Gender IssuesPertemuan 12

Matakuliah : L0332 – Psikologi KonselingTahun : 2009

PERTEMUAN 12

Gender Issues

Introduction

• Kate Millet: Because of our social circumstances, male and female are really two different cultures and their life experiences are utterly different

• Sex: biological differences between males and females, such as differences in genitals, reproductive functioning, bone structure, and size

• Gender: the cultural and social classification of characteristics, attitudes, values and behaviours as appropriate for either females or males

• Gender role: the role that a person adopts or that is ascribed to her/him on the dimensions of masculinity and femininity. The concept of gender role incorporates the power relations between men and woman

• Gender role identity: how a person views herself or himself on the dimensions of masculinity and femininity

• Gender role socialization: The processes of enculturation whereby children and adults acquire, internalize and maintain the characteristics, attitudes , values and behaviours associated with femininity, masculinity or mixture of both

Introduction

• Gender role conflict: Where the gender role the individual either adopts or wishes to adopt is a variance with the gender role prescribed by their culture or reference group. different ideas between partners in dual career couples

• Sexism: external oppression on account of a person’s biological sex.Individual Sexism: any thoughts, feelings and actions that assume the superiority of one sex over the other.Institutional or organizational sexism: political, institutional and organizational structures that discriminate against, oppress and devalue a person on the grounds of sexHeterosexism: extends sexism to focus on individuals and organizations that assume the superiority of heterosexual thought, feelings and actions over homosexual or bisexual thoughts, feelings and actions.

THEORY

• Read p. 445-452

• Biology and Gender

• Masculinity, femininity, androgyny and gender schema

• Woman and gender roles

• Men and gender roles

THERAPY

• Read p. 460

• Ellen Piel Cook: Mental health professional recognize today that strong adhere to traditional sex-role standards can have negative consequences for men’s and women’s psychological functioning

• Where gender role issues are involved, it is possible to state therapeutic goals for both sexes and for each sex

• The general goals include helping individual clients use their strengths and potential, make appropriate choices, remedy poor skills and develop positive and flexible self-concept Learning to deal with demand/withdraw interaction pattern in marital conflict Handling numerous issues confronting dual career couples in a time of rapid technological and economic change

THERAPY

• Goals for feminist counselling: read box 17.3 p. 454

• Therapeutic goals for men: read p. 455

THERAPY

Therapeutic approaches: read p. 455-460

• Making existing therapies more gender sensitive

• Gender relevant counselling and therapy competences

• Awareness of own assumptions, values and biases

• Understanding the worldview of the sex-different client

• Developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques

• Feminist and Men’s Therapy

• 5 central principles of feminist therapy (read box 17.4; p. 458)

THERAPY

Herbert Spencer:

No one can be perfectly free until all are free;

No one can be perfectly moral until all are moral;

No one can be perfectly happy until all are happy