My presentation on Women & Sexism for my Multicultural Counseling Course - June 2012

1. +
Women & Sexism
Voice, Worldview,
Clinical implications
and their application
to practice
P. Max Quinn
Multicultural Counseling
Bridgewater State University

3. +
1848 – 1893 n 1890 – National American Woman
Suffrage Association (NAWSA) is
formed – Waged state-by-state
n 1848 – 1st Women’s Rights
convention was held in Seneca
campaigns to obtain voting rights
Falls, NY for women
n 1850 – 1st National Women’s n 1893 – Colorado is 1st state to
Rights Convention takes place adopt amendment granting
in Worcester, MA women the right to vote.
n National Conventions were n Utah & Idaho in 1896
held yearly through 1860 n Washington State in 1910
n 1869 – National Woman n California in 1911
Suffrage Association was n Oregon, Kansas & Arizona & 1912
formed n Alaska & Illinois in 1913
n GOAL: Achieve voting rights n Montana & Nevada in 1914
for Women via Congressional
Amendment to US n New York in 1917
Constitution n Michigan, S. Dakota, & Oklahoma
n Wyoming passes 1st women’s in 1918
suffrage law – Women begin
serving on Juries in 1870

4. +
1896 – 1920
n 1896 – National Association of n 1916 – 1st US Birth-Control
Colored Women is formed Clinic is opened in Brooklyn,
NY
n 1903 – National Women’s Trade n Clinic was shut down 10
Union League (WTUL) is days later, but in 1923,
established – Advocates for Margaret Sanger opened
improved wages and working another clinic in New York
conditions for women City
n 1913 – Congressional Union is n 1919 – The Federal Woman
formed to obtain passage of Suffrage Amendment (written
federal amendment to give by Susan B. Anthony) is passed
women the right to vote. Later by the House of
named National Women’s Party Representatives and the
Senate. Sent to states for
Ratification.
- August 26, 1920 –
19th Amendment granting women the right to vote is signed into law!

5. +
1921 - 1964
n 1921 - Margaret Sanger founds n 1960 – The Food and Drug
the American Birth Control Administration approves
League Birth Control Pills
n Later evolves into the Planned
Parenthood Federation of n 1961 – President John F.
America in 1942 Kennedy establishes the
President’s Commission on the
n 1935 – National Council of Negro Status of Women
Women is organized
n 1963 – Congress passes the
n 1936 – A federal law to prohibit the Equal Pay Act, making it
dissemination of contraceptive illegal for employees to pay
information through the mail is a woman less than what a
modified and birth control man would make doing the
information is no longer classified same job
as obscene
n 1964 – Title VII of the Civil
n 1955 – Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) is Rights Act bars
founded as the first lesbian discrimination in
organization in the US employment on the basis of
race and sex

6. +
1964 - 1972 n 1968 – The EEOC rules that
sex-segregated help wanted
n 1964 – Equal Employment ads in newspapers are illegal
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is
n 1969 – California becomes
established to investigate
the 1st state to adopt a “no
complaints and impose penalties
fault” divorce law, which
n 1965 – Griswold v Connecticut - allows couples to divorce by
Supreme Court decision to prohibit mutual consent
the use of contraceptives by n By 1985 every state had
married couples adopted a similar law
n 1966 – The National Organization n 1972 – The Equal Rights
for Women (NOW) is founded Amendment (ERA) is passed
by Congress
n 1967 – Executive Order 11375 n Eisenstadt v Baird -
expands affirmative action policy Supreme Court rules that
of 1965 to cover discrimination the right to privacy
based on gender includes an unmarried
person's right to use
contraceptives

7. +
1972 - 1978
n 1972 – Title IX of the Education
Amendments bans sex
n 1976 – The 1st marital rape law is
discrimination in schools enacted in Nebraska, making it
n As a result, enrollment of women in illegal for a husband to rape his wife
athletic programs and professional
schools increases dramatically
n 1973 – Roe v Wade – Supreme Court n 1978 – The pregnancy
established a women’s right to safe Discrimination Act bans
and legal abortion, overriding the employment against pregnant
anti-abortion laws of many states women. A woman cannot be fired or
denied a job or a promotion because
n 1974 – The Equal Credit Opportunity she is or may become pregnant, nor
Act prohibits discrimination in can she be forced to take a
consumer credit practices on the pregnancy leave if she is willing
basis of sex, race, marital status, and able to work
religion, national origin, or receipt of
public assistance

8. + n 1994 – The Violence Against
1984 – 1999 Women Act tightens federal
penalties for sex offenders, funds
services for victims of rape and
n 1984 – EMILY’s List (Early domestic violence, and provides
Money Is Like Yeast) is for special training of police
established as a financial officers
network for pro-choice
n 1996 – United States v Virginia –
Democratic women running Supreme Court rules that all-
for national political office male Virginia Military School has
to admit women in order to
n 1986 – Meritor Savings Bank v continue to receive public
Vinson – Supreme Court finds funding
that sexual harassment is a
form of illegal job n 1999 – Kolstad v American Dental
discrimination Association – Supreme Court
rules that a woman can sue for
n 1992 – Planned Parenthood v punitive damages for sex
discrimination if the anti-
Casey – Supreme Court discrimination law was violated
reaffirms the validity of a with malice or indifference to the
woman’s right to abortion law, even if the conduct was not
under Roe V Wade especially severe

