Notes on Psychology and the Regulation of Gender
Critical Psychology and the Regulation of Gender
Psychology has long been criticized for reproducing gender and other inequalities, both in knowledge production and in practices (education, intervention, organizational structures).
In South Africa, white males have dominated psychology; black and female psychologists are underrepresented.
There is a need for a South African psychology of gender that is local ( Indigenous experiences) and critical (problematises gender difference and inequality).
Core Concepts in the Psychology of Gender
Gender: socially constructed differences between men and women; often linked to power inequality; sex is biological.
Heterosexist: the assumption that sexuality is heterosexual; views heterosexual acts as normal; discriminatory and oppressive.
Discourse (Foucault): bodies of practice that form the objects of our talk; professional discourses on sexuality shape sexuality as we know it.
Gender as Difference and Its Consequences
Historically, gender difference has been treated as immutable, fueling broader gender inequalities.
Gender as difference and the binary male/female contribute to heterosexism and homophobia.
Psychology has framed gender differences as deep, stable psychical differences, legitimizing power inequalities.
Early gender research often assumed a unitary sexual character; masculinity and femininity seen as fixed traits embedded in individuals.
From Difference to Scalar androgyny Models
Early focus on binary difference; biology and universal differences were often claimed.
Scalar/androgyny model posits a continuum between masculine and feminine traits; individuals may score high on both, or low on both.
Problems: reifies gender into a score; maintains a fixed self through an implied unitary identity; often biased toward masculine norms (masculinity linked to androgyny in practice).
Bem’s androgyny scale popularized integration of masculine and feminine traits, but still conventionalized a unified self and gender categorisation.
Patriarchal Psychotherapies and the Pathologisation of Gender
Psychotherapy often reinforces gendered subordination by pathologising women’s oppression as personal pathology rather than social conditions.
Common therapist reactions to nonconforming women: (1) discourage nontraditional behaviours; (2) inhibit expressions of anger and assertiveness; (3) fail to challenge passive/submissive behaviours.
This contributes to gender role maintenance and dependency, rather than autonomy.
The transformation of oppression into illness: therapy can coerce clients to interpret experiences through normative gender frameworks, legitimising patriarchy.
The Androgynous Schema and Feminist Critiques
The search for a unitary gender identity persists in psychoanalytic and social theories; post-structural critiques argue that fixed gender identities are unnecessary and harmful.
Feminist perspectives warn that even theories aiming to escape essentialism can reproduce universal dualisms (masculine/feminine) and fix a normal self.
Alpha bias vs Beta bias: Alpha exaggerates gender differences to justify inequality; Beta downplays differences, obscuring women’s unique needs and maintaining power asymmetries.
The Doing of Gender: Performativity and Signification
Performativity (Butler): gender is produced through repeated discourse and practices, not a pre-existing essence.
The doing of gender is ongoing, interactive, and re-defines itself over time; agency exists within discursive repetition, enabling subversion within norms.
Signification: meanings are constructed via signifiers and signifieds; no fixed link between words and concepts; knowledge is historically and culturally contingent.
The Body, Post-Structuralist Subjectivity, and the Unconscious
The body is inscribed with gendered power relations; cultural ideals of masculinity and femininity shape body images and everyday practices.
Post-modern thinking shows that bodies and identities are differently inscribed across cultures and times; the gaze and consumer culture influence masculinities and femininities.
The unconscious and sexuality play a central role in subjectivity; psychoanalysis and post-structuralism intersect to explain how desires are shaped and resisted.
The Split Subject, Agency, and Resistance
The subject is not fixed; multiple intersecting identities (sexuality, age, class, race, religion) shape experiences and power relations.
The unconscious and irrational aspects of subjectivity allow for resistance and subversion within discourses.
Agency is located in how individuals re-signify and proliferate gender beyond rigid norms; it emerges through repetition and re-interpretation within discourse.
Box 6: Thandi’s Story – Resisting the Hegemonic Matrix
Thandi’s narrative illustrates resisting prescribed femininity/sexuality by adopting masculine subjectivity in various contexts.
The story shows complexities of gender identity, sexuality, love, and social ostracism; raises questions about gender dysphoria vs. desire and non-pathologising interpretation.
Highlights the human cost of rigid gender norms and the potential for creative resistance within oppressive structures.
Towards a Reconstructed South African Psychology of Gender
Reconstruct SA psychology by reworking theories of gender/sexual identities to be locally diverse and critically aware of power relations.
Value multiplicity, fluidity, and voice local stories that challenge conventional gender/sexual norms.
Address ongoing heterosexism, homophobia, gender-based violence, and coercive practices in post-apartheid South Africa.
Critical Thinking Prompts
How did your own gender/sexual identity develop, and what messages shaped it?
How do puberty and gender expectations differ for boys and girls in your community?
How might someone disclosing a lesbian identity be perceived differently than a heterosexual individual in your setting?
Is gender difference inherently tied to power inequality? Can difference and equality coexist?
Recommended Readings
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990).
Wilkinson, Sue. Feminist Social Psychology: Developing Theory and Practice (1986).
Busfield, Joan. Men, Women and Madness: Understanding Gender and Mental Disorder (1996).
Ussher, Jane. Women’s Madness, Misogyny or Mental Illness? (1991).
Hollway, Wendy. Gender Difference and the Production of Subjectivity (1984).
Summary in One Line
Psychology has both reflected and reinforced gender inequality; contemporary critical approaches, especially in post-structural and feminist thought, offer tools to deconstruct gender as fixed and to imagine multiplicity and fluidity in gender/sexual identities, with a view toward reconstructing South African psychology accordingly.