Toward a New Psychology of Women Jean Baker Miller, M'D' 1986, 1976 Foreword

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Toward a New Psychology of Women Jean Baker
Miller, M.D.1986, 1976Foreword Part I
The makings of the mindPart II Looking in both
directionsSeptember 2 9, 2004
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The goal that women should become men or even
become like men seemed disastrous to me for many
reasons. Therefore, it seemed important to begin
to create new images and visions and to explain
the reasons why we needed new visions rather than
imitations of old models. And the place to
start was to describe the actual life activities
and values of the vast majority of women. (p. xi)
-- Is this a good goal? -- Why? Why not? -- A
good place to start?
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Major Trends in the Psychology of Women

• close description of womens lives as lives are
  lived rather than forced into pre-existing
  categories
• effects of sexual violence on all women and men
  as well
• study of womens strengths which have been
  undervalued or ignored

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Major Trends in the Psychology of Women

• the study of womens psychological development
  opens up paths for better understanding of all
  psychological development
• still need more study of women of color,
  transgender, lesbian, intersex, and bisexual women

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• I have not attempted to deal with the class and
  racial factors which make an enormous difference
  in womens lives. I have not discussed lesbian
  women. I believe that other writers can speak on
  these topics with greater knowledge. In general,
  I have concentrated on the factors which I
  believed existed for all women, by virtue of
  being women. (pp. xxiii - xxiv)

-- what are these factors?
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Why call Part I the makings of the mind?
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Baker-Miller Domination - Subordination

• DIFFERENCE as a concept, a central issue
• the most basic difference is the one between men
  and women (p. 3)

-- What are these? -- Can you make a list?
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Baker-Miller Domination - Subordination

• what do people do to people who are different
  from them and why?
• what happens in situations of inequality?
• what forces are set in motion?

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Baker-Miller Temporary Inequality

• parents and children
• teachers and students
• therapists and clients
• the paramount goal is to end the relationship as
  it has been known that is, to end the
  relationship of inequality and to move to a
  relationship of equality

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Baker-Miller Permanent Inequality

• your birth defines your place
• series of governing tendencies are in force and
  occur with great regularity the subordinates are
  expected to stay in their place, are labeled
  inferior, defective, or substandard by the
  dominants

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Baker-Miller dominants

• dominant group is the model for normal human
  relationships
• To keep on being dominant, the dominant group
  just needs to keep behaving normally
• dominant groups impede the development of
  subordinates and block their freedom of expression

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Baker-Miller subordinates

• subordinates know much more about the dominants
  than vice versa--they have to
• subordinates absorb a large part of the untruths
  created by the dominants
• tend to imitate the dominants
• subordinate groups have tended to move toward
  greater freedom of expression and action.

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Baker-Miller CONFLICT

• We all grow via conflict growth requires
  engagement with difference and with people
  embodying that difference.
• What actually happens in the male-female conflict
  situation today?

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Baker-Miller covert conflict - closed conflict

• so-called smart woman the clever wife manages
  to get what she wants by somehow making it seem
  that this is what her husband wants
• tricky
• not based on increasing openness and mutual
  understanding they contain a large element of
  deception and manipulation there is often
  reciprocal condescension
• subordinates may incorporate the dominants view
  that they are inferior
• may work for a time but not over the long run

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Baker-Miller overt conflict - open-ended conflict

• subordinates do not accept their inferior place
  and initiate open conflict
• express and explore ones own needs
• develop as far as one can
• women are expected to transform our needs but
  this keeps us from the doing the above
• women are expected to focus on one primary
  relationship--the family--and this keeps us from
  doing the above
• this is why doing the first three leads to open
  conflict

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Baker-Miller womens movement raised these
issues which cause conflict because they
challenge womens subordinate role in the family
(pp. 24 -25)

• physical frankness
• sexual frankness
• emotional frankness
• human development
• objectification
• private and public equality
• personal creativity

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Part IILooking in Both Directions
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Baker-Miller Strengths

• Vulnerability
• Weakness
• Helplessness
• Emotions
• Participating in the development of others
• Cooperation
• Creativity

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Vulnerability Weakness Helplessness Emotions
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Participating in the development of
others Cooperation Creativity
?
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What about men in all this? P. 46- 47
?
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Baker-Miller Doing Good/Feeling Bad

• Giving enough? Not enough?
• Activity - Passivity Redefining womens work as
  active
• Change essence of life is growth, which means
  change. Change requires learning.
• If these qualities are strengths, why do women
  feel so bad?
• Does it have to do with women being made into
  sexual objects?

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Baker-Miller Serving Others Needs

• The needs of others come first men and children
  -- central to women's self-image
• Super-wife
• Equality in partnerships with men
• Capacity to change relationships

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Baker-Miller Outside the Real World

• Womens place is outside the real action
• How can womens work become part of the action?
  Child rearing, nurturing, etc.
• The dichotomy between male and female itself
  needs to be questioned