9. +
2000 – Present Day
n 2009 – President Obama signed
n 2003 – Nevada Department of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay
Human Resources v Hibbs – Restoration Act, which allows
Supreme Court rules that
victims of pay discrimination to
states can be sued in federal
court for violations of the file a complaint with the
Family Leave Medical Act government against their
employer within 180 days of their
n 2005 – Jackson v Birmingham last paycheck.
Board of Education –
Supreme Court rules that
Title IX also inherently
prohibits disciplining
someone for complaining
about sex-based
discrimination
n 2006 – Supreme Court upholds
the ban on the “partial-birth”
abortion procedure – Upholds
the Partial-Birth Abortion Act

10. A Womans’ Voice:
Values, Norms, Behaviors, and Worldview
+ The impact on the counseling process

11. +

12. +Because I am a woman, I
must make unusual efforts
to succeed.
If I fail, no one will say,
“She doesn’t have what it
takes”.
They will say, “Women
don’t have what it takes.”
~Clare Boothe Luce
Clinical Implications & Application to Practice
The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females
begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl."
~Shirley Chisholm
http://whoneedsfeminism.tumblr.com/

13. + Best Practices: Counseling Women
Why should counselors demonstrate an awareness of
Women’s Oppression when counseling them?
What is the potential impact of this information on the
counseling process?

14. + The Four Forces
Psychodynamic
Cognitive-Behavioral
Existential-Humanistic
Multicultural

15. + Best Practices: Counseling Women
“Gender politics” influence how we see ourselves as girls
(and boys) and women (and men) throughout the course of
our lives...
Girls = sweet, sensitive, and docile
Boys = strong, stoic, and brave
• A woman’s sense of identity and self-concept develop in
the context of relationships
• Foster mutuality, relational capacities, and growth in
connection

16. + Principles of Counseling Women
The Personal is Political
• Personal or individual problems that individuals bring to
counseling originate in a political and social context
Commitment to Social Change
• Inspire direct action for social change
Women’s and Girl’s Voices and Ways of Knowing are Values
and their Experiences are Honored
• Replace patriarchal “objective truth” with feminist
consciousness, which acknowledges diverse ways of
knowing
• The valuing and facilitation of women’s voices in and out
of therapy directly counteracts the often forced silence
of women and contributes to an ultimate change in the
body politic of society

17. + Principles of Counseling Women
The Counseling Relationship if Egalitarian
• Take measures to strive for an egalitarian relationship,
keeping in mind that the client is the expert in her own
life
A Focus on Strengths and a Reformulated definition of
Psychological Distress
• Consider intrapsychic factors as only partial
explanations for the pain that people bring to therapy
• Psychological distress is reframed, not as disease but as
a communication about unjust systems
All Types of Oppression are Recognized
• Women can be best understood in the context of their
sociocultural environments
• Acknowledge that and political inequalities have a
negative effect on all people

18. +
n Become aware of your own gender-role
socialization process
n Identify internalized messages and
replace them with more self-enhancing
beliefs
Understand how sexist and oppressive
DO the following... n
societal beliefs and practices influence
you and your clients in negative ways
n Acquire skills to bring about change in
the environment
n Restructure institutions to rid them of
discriminatory practices
n Evaluate the impact on social factors on
the lives if you and your clients
n Develop a sense of personal and social
power
n Recognize the power of relationships and
connectedness
n Trust the clients own experience and their
intuition

19. + n
n
Make assumptions or “think you know”
Make general or broad statements about
what women value (each women may
value different things, and you do not want
to offend them or assume)
n DO value the female perspective:
Traditionally held notions of feminine
traits (e.g., empathy, intuitiveness,
cooperation, affiliation) are often
DON’T do the devalued in U.S. culture, so female clients
following... often learn to devalue these traits in
themselves (Choate, 2009)
n Ask too personal or intimate of questions
at the onset of the counseling relationship
(gauge openness of the client)
n Make comments on physical appearance
(clothing, hair, weight loss, etc...)
n Make inappropriate jokes (it is very easy
for good intentions to be perceived
poorly)

20. +
The End
J

21. + Bibliography
Choate, L. H. (2009, March). Girls’ and Women’s Issues in Counseling: A
Theory-Based Course Design [Electronic version]. Counselor Education &
Supervision, 48, 179-190.
Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Gutwill, S., Gitter, A., & Rubin, L. (2011). The Women’s Therapy Centre
Institute: The Personal is Political. Women & Therapy. doi:
10.1080/02703149.2011.532703
Imbornoni, A. (2009). In Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.. Retrieved
June 16, 2012, from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/
womenstimeline1.html
Jun, H. (2010). Social justice, multicultural counseling, and practice: beyond
a conventional approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Spain, D. (2011, March). Women's Rights and Gendered Spaces in 1970s
Boston [Electronic version]. Frontiers: A journal of women studies, 32(1),
152-171.