Leave No Text Behind: Teaching the Psychology of Women During the Emergence of Second Wave Feminism

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the resources (especially the textbooks) used to teach early courses in the psychology of women. Textbooks represent an underutilized vehicle by which to explore ideological change because they are documents frozen in time that reflect the way their authors responded to particular historical and scholarly circumstances. The early textbooks reflect how perceptions about the methods and content of psychology changed in response to alterations in professional and personal consciousness induced by the emergence of second wave feminism. The structure and content of a sample of early and more recent textbooks (some that I authored as well as some written by others) is analyzed to help chart how and why the field has changed since the first textbooks were published in 1971.

II. “Functionalism, Darwinism, and the Psychology of Women” as critical feminist history of psychology: Discourse communities and citation practices

“…At her home institution she and fellow graduate student Phyllis Berman organized an informal seminar to talk about issues of interest to women in psychology which she later described as “intellectual consciousness-raising” (Shields, 2011, p. 5). Readings, by necessity, were drawn from many sources as there were few textbooks or other synthetic publications (see Unger, 2010). Judith Bardwick’s text, mentioned above, was followed by Julia Sherman’s On the Psychology of Women: A Survey of Empirical Studies (1971), which made an effort to systematize existing research on the female life-cycle and was strongly and self-consciously biological in focus.…”

Editorial: Adding Media Reviews to Sex Roles

“…Having taught over 3,000 women in the Psychology of Women, the course I teach today is different in content, topics covered, texts and resources used, and in pedagogy from the Psychology of Women course that Irene and I team-taught in 1975. When we started teaching there were no published textbooks and very few articles relating to gender or to women's issues (Unger 2010). This also predates the first issues of Sex Roles published in 1975 (Frieze and Dittrich 2009).…”

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

“…Unger's (2010) article, in particular, provides a very useful history of textbooks in this field. Despite the individualized perspective, there are several common themes.…”

“…In the next 35 years, the field is likely to further emphasize intersectionality (Matlin 2010;Unger 2010), interdisciplinarity (Lips 2010), and a cross-cultural perspective (Unger 2010). Ensuring that the psychology of women and men continues to include a feminist perspective and an appreciation of how power is interwoven with gender assumptions will continue to be a challenge (Unger 2010;Yoder 2010).…”

“…Ensuring that the psychology of women and men continues to include a feminist perspective and an appreciation of how power is interwoven with gender assumptions will continue to be a challenge (Unger 2010;Yoder 2010). Because the struggle for equality is a long-term one, it is important to celebrate small victories, as Matlin notes.…”