This book aims to be a comprehensive resource that will apprise readers of the complex dynamics of the psychological interiors of women and others in the sex and gender spectrum, as they grapple with sociopolitical and cultural constraints. Going beyond the ambit of mainstream psychology, this volume draws from interdisciplinary fields of women’s/gender studies to highlight power imbalances, their intersectional nature, and the ways in which they shape the psychology of gender relations. The book illuminates three focal themes of identities, well-being, and relations, which illustrate the psychological, contextualised in the backdrop of social, political, and cultural developments in contemporary India. The first theme explores the building of identities in the changing dynamics of work–family interfaces, non-normative sexualities, and genders and the intersections of caste, gender, and social hierarchies. The second theme focuses on the gendering of mental health, including the intervention of feminist counselling. The third theme highlights conceptualisations and practices of masculinities and the role of agency, empowerment, and collective action in the pathways to equitable gender relations and social transformation. This book will be of interest to students, teachers, researchers of psychology, and of women’s/gender studies. It will also be useful for anyone who is interested to learn about recent psychological scholarship in India, informed and imbued with a feminist perspective on women as well as other genders.

How close is feminist psychology to contemporary feminism? How can feminist psychological practice address issues of `difference' between women in meaningful ways? What price has feminist psychology had to pay for attempting to engage with mainstream psychology to revise and improve it? This book critiques feminist practice within psychology, and reflects the diversity from across the globe of feminist struggles around psychology. An international group of key feminist psychologists explore the relations between feminist politics and psychological practices in: transitional and postcolonial contexts; the distinct European traditions of critical psychology and women's studies; and psychology's colonial `centre' in the United

“Extremely lively and super-smart, this Feminist Companion is indeed the friend you want to sit beside in every social psychology class.” Alexandra Rutherford, Professor, Historical, Theoretical and Critical Studies of Psychology, York University, Canada “Madeleine Pownall and Wendy Stainton Rogers’ book pings with the vibrancy and creativity of feminist critique. With this companion, they have made feminist inspiration, analysis, and activism easily accessible to everyone studying social psychology!” Virginia Braun, Professor of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand “The Feminist Companion was written for undergraduate readers, but it holds much wisdom for us all.” Jeanne Marecek, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA The Feminist Companion series includes books which act as your friends and mentors in book form, supporting you in your studies, especially when things get tough. This companion offers a feminist, critical, better-informed understanding of social psychology; what it knows, what it can deliver – and what it can’t. Ultimately, it will help you gain a deeper understanding of the data, analytic tools and theoretical frameworks that inform Social Psychology, as well as empowering you to develop the capacity and authority to challenge assumptions and become a critical and engaged social psychologist. Key features include: •Five Reasons Why You Need a Feminist Companion – a helpful summary of what readers can expect to gain from this book •Activity boxes, suggesting ways you can put the theory you are learning in to practice •See and Hear for Yourself boxes, signposting readers to where they can find real-world examples of the concepts covered •Summary sections that articulate the main points of each chapter and provide a useful revision aid •A glossary of key terms This book maps to the British Psychological Society (BPS) curriculum on social psychology as well as the Quality Assessment Agency’s (QAA) Subject Benchmark Statement for Psychology. Madeleine Pownall is a lecturer in Social Psychology, Research Methods, and Advanced Social Psychology at the University of Leeds, UK. She is Chair of the Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group (PsyPAG) and an Associate Editor at The Psychologist. Wendy Stainton Rogers is Emeritus Professor at The Open University, UK, and a member of the Open University Press Editorial Advisory Board. Across her career she has written ten bestselling books, the majority of which are for Psychology students. She is renowned for her clear-sighted and accessible writing style, as well as for her innovative work in Critical Psychology.

This handbook summarizes the progress, current status, and future directions relevant to feminist multicultural perspectives in counseling psychology. It emphasizes enduring topics within counseling psychology such as human growth and development, ethics, ecological frameworks, and counseling theory and practice. Intersectionality, social justice, and the diverse social identities of women and girls are featured prominently.

Feminist Psychology introduces a distinctive new mode of doing psychology. This psychology is based on an increasingly popular range of ideas called social constructionism. Within the book, new forms of theory and methods of inquiry relating social constructionism to feminist topics are introduced. Each chapter highlights different topics of special concern within gender studies, especially the psychology of women.

Detailing the field of feminist psychology since its origins, this book assesses its early figures, theory, and research as well as current and emerging theory and research and its associations with general feminist beliefs. Feminist psychology developed as a reaction to historical psychological thought initiated by men who controlled the theory and research of the field. By holding all of society to "norms" based in male behavior, this so-called "masculine psychology" effectively assigned women lower societal status than men and had disturbing effects on women's health and self-esteem. Feminist Psychology focuses on gender differences, social structure, and the values and principles of women's rights within the world's individual, social, and political spheres. Contrary to popular notion, feminist psychology does not involve man-hating, but instead focuses on loving the concept that women have equal potential to set and achieve goals and to contribute to society. In this volume, psychologist Vera Maass explains the history, theory, research, and current state of this growing field, which is becoming increasingly popular as colleges offer majors or concentrations in feminist psychology, and argues that women are both different from and equal to men.

Feminist psychology is vigorous, creative, and increasingly activist. This volume reflects women's diversity and incorporates strategies for social action and opportunities for political activism. It anticipates trends and developments in the psychology of women and feminist psychology. Chapters include those about women and self-esteem, leadership skills, welfare reform, spirituality, and domestic violence. The emphasis on social activism is unique. Unusual and cutting-edge research methodologies and techniques are also discussed. This book will be of interest to clinicians and scholars aiming to enhance their expertise and awareness in this field. The focus on contemporary research and future directions of the psychology of women will be a welcome, sophisticated addition to a syllabus for graduate courses in the psychology of women.

Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology introduces a distinctive new mode of doing psychology. This psychology is based on an increasingly popular range of ideas called social constructionism. Within the book, new forms of theory and methods of inquiry relating social constructionism to feminist topics are introduced. Each chapter highlights different topics of special concern within gender studies, especially the psychology of women. The first chapter outlines the purposes of the book and positions social constructionism in relation to the more traditional "feminist psychologies" empiricist and feminist standpoint. Given the trend toward social constructionism, [the author thinks] the broad audience of people doing gender work will be interested in becoming familiar with this approach to the field. The second and third chapters are focused on narrative methods as a means for studying gender differences in popular autobiographies. The discussions center on differences in stories of achievement, family, love, and embodiment. Quotations from well-known personalities, such as Donald Trump and Martina Navratilova, enrich the text. The fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters involve issues of menopause with a focus group methodology, a historical look at the "male gaze" as it is poised on the Naked Maja painting by Goya, and how relationships function within imaginal conversations. The two final chapters in the book are exemplars of a recent innovation in the field called performative psychology. One monologue is about aging in contemporary society and the other is a feminist critique of aspects of postmodernism itself. The book draws from the central tenets of postmodern inquiry, as played out in the positive framework of social constructionism. Emphasized are reflexivity, the social basis of reality making, the breakdown of traditional narrative forms, the loss of objectivity as a scientific standard, and the possibilities for new forms of doing research. In this respect, the book is unique and serves to provide a point of view on an intriguing movement that is gaining momentum across the social sciences and humanities. It is hoped that this book might serve as a catalyst for further innovative work in psychology. This text encourages such moves by its own irreverence for traditions and its overt efforts to break down resistances to creativity in the field.

“If you are interested in lived experience and meaning making, or want to think more creatively about psychology, this text is utterly invaluable.” Paula Reavey, Professor of Psychology and Mental Health, London South Bank University, UK “This book provides a wonderful, gently provocative, critical companion to the standard psychological curriculum!” Professor Virginia Braun, School of Psychology, Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland, NZ “This is essential reading for all undergraduate and applied psychology courses.” Professor Erica Burman, University of Manchester, UK, editor of Feminists and Psychological Practice and co-author of Challenging women: psychology’s exclusions, feminist possibilities The Feminist Companion series includes books which act as your friends and mentors in book form, supporting you in your studies, especially when things get tough. This companion offers a better-informed understanding of research methods, exploring key topics such as ethics, reproducibility, reliability and validity, and research design through a feminist lens. The ethics of research relationships are explored, alongside issues to do with prejudices and biases implicated in psychology’s treatment of women. Ultimately, this book aims to develop your critical and analytical skills by encouraging a questioning approach to understanding how psychological knowledge is produced, and by offering alternative, feminist-informed approaches to framing research questions, adopting data collection techniques, and analysing and interpreting data. Key features of this book include: • Five Reasons Why You Need a Feminist Companion – a helpful guide to what readers can expect to gain from this book • Activity boxes, suggesting ways you can put the theory you are learning into practice • See and Hear for Yourself boxes, signposting readers to where they can find real-world examples of the concepts covered • Summary sections that articulate the main points of each chapter and provide a useful revision aid • A glossary of key terms The book maps to the British Psychological Society (BPS) curriculum on research methods as well as the Quality Assessment Agency’s (QAA) Subject Benchmark Statement for Psychology. Hannah Frith is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Surrey, UK. She is the current editor the British Psychological Society journal Psychology of Women and Equalities Review. Rose Capdevila is Professor of Psychology at The Open University. She has been co-editor of the journal Feminism & Psychology and Chair of the Psychology of Women and Equalities section of the BPS.

Feminist Foremothers in Women’s Studies, Psychology, and Mental Health is by and about the more recent wave of feminist foremothers; those who were awakened in the 1960s and ’70s to the realization that something was terribly wrong. These are the women who created the fields of feminist therapy, feminist psychology, and women’s mental health as they exist today. The 48 women share their life stories in the hope that they will inspire and encourage readers to take their own risks and their own journeys to the outer edges of human possibility. Authors write about what led up to their achievements, what their accomplishments were, and how their lives were consequently changed. They describe their personal stages of development in becoming feminists, from unawareness to activism to action. Some women focus on the painful barriers to success, fame, and social change; others focus on the surprise they experience at how well they, and the women’s movement, have done. Some well-known feminist foremothers featured include: Phyllis Chesler Gloria Steinem Kate Millett Starhawk Judy Chicago Zsuszanna Emese Budapest Andrea Dworkin Jean Baker Miller Carol Gilligan In Feminist Foremothers in Women’s Studies, Psychology, and Mental Health, many of the women see in hindsight how prior projects and ideas and even dreams were the forerunners to their most important work. They note the importance of sisterhood and the presence of other women and the loneliness and isolation experienced when they don’t exist. They note the validation they have received from grassroots feminists in contrast to disbelief from professionals. Although these women have been and continue to be looked up to as foremothers, they realize how little recognition they’ve been given from society-at-large and how much better off their male counterparts are. Some foremothers write about the feeling of being different, not meshing with the culture of the time and about challenging the system as an outsider, not an insider. These are women who had few mentors, who had to forge their own way, “hit the ground running.” Their stories will challenge readers to press on, to continue the work these foremothers so courageously started.Throughout the pages of Feminist Foremothers in Women’s Studies, Psychology, and Mental Health runs a sense of excitement and vibrancy of lives lived well, of being there during the early years of the women’s movement, of making sacrifices, of taking risks and living to see enormous changes result. Throughout these pages, too, sounds a call not to take these changes for granted but to recognize that feminists, rather than arguing over picayune issues or splitting politically correct hairs, are battling for the very soul of the world.