Mental Illness and Psychiatric Treatment Among Women: A Response

Two of Gove's points are given major consideration. First, his precise definition of mental illness is criticized because it excludes diagnostic groups comprised largely of males (personality disorders and substance abusers). Second, Gove's analysis of the value of traditional versus nontradi-tional therapy for women is challenged and support is offered for the role of feminist therapy. It is recommended that the relationship between sex roles and emotional problems be examined and that less emphasis be given to demonstrating that one sex has more problems than the other.     

Changes in Female Sexuality: A Study of Mother/Daughter Communication and Generational Differences

Questionnaires on various aspects of female sexuality (including sexual activity in high school and college, sexual attitudes and values, and communication between mothers and daughters on sexual subjects) were completed by 141 women who graduated from college in 1954 and had college-age daughters and by 184 women who were sophomores at Stanford University in 1977–78. The present article reports (1) similarities and differences in sexual behavior between college-age women of the early 1950s and late 1970s, (2) communication between mothers and daughters on the subject of sex, and (3) the effects of generational change in sexual behavior and attitudes on the overall mother-daughter relationship.     

Self-Ratings and Projected Ratings of Sex Role Attitudes

To ascertain the veridicality of projected attitudes toward sex role behavior, 74 male and 74 female undergraduates filled out the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) using three different targets: self, typical female classmate, and typical male classmate. Analyses of variance on respondents' total AWS scores and on the six AWS subscale scores showed significant interactions between sex of respondent and sex of target for all seven variables. Since the directions of the interactions were not consistent across subscales, the results indicated the methodological necessity of using measurements which examine a variety of specific subclasses of sex role behaviors (rather than using unidimensional scale or total test scores) when stereotypic sex role attitudes are sought. In general, both sexes were found to have a fairly accurate perception of women's attitudes, but both sexes consistently perceived the typical male as more conservative than the male self-ratings justified.