017 Nielsen study showed that the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs are African American women
    • cultural feminism cannot promote equity because it encourages women to maintain traditional and restrictive roles. Furthermore, the focus on gender essentialism equates womanhood with bodies, which is not inclusive of trans and/or gender nonbinary individuals
  • Women of Color Feminism
    • sees women’s inequality as deeply linked to white supremacy, a form of racism in which white people are considered superior to people of color
    • Activist and writer Alice Walker (1983) coined the term womanist, an identity label that stems from the experiences of Black women and other women of color
    • Communication scholars identify the #MeToo movement as the largest digital feminist movement to date (Mendes et al., 2018). It has its origin in 2006, when activist Tarana Burke, herself a sexual assault survivor, coined the phrase me too in an effort to “bring resources, support, and pathways to healing where none existed before
    • Women of color feminisms are more likely to address concerns that have been of lesser focus for other types of feminisms (Figure 1. 9), such as environmental concerns, access to affordable housing, and prison reform
  • Queer Feminism
    • Queer feminism claims that inequality is related to the ways in which the categories of woman and man have been constructed, studied, and used to organize society.
    • The focus of queer feminists is not to ensure that women are equal to men but to question what is considered female and male in the first place.
    • Queer feminism critiques the concept of heteronormativity, the idea that people fall into a binary (something made up of only two parts) of two distinct sex categories—either F or M; that those categories have aligning gender roles (female or male); and that sexual desire is most naturally linked to the other sex.
      • Queer feminists argue that sex, gender, and sexual orientation are not always aligned in a predictable way.
  • Postcolonial/Transnational Feminism
    • Postcolonial/transnational feminism connects women’s inequality to the legacy of colonialism, or the practice of political domination whereby one group of people subjugate another group of people.
    • Postcolonial/transnational feminism critiques the belief that women in Western countries are the most liberated in the world
    • A core aspect of postcolonial feminism is that Western women shouldn’t impose their values on women from other cultures and should be respectful of the complicated ways in which patriarchy can manifest
    • particular type of postcolonial feminism, known as third world feminism, claims that feminism should not focus on commonalities among women ; instead, it should address issues from multiple perspectives and not assume one unified position.

Feminism Comes to Psychology

  • Influences Within Psychology:
    • Feminism has greatly impacted the field of psychology, thanks to the activism and collaboration of many women over the years.
    • Key question: "Who makes the knowledge in psychology, for what purpose, and to what ends?"
  • Early Days:
    • Psychology was initially shaped by beliefs that privileged white heterosexual men.
    • Biological and evolutionary theories justified social beliefs, despite contradictory data.
    • Brain size was used to deem women inferior, and scientific racism was evident.
  • Women in Early Psychology:
    • Women faced sexism, with limited access to graduate programs.
    • They refuted stereotypes, proving women's mental and motor abilities weren't impaired by menstruation and that men and women were more alike than different.
  • Diversification:
    • Inez Beverly Prosser became the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in psychology (1933).
    • Martha Bernal became the first Latina woman to earn a PhD (1962).
  • Double Discrimination:
    • Women of color faced multiple discriminations.
    • Mamie Phipps Clark's advisor was pro-segregation, and job options were limited.
    • Clark started the Northside Center for Child Development in response to the lack of services for Black children.
    • Her 'doll study' influenced the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, showcasing internalized racism in Black children.
  • Emergence of Psychology of Women:
    • In the 1960s, psychology of women arose amid civil rights activism.
    • Betty Friedan critiqued Sigmund Freud and psychology for women's oppression.
    • Psychological research was 'womanless' and 'raceless.'
    • Naomi Weisstein linked women's second-class status to psychological effects.
    • Robert V. Guthrie highlighted the history of scientific racism in psychology.
    • Rachel Hare-Mustin recounted attending a session at an American Psychological Association (APA) convention in the early 1970s where four male clinical psychologists debated the merits of having sex with their clients
    • Feminist activism led the APA to prohibit therapist-client sexual contact.
  • Exclusion of Female Psychologists:
    • Until 1969, female psychologists faced exclusion.
    • Job descriptions were gender-specific, and women held few high-ranking positions. Women's roles in research were called out in bibliographical references
  • Formation of AWP:
    • Angered by the APA's sexism, psychologists formed the Association for Women in Psychology (AWP).
    • In 1970, AWP members presented 52 resolutions at an APA Town Hall, demanding non-discrimination policies, childcare centers, and psychology of women classes.
    • This event helped influence the formation of the Society for the Psychology of Women
  • Feminist Journals:
    • Specialized journals like Sex Roles and Psychology of Women Quarterly aided research dissemination.
  • Challenging Knowledge Production:
    • Feminist psychologists critiqued positivism, questioning science's objectivity and neutrality.
    • They claimed positivism, reflecting power, was an inherently masculine approach.

Modern Feminist Psychology

  • Focus on Privilege and Marginalization:

    • Modern feminist Psychologists study the effect of privilege and centre the needs of those who have been marginalized throughout history

  • Modern feminist Psychologists allign themselves with postcolonial and womanist feminisms so that they can study the unique experience of non- Western women

  • Some modern feminist psychologists allign themselves with queer feminisms and question the notion that gender is binary

Conclusion

  • Importance of Understanding Theory:

    • Understanding feminist theories is key to understanding and speaking across perspectives. It has potential benefits
    • Disagreements may stem from different theoretical perspectives.
      *Need to articulate theory and be able to understand each other