Professor identifies gender bias in depiction of women

Dawn Szymanski, assistant professor of psychology at UT, spoke to students Wednesday about changing viewpoints on therapy and new guidelines on psychological practice with women.

Cheryl Travis, professor of psychology and chair of the Women’s Studies Program, said the American Psychological Association doesn’t usually release new guidelines for therapy.

“They don’t often release professional guidelines,” Travis said. “This is something they have done recently with practices regarding girls and women. We are looking at multicultural feminism and the impact of oppression on psycho-social health in women.”

Szymanski said the APA’s new guidelines were something designed to aid in therapy for women.

“They are general recommendations for psychologists who wish to practice in helping women and girls,” she said. “But they are guidelines, not standards.”

There are several reasons the guidelines were put in place, she said.

“There is a historical context for the guidelines,” she said. “Mainly the last 20 to 30 years brought about the need for them. It used to be that the way men were was regarded as normal, and women weren’t. Studies would omit women, and the findings from the men would be generalized with women.”

Szymanski focused on the sexual objectification in women in the United States as one of the main reasons for mental disorders in women today.

“Many times, parts of a woman’s body are singled out, or she is viewed simply as an object of desire,” Szymanski said. “We see this everywhere: TV, videogames, movies, the Internet. And it’s a narrow and unattainable idea of women’s appearance.”

Women suffer from interpersonal sexual objectification, including body evaluation and also what she called “immersed forms,” or when women are put in situations where sexual objectification is condoned or accepted, such as modeling or beauty pageants, she said.

“Many women also self-objectify,” Szymanski said. “They see themselves as an object to be looked at and therefore put a greater emphasis on their looks.”

Psychologists need to understand the impact that society has on women, she said.

“Psychologists should strive to understand the impact of bias and discrimination upon the physical and mental health of those with whom they work,” she said. “It’s also important to know that experiences of abuse are related to mental health. If we don’t, then we’re missing an important variable. If we don’t realize that, how can we help our clients?”

Szymanski said psychologists should work with their clients to help them get past their issues and not feel trapped by society’s standards.

“Many women feel they would be punished for not conforming, either by being left out of group interactions or criticized for their personal appearance,” she said. “In some cases, even emotional or physical abuse. Psychologists need to help them make a decision, whether it be to conform or to help them identify methods to change, be it through challenging friends or coworkers, getting involved in education initiatives or participating in a Take Back the Night rally.”