Sample essay on feminism and psychology

A lot of ideas have been developed about women and the way they relate to their femininity. Over the years, feminists have raised concerns about the way that health practitioners carry out their diagnoses. They argue that most of the diagnoses carried out tend to be biased against women. They disagree with the categorization of some diagnoses such as sexual and mental disorders which they consider to be demeaning of the status of women. Groups of advocacy established around certain diagnoses have marshaled support against proposals to get rid of that which they regard to be theirs (Marecek and Gavey, 5). This synopsis will critically examine this trend on the basis of the DSM criteria.
Many ideas exist to explain the psychology of women. According to Landrine and Russo (2), the number of feministic ideologies in the medical profession has been on the rise in over the years. Feminists have been continuously and persistently challenging the reliability and authenticity of diagnoses made by psychiatrists, theories developed by psychologists and practices of clinical officers. Feminist psychologists argue that most of what is understood to be scientific knowledge is in fact simply a justification of a society characterized by pro-masculine behavior and tendencies ( Ehrenreich and English, 5 in Marecek and Gavey, 3 ). This shows that there exists an obvious ‘ battle of the sexes’. Women are seen to be more empowered and they are thus able to speak more openly and challengingly about their oppression in the society.
The DSM operates on a framework that is self-centered. Feminist psychologists often defy this framework and insist that psychological torment is closely related to the wider context of the socio-economic and political set up. According to Marecek and Gavey (7), emotional stability and distress, as well as privilege and disadvantage, are divided along intersecting issues of race, gender, ethnicity, economic status, and sexuality.
This topic remains controversial. Despite the amount of debates that have been done, agreement is yet to be reached on some matters. Individuals are entitled to their own views about feministic ideas. However, it should be understood that whether for or against feministic ideologies, compromise has to be made in order to improve the provision of psychological help.

References

Landrine, H., & Russo, N. F. (2010). Handbook of diversity in feminist psychology. New York: Springer.
Marecek, J., & Gavey, N. (2013). DSM-5 and beyond: A critical feminist engagement with psychodiagnosis. Feminisn and Psychology, 23(3), 3-9.