Earlier Schools of Thought in Psychology and Gender Differences
Structuralism
The pinoeers of struralsim were primerily interested in Structuralists inrested the structure of human mind. The human
mind and mental process has been studied by introspection method.
Structuarlist were interested in generalised adult mind and ignored the
factor of individual difference. In particular the gender differences
have been ignored while studying the human mind and mental processes
(Shields, 1975). Ignoring gender difference doesn't mean that the
structuarlist consider men and women equally. The subject matter of
structuarlist experiment were predominantly males. Therefore the
generalised mind meant to be males mind. According to a report the women
in USA were prohibited by experimental psychologist to participate in
the research (Schultz & Schultz, 2004).
Functionalism.
Psychologist
took more practical pragmatical approach in U.S. Functionalist focused
upon the function of the mind as compared to the structured of the mind.
Functionalist included women, men, children and animals as subject
matter. The functionalist discriminated women from men in a few
dimensions.
The pinoeers of struralsim were primerily interested in Structuralists inrested the structure of human mind. The human mind and mental process has been studied by introspection method. Structuarlist were interested in generalised adult mind and ignored the factor of individual difference. In particular the gender differences have been ignored while studying the human mind and mental processes (Shields, 1975). Ignoring gender difference doesn't mean that the structuarlist consider men and women equally. The subject matter of structuarlist experiment were predominantly males. Therefore the generalised mind meant to be males mind. According to a report the women in USA were prohibited by experimental psychologist to participate in the research (Schultz & Schultz, 2004).
Functionalism.
· Men are more intelligent than females
· Comparatively females benefit less from education than males.
· Females have more strong maternal in-strict than males.
· Females are less competent to set an example for success
The
functionalist were more interested in nurture than than nature. The
gender or sex role was not a matter of subject for functionalist. The
functionalist faced severe criticism due to gender biased approach.
Female
psychologists such as Letta Setter Hollignworth, and Helen Thompson
WoolleyFemale argued and took a stand against the functionalist view of
women. Woolley in the early 1900s highlighted a point that the research
regarding the sex roles and sex differences should be clearer prejudice,
personal bias and sentiments.
Hollingworth recommended that women capabilities cannot be determined or
underestimated unless they were given oppertunity to choose life they
would like either for maternity or career.
Behaviourism.
Behaviourist approach brought an advance perspectives
.
Behaviourism introduced the introspection method to understand the
inner experience. Although the theoretical framework was different for
both functionalist and behaviorist, their ephsis towards gender
difference was not different. The primary interest of the behaviorist
was memory and learning. Gender roles and sex difference along with
social determinants have been ignored. Early behaviorist created
womanless psychologists (Crawford and Marecek, 1989). The research
approach of behaviorist negatively affected the women status in
psychology. Initially women have not been taken as a part of research,
or whether we're consider as a participants, gender difference have been
ignored. Psychoanalytic Psychology.
Psychoanalytic approach proposed by sigmund freud has been the most criticised yet inluential in the history of psychology. Psychoanalytic primarily introduced the personality difference or sex differences. Freud postulated the clear conceptualization of gender and sex differences. Freud talked about the developmental stages of personality regarding “Psycho-sexual Development”. Personality is guided and run by basic energy; instincts are the source of energy.
Psychosexual stages
Odipus and Eectra Complex. These stages are very crucial in personality development as children feel attraction towards the opposite-sex parent, and hostility towards the same-sex parent develops. The child ultimately resolves this conflict in the form of identification with the same-sex parent.
The male child whose masculinity develops in a normal fashion undergoes very severe anxiety and conflict in early childhood. The child develops the hatred for the father, fears him, and undergoes trauma. The child feels more attraction towards his mother and wants to get the place of his father. For that purpose he practices the behaviors of his father such as wearning his shoes and clothes.
In contrast the female child develop more attraction towards his
father and practices her mother role to become more closer to his father. in
this way both geder learn and practice their roles by identify their gender. They
feels attraction for opposite gender but plays the roles of same gender.
Psychoanalytic Feminism. Psychoanalytic feminism Roots in the work of Freud. Gender is not a biologically determined phenomenon. Psychosexual development leads to the gender role that we adopt and play. Childhood experiences are responsible for making the male believe that he is masculine and making a female believe that she is feminine. These experiences lead to gender inequality. This is a result of a male-dominated society.
Why are Gender Issues important to study?
Almost every species in the world is segregated into two sexes
namely masculine and feminine. The term sex refers to ones biological,
anatomical and physical entity. Society and cultures contributed highly in defining
particularities of members of each sex within a continuous span of time and
history. Society has established distinct features and traits for both sexes to
differentiate each other. Such contribution by society is termed as Gender, a
term adopted from anthropology to define roles, behaviours and attitudes a
culture attribute to a person's biological sex.
