Mainstreaming ‘Women’ without feminisms in psychology

Although it has been argued that feminist work has gained recognition in mainstream psychology (Eagly, Eaton, Rose, Riger, & McHugh, 2012 ), these arguments tend to cite a proliferation of research in high‐ranking Euro‐American academic journals, on topics that concern women or gender in psychology. However, the majority of this work is not presented as explicitly feminist. Rather, it tends to be incorporated into mainstream spaces under the umbrella of the psychology of women. This is often interpreted uncritically to mean the study of womanhood as a stable category or variable, reproducing binary accounts of sex and gender that are largely devoid of feminist analysis. Not only do these interpretations reify essentialist constructions of womanhood; they also convert transformative feminist politics into singular and special interest ‘women's issues’. Indeed, broad feminist theoretical perspectives remain largely absent at the fundamental levels of mainstream psychological knowledge production (Eagly et al., 2012 ; Eagly & Riger, 2014 ). Thus, while credit has been given to the growing visibility of issues concerning women and gender in the discipline, less critical attention has been paid to the broader absence of feminist language in this work. As such, instances of mainstream inclusion have come to take priority over broader issues of feminist exclusions in psychology. Taking a critical position on the discipline from within the context of the Global North, this paper questions the state of mainstream inclusions and reasserts the transformative potentials of diverse feminisms (Liebert, Leve, & Hui, 2011 ), arguing that current inclusions of women without feminisms in psychology are problematic. Drawing on recent mobilisations of the psychology of women in the interests of ‘male psychology’, it is argued that the transformative potentials of feminist psychologies are more likely to be stifled than supported by mainstream inclusions.     

Speaking for Ourselves: Feminist Methods and Community Psychology

Although feminist and community psychology share a number of epistemological and methodological perspectives that guide their respective theories and research practices, it has been argued that community psychology has not fully integrated a feminist perspective into the discipline. This paper examines how community psychology and feminist research methods might combine to help us better understand women's experiences without essentializing or universalizing those experiences. The authors offer a series of suggested directions for feminist research that may also prove promising for community psychology. Particular attention is paid to feminist social constructionist approaches insofar as they address the complex relationship between epistemology and methodology.     

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

The central theme of this article is that a feminist perspective is not only compatible with the history, objectives, and emphases of social psychology, but necessary for its continued vitality. In view of social psychology's humanist roots and its "nurturist" and "social optimist" tenets, it is not surprising that feminist scholarship has flourished within it. Situational factors and group membership—the focus of social psychological inquiry—are also key to understanding how culture constructs gender, a central issue in the feminist agenda. Some of the important women in the early decades of American psychology are claimed as foremothers of social psychology and as feminist voices, and the feminist perspective is defined and identified in terms of its major interrelated themes. The influence of feminist scholarship on contemporary social psychology is illustrated, and it is argued that a feminist perspective will become increasingly more visible.     

Changes in Psychology of Women and Psychology of Gender Textbooks (1975–2010)

In this section, four authors contributed their thoughts on how writing textbooks on the psychology of women and gender has changed over the last 35 years. The introduction summarizes common themes in these reflections: the explosion in research and theory about women and gender; increased inclusion of diversity and intersectionality; increased appreciation of the power of the social context and power itself; the challenge of keeping a feminist perspective; changes in the student population; and changes in the publishing industry. Some comments about the future of the field are included.     

FEMINIST CONTRIBUTIONS TO COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY

In this article we first identify and provide evidence for feminist contributions to counseling psychology in four broad areas. These are policy and leadership in the field, theory and research, training and practice, and recognition of feminist scholarship and contributions by women. In view of the evidence, we conclude that feminist perspectives are irrevocably changing the field of counseling psychology by stimulating the rethinking of its premises and models with regard to normal development and by developing new approaches to inquiry and practice.     

A History of Women and Feminist Perspectives in Community Psychology

Using an historical framework, we document and assess efforts to include women, women's issues, and feminism in community psychology and in the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA). Initiatives of the SCRA Task Force/Committee on Women are traced from its inception to present. We also chronicle the dilemmas and difficulties of moving toward a feminist community psychology. The history is divided into five phases. Each phase is described in terms of women's involvement in the field and efforts to integrate feminist content into research and practice of the field. Reflections on the qualities of contexts that have both supported and inhibited inclusion are identified. We look to this history to try to understand the observation that while women have been increasingly visible in leadership roles and women's professional development has been encouraged, less progress has been made toward building a feminist community psychology.     

TRANSFORMING THEORY AND RESEARCH WITH WOMEN

We look at some of the ways in which feminist theorists and researchers apply new insights to established topics in psychology, as they explore the landscape of the unknown and unspoken in the lives of girls and women. The articles in this special issue present research and reflections by a group of feminist scholars, some of us from the editorial board of the Psychology of Women Quarterly and others from the larger academic community. Each contributor, selecting from a personal interest or expertise, reconceptualizes a topical area of psychology with the intent of reframing our understanding of its meaning, its impact on women's functioning, and/or its application to feminist research and theory. To provide a background, we review a sample of contributions of feminist thought to the contemporary revolution in science. We then ask the question: In what ways have feminist perspectives and scholarship transformed psychology in the particular areas addressed by these authors?     

