The 'feminisation' of psychiatric discourse
A Marxist analysis of women's roles in neoliberal society
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2399686 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bruce Mz Cohen (0000-0002-8806-2630, University of Auckland, corresponding author), Rearna Hartmann (University of Auckland) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 349-364 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1440-7833 • E-ISSN: 1741-2978 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14407833211043570 |
| OpenAlex | W3199069274 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 33 |
In analysing the increasing rates of female 'mental illness' in neoliberal society, this article draws on Marxist and feminist theory to conceptualise psychiatry as an institution of patriarchal and capitalist power, responsible for reinforcing traditional gender roles. Through outlining the changing circumstances of women, including the recent 'feminisation' of the labour force, we argue that there has been a more acute need for patriarchal capitalism to curtail the emancipatory potential of women through the heightened enforcement of sex-role ideology. This is demonstrated through a profile of 'feminised' mental disorders which have appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM) since 1980 - including premenstrual dysphoric disorder and female sexual interest/arousal disorder - which we argue purposely reproduce a discourse which restricts women's advancements in paid employment while reinforcing the cliché of 'respectable femininity' as still primarily associated with the family and the home. We conclude the article by suggesting that, under the conditions of neoliberalism, the mental health system is becoming an increasingly powerful institution for the social control of gender
Capitalism · Femininity · Ideology · Institution · Marxist philosophy · Medicalization · Mental health · Mental illness · Neoliberalism (international relations) · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Psychiatry · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Menstrual Health and Disorders · Psychology
“People just think she's crazy” - Adolescent girls' and young women's sense-making of mental health in a diagnostic culture
“I have to fight for them to investigate things”
Psychotic white men and bipolar black women? Racialized and gendered implications of mental health terminology
Expanding contexts of medicalization
Psychiatry and the Business of Madness
Men, Women and Madness
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Madness of Women
The woman in the body
The Rise of Neoliberal Feminism
The problem of sexual imbalance and techniques of the self in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Premenstrual syndrome as a Western culture-specific disorder
(W)righting women
Electroshock as a Form of Violence Against Women
Low desire, trauma and femininity in the DSM-5
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde
Doing critical feminist research
DSM-5 and beyond
Sexual dysfunction and paraphilias in the DSM-5
Gender and Psychiatry
Selling Sarafem
PMS as a Gendered Illness Linked to the Construction and Relational Experience of Hetero-Femininity
Complaints and disorders
A new view of women's sexual problems
The Problem with Work
Interest, Arousal, and Shifting Diagnoses of Female Sexual Dysfunction, or
Theorising Patriarchy
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |