Adopting a feminist perspective is not a linear process

✍ Scribed by Susan M. Wolfe

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 146 KB
• Volume: 40
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0090-4392
• DOI: 10.1002/jcop.20489

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

In this article, I present some of my history and experiences to demonstrate how gender and class affected my career path as a community psychologist. The goal of this article is to show how the internalization of combined gender/class roles influenced my choices, behaviors, and expectations, and how actions of others interacted with my choices and behaviors to contribute to struggles and successes. It illustrates the push‐pull that occurred at an individual level that affected my ability to embrace an alternative perspective. I discuss my encounter with second‐wave feminism, undergoing the shifting identity in the transition from my blue‐collar origins to a white‐collar world, my expectations of sisterhood, and the affect of organizational structures and cultures. I use my experience to suggest themes that might be considered in practicing community psychology and, more specifically, feminist community psychology. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.