Addressing Diversity in the Decade of Behavior: Focus on Women of Color

The Decade of Behavior provides an opportunity to reflect on the need for psychologists to develop a "diversity mindfulness" in their education, training, and research activities, a need that has never been more urgent. In this article, we focus on the lives of women of color to illustrate diversity-mindful feminist principles that may inform research and program development related to other aspects of diversity. We discuss perspectives and priorities of women of color in psychology. We consider why implementing feminist psychology's inclusive vision for research is a continuing struggle, particularly with regard to research on poor women, and identify some contributions and priorities of feminist research on women of color that relate to Decade goals of achieving a "safer, better educated, healthier, more democratic and more prosperous nation" (White, Travis, & Russo, 2001, p. x). Understanding and incorporating perspectives of women of color in Decade activities is essential if researchers are to generate new knowledge "to prepare the world for facing emerging problems in the 21st century" (Decade of Behavior website: http://www.decadeofbehavior.org).     

POOR WOMEN IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

For the most part, theory and empirical study in the psychology of women have failed to recognize many distinctions among women. Indeed, the focus of feminist theory and research has been directed to the explication of women's essential experience of gender, as if this could be separated from the confounds of class and race. This presentation raises the issue of the diversity among poor women, the need to disentangle ethnicity and class, and the limitation of adopting a middleclass White perspective. In addition to racism, other possible causes of exclusion are explored. Silencing of poor women is also discussed in terms of causes and impact on the discipline of psychology. We have not provided sufficient mechanisms to allow diverse groups of women to tell their own stories; instead, we have felt comfortable in making assumptions and drawing parallels that may be inappropriate and incorrect. Suggestions for achieving feminist goals are provided.     

WHAT DO FEMINISTS BELIEVE?

When a woman says "I am a feminist" what does she mean? What do other people think she means? We asked 71 women to complete the Feminist Perspectives Scale (Henley, Meng, O'Brien, McCarthy, & Sockloskie, 1998) from their own perspective and from the perspective of a "typical feminist." Women who self-identified as feminists had stronger beliefs than those who did not on all feminist perspectives except cultural feminism. Both groups believed that a typical feminist held stronger radical, socialist, and cultural feminist beliefs than they themselves did, although the discrepancies were greater for nonfeminists. Nonfeminists viewed a typical feminist as endorsing stronger cultural feminist views than did feminists. Our results indicate that feminist self-identity is related to endorsement of feminist ideologies, and that both feminists and nonfeminists think that a typical feminist is more extreme than they are. The results also suggest that cultural feminism is a contested ideology; it is not endorsed by feminists, but is ascribed to them by nonfeminists     

“蜜糖裹砒霜”：善意性别偏见对女性生涯发展的影响

善意性别偏见因持有者的主观好意往往难以被识别为偏见, 但会通过限制女性的角色形象和将其置于弱者地位从而巩固性别不平等的状况。近年来大量实证研究发现, 善意性别偏见从家庭教育、婚恋角色分工和职场竞争等方面挤压女性的生涯发展空间; 相比来自他人态度的直接作用, 这些消极影响更多通过女性对善意性别偏见的自我内化来实现。针对这一作用机制, 研究者们从女性感知和应对善意性别偏见的个体心理层面提出了多种理论解释。我们认为, 从女性主义心理学视角审视善意性别偏见的相关研究, 如何秉持研究立场的客观性和价值观的中立性是值得反思的问题; 女性主义心理学的最新理论发展也对性别偏见的研究趋势具有重要启示。     

Re-Membering Spirituality

Ritual has been used as a therapeutic tool within family therapy for nearly two decades. Our understanding of ritual has been drawn from studies of cultures in which all life was viewed as sacred. However, common use of ritual in therapy lifts ritual out of its sacred context and secularizes it. Blending some of the key thinking in feminist theology with feminist psychology can help women reconnect with a perspective on the sacred that is empowering. Reimbuing ritual with the sacred and expanding its use in therapy make it a powerful healing process for women.     

FEMINISM AND DIVERSITY IN PSYCHOLOGY

The contributions of feminist psychology to diversity are highlighted, focusing on the example of women of color. A historical overview of the confluence of feminism and ethnicism is provided, stressing the dynamic interplay between these two movements. The relevance of feminist psychology to women of color is assessed in addition to women of color's contributions to feminism. The role of women of color in the transformation and reformulation of an integrative feminist psychology is examined.     

Political Psychology as a Lens for Viewing Traumatic Events

A burgeoning area of scientific inquiry uses psychological perspectives to understand traumatic events. This research has led to the identification of psychological symptoms and disorders frequently experienced in response to traumatic events. Many of the events having traumatic effects on large numbers of persons are of interest to political psychologists. Such events include the Holocaust, war, terrorism, captivity, torture, political migration, living as a political refugee, and assassination. Some interpersonal forms of trauma, such as rape and incest, also may be viewed with a political perspective. Although a number of studies have examined psychological consequences of political events, this area of inquiry is rarely explicitly considered within the domain of political psychology. Adopting an explicitly political psychology perspective on traumatic events may enrich our interdisciplinary understanding of these events and inform the design and evaluation of intervention programs to reduce psychological distress resulting from these events.     

The Listening Partners Program: An Initiative Toward Feminist Community Psychology in Action

The Listening Partners intervention is described and analyzed as a synthesis of feminism and community psychology, within a developmental framework. Working from an empowerment perspective, this social action, peer group intervention supported a community of poor, rural, isolated, young, White mothers to gain a greater voice, claim the powers of their minds, and collaborate in developmental leadership—creating settings that promote their own development and that of their families, peers, and communities. High quality dialogue, individual and group narrative, and collaborative problem-solving were emphasized, in a feminist context affirming diversity, inclusiveness, strengths, social-contextual analyses, and social constructivist perspectives. The power of enacting a synergy of feminism and community psychology is highlighted.     

"DEVELOPING A SCALE TO MEASURE THE DIVERSITY OF FEMINIST ATTITUDES"

This article reports two studies aimed at developing a new scale of attitudes toward women, incorporating six theoretically derived perspectives: conservative; liberal, radical, socialist, and cultural feminist; and women of color (womanist). In Study 1, an initial pool of 306 items was given to 117 respondents. Selection of 10 attitudinal and 3 behavioral items from each perspective for the final scale was based chiefly on item-total correlations. In Study 2, the Feminist Perspectives Scale was administered to 344 respondents and showed reasonable reliability and validity. For Femscore, a composite of five feminist attitudinal subscales, Cronbach's alpha was .91; test-retest correlations were .91 at 2 weeks and .86 at 4 weeks. Empirical data provided generally good support for the six perspectives, and factor analysis produced partial support for the six-perspective structure.     

Exploring Taiwanese Female Pastors' Intimate Relationships: Using the Story of the Levite's Concubine

The authors investigated intimate relationships and violence toward women, using group discussions and focus group techniques from a feminist group counseling perspective, with Taiwanese Presbyterian female pastors. The story of the Levite's concubine and the feminist commentary were provided to a group of Taiwanese female pastors to read at the beginning of the focus group session. The women's perspectives of their intimate relationship experiences in light of the biblical story were explored. The 6 themes related to participants' intimate relationships were generated and are discussed.     

Neutrality And Feminist Perspective: Can They Co-Exist In Family Therapy?

An argument is forwarded for the integration of feminist and systemic perspectives, specifically focusing on neutrality. The position taken is that both feminist principles and systemic practice have indispensable merits when applied to relationship-oriented therapy. Issues of abuse in family therapy are presented by promotion of a view that judgment against the abuser and a neutral investigative process can both be achieved. A neutral stance and circularity contribute to process maps, hypothesis generation, and gaining influence with all family members. Cecchin's updated perspective of neutrality as curiosity about multiple perspectives is emphasized. A case example demonstrates integration of neutrality and a feminist perspective.     

Feminist Approaches to Social Science: Epistemological and Methodological Tenets

This paper is a primer for community psychologists on feminist research. Much like the field of community psychology, feminist scholarship is defined by its values and process. Informed by the political ideologies of the 1970s women's movement (liberal, radical, socialist feminism, and womanism), feminist scholars reinterpreted classic concepts in philosophy of science to create feminist epistemologies and methodologies. Feminist epistemologies, such as feminist empiricism, standpoint theory, and postmodernism, recognize women's lived experiences as legitimate sources of knowledge. Feminist methodologies attempt to eradicate sexist bias in research and find ways to capture women's voices that are consistent with feminist ideals. Practically, the process of feminist research is characterized by four primary features: (1) expanding methodologies to include both quantitative and qualitative methods, (2) connecting women for group-level data collection, (3) reducing the hierarchical relationship between researchers and their participants to facilitate trust and disclosure, and (4) recognizing and reflecting upon the emotionality of women's lives. Recommendations for how community psychologists can integrate feminist scholarship into their practice are discussed.     

PSYCHOLOGY RECONSTRUCTS THE FEMALE 1968–1988

Recent work on the psychology of gender is pluralistic, stemming from varied specialty areas within psychology, grounded in several intellectual frameworks, and reflecting a spectrum of feminist perspectives. This article is a critical appraisal of diverse approaches to the study of women and gender. It first describes prefeminist or "womanless" psychology, then analyzes four co-existing frameworks that have generated recent research. The four frameworks are: Exceptional Women , in which empirical research focuses on the correlates of high achievement for women, and women's history in the discipline is re-evaluated; Women as Problem (or Anomaly ), in which research emphasizes explanations for female "deficiencies" (e.g., fear of success); the Psychology of Gender , in which the focus of inquiry shifts from women to gender, conceived as a principle of social organization that structures relations between women and men; and a (currently relatively undeveloped) Transformation framework that reflexively challenges the values, assumptions, and normative practices of the discipline. Examples of research programs within each approach are described, and the strengths and limitations of each approach are critically examined.