•
To
understand the barrier that inhibits the social rights of the women
•
To
eradicate those barriers
•
To
create more opportunities for women
•
To
expanded career opportunities for women
•
More
women in elected bodies at local, national, and international levels
•
Rape
is now a crime against humanity punishable by international criminal court
•
Reproductive
rights allow women to choose when/whether or not to have a child(ren)
Key Issues Women Encounter in Pakistan
The key issues women encounter in Pakistan has been divided into
two sections, the historical and contemporary issues.
Historical
Historical
Women’s Studies began as a field of study in the late 1960s as a
response to the exclusion of women’s contributions and perspectives from
traditional academic disciplines.
Gender Biases. As the heading suggests, there is no debate over the fact that men are given unfair advantages over women under certain circumstances. In the past female choices, decision, desires and will were considered the extraordinary thing and used to discouraged at a high scale.
Sexual Harassment. The most common problem faced by women in Pakistan is that of sexual harassment. Men continue to believe that a working woman is “public property”, and often attempt to take advantage of this. Unsafe and unhealthy environments in Pakistan have been ever-prevalent, and this is what contributes to the male mindset of considering weak and fragile women as easy targets.
Education. In the past female used to be responsible for doing household chores and education was considered to be males domain.
Marriage. Female did not have any freedom to make informed choices for selecting their spouses. In some backward areas of Pakistan the female sacrifices their choices and wills in the name of so-called tradition. Such as the love marriage concept is forbidden in Baluchistan. The Barahvi tribe also follow the marriage ritual of ‘'Valver'' in which the groom had to pay some money to the parents of the bridal. Currently, some studies suggest that the Valver ritual is decreasing gradually, after diverse adverse social incidents.
Husband Insecurity. Being a wise woman had to deal with the husband’s ego and obscure insecurities time and again. Men in Pakistan usually believe that their kind of gender should be the only breadwinners of the entire family. They might feel threatened by their wives interaction with male, colleagues and see their proud achievements as unwanted threats.
Societal pressure: (log kia kahain gy) This one factor or claim has ruined a majority of women’s lives as compared to no other. Whether you’re a working woman or a housewife, there’s always the threat of ‘log kya kahain gai‘ and how others will perceive you through their judgments and opinions. They had been assumed that by working or doing something for themselves and neglecting your house, family and kids etc., and most probably accredit you with filthy and hurtful titles.
Rape and Honour Killing. These two problems are part and parcel of the bigger picture in this country which a lot of people tend to ignore completely. Rape culture is wrong, but in actuality, rape culture is justified within Pakistan. It is justified by the excuse that Islam promotes modesty and has tasked men with protecting inferior women. It is furthermore, justified by the most dangerous of all excuses, traditional norms Even despite the introduction of the Criminal Law Act in 2016 with amendments in previous laws, 95% of victims of honour killing today are still women. Up to 1000 women are murdered every year in the name of honour, Aurat Foundation reports, with more than 60% of honour-related crimes going unreported.
Contemporary Issues
Verbal abuse: In the contemporary issue verbal abuse or harassment is more common than the physical abuse.
Unwanted compliments. Female face unwanted compliments for physical structure and behaviours. They encounter unwanted complaints on their dressing sense and socioeconomic status as well.
Cyber Bullying. Cyberbullying is one of the current issues women face on a high scale. They upload some pictures on social media and get brutal compliments that adversely affect their mental health.
Social Standards of beauty. The national and international standard of beauty is the causing frustration among females. They strive for making their physical structure according to the standard of the society and in this long run faces much complication. The failure in getting the desired standard causes psychological issues and eating disorders.
Loneliness: The modern women have independence and career, but they
reported themselves as more victim of loneliness. The independence in making
choices isolate her from their loved ones, and again they suffer from mental
health issues.
Psychological sufferings. The advance living standards regarding education, occupation, beauty standards, and technological use (social media) has created a high atmosphere of competition. The people try to defeat one another in the long run of unhealthy competition and face mental issues.
Career choice. Currently education system for female has improved as they
allowed to get the higher secondary education to spend a healthy lifestyle.
Education is not merely universal among high socioeconomic people, but the low
socioeconomic peoples also prefer literacy for the children. Unfortunately, the
concept of career choice is weak in the making prospects of females. The female
is given arts subjects for their education is to practice a healthy lifestyle
rather than move ahead in professional life.
Family planning
practices. Females have no right to decide number, time
and spacing of the childbirth.