2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

Research on female sexuality argues against a centuries old culturally constructed idea of female sexuality as more passive and less desirous than males (Fine, 1988; Fine & McClelland, 2006; Tolman, 2012). As a reaction to this expectation, women who express agentic sexuality draw on male expectations or assumptions about sexuality (Holland, Ramazanoglu, Sharpe, & Thomson, 2004; Lamb, 2010; Lamb & Peterson, 2013). These restrictions around female desire have been implicated in producing a type of ambivalence, “wanting it and not wanting it” (Lamb, 2002; Peterson & Muehlenhard, 2005; 2007). When working inside these restrictions, they can reenact the aforementioned stereotypes. The opposite can be true for men. Public representations of masculinity show a cultural expectation that men are always ready for “action” (Brown, Lamb, & Tappan, 2010). This is “libidinous heterosexuality” (Attwood, 2005) and is a trait of hegemonic masculinity, which also includes physicality, homophobia, violence, misogyny, and control (Kimmel, 2007). Connell defines masculinity more simply, as power in relation to others (1995, 2012) positioning “always wanting it” as empowerment. Researchers have countered this through research on regrettable sex with both genders (Caron and Moskey, 2002; Oswalt, Cameron, & Koob, 2005; Fisher, Worth, Garcia, & Meredith, 2012) and research about male adolescents’ longing for relationship (Giordano, Longmore, & Manning, 2006). To address stereotypes and undo the restrictive binary of agency for men and women, we examine interviews of 18 men for moments when participants disrupted the assumption of men always wanting and ready for sex. We explore their thinking during sex (as related to us) to address hegemonic masculinity. We also make comparisons to women’s reasons for engaging in sex that they did not want to have (see Impett & Peplau, 2002). A discourse and content analysis showed four themes: preserving agency, performing well, challenging masculinity, and negative character evaluation.

Within womanist theory, there is an ultimate concern for the liberation and optimal development of all of humanity across gender, ethnicity, race, religion/religiosity, ability status, social class, and sexual orientation. The paper aims to provide a framework for identifying strengths and facilitating wellness for women from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. The paper provides an overview of the Positive Womanist Life Principles (PWLP) framework, a culturally embedded reframing of the six Values-In-Action strengths and virtues from positive psychology (e.g., Wisdom, Transcendence, Humanity, Temperance, Justice, and Courage). This reframing reflects an integration of contemporary womanist theory, feminist writings, and multicultural psychology research within a positive psychology orientation. The 6 Positive Womanist Life Principles are: (1) Extended Ways of Knowing (Wisdom), (2) Spirited and Inspired Living (Transcendence), (3) Interconnected Love (Humanity), (4) Balance and Flexibility (Temperance), (5) Liberation and Inclusion (Justice), and (6) Empowered Authenticity (Courage). Forty specific strengths and gifts are organized within the six life principles. The PWLP framework provides a structure for facilitating healing, empowerment, and wellness grounded in the culturally-embedded experiences of women of color that inform contemporary womanist theory. The paper briefly describes a PWLP-based intervention inspired by the life and work of Maya Angelou. The group intervention, “Phenomenal Women Rising” (after Angelou’s poems) is organized around the six principles within a broader wellness promotion approach. Wellness is conceptualized as an emergent property of ongoing interactions between (1) the intersectional dynamics of culture, (2) the multiple dimensions of the socioecological context (e.g., group dynamics, societal institutions, oppression, generational issues), and (3) the culture-infused biopsychorelational processes of the person (e.g., somatic, emotional, self-construction, relationality). As such, the promotion of wellness involves the healing of collective and historical status-based traumas, as well as the promotion of liberatory consciousness and practices that facilitate empowerment, both of which are foundational for processes of restorative justice.

Female soldiers are still an extreme minority in the military, constituting approximately 14.5% of the total US Armed Forces. Thus, regardless of the official policy of nondiscrimination, they are often treated differently than man, both socially and professionally. They are not, almost by definition, “brothers in arms” and this kind of societal attitude continues after they leave military service. Multiple research shows that even though war has a traumatic impact on soldiers regardless of their gender, women are more likely to be homeless, divorced, or raising children as single parents (Gamache, 2003) and are at a higher risk to commit suicide (McFarland, 2010). Women-veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the veteran population, yet, their needs are habitually overlooked. The consequences of prevailing stereotype that suggests all veterans are men are emotionally devastating for women who sacrificed so much for their country. Disabled women veterans are not perceived as wounded warriors and they are told to cover their prosthesis because they are scaring children. A woman-veteran is informed that she is not a ‘real’ veteran, simply because she is a woman. Some women veterans who display their pride of the service (T-shirt, bumper-sticker) are told by strangers to say “thank you for your service” to their (civilian) husbands. Yet another are automatically assumed to be civilian military dependents when they come to the VA hospital (all examples are real stories shared by women-veterans). Such a negative stereotype was already acknowledged by VA, which attempts to change it through their “Please, don’t call me Mister” campaign. In addition, the amount of research on both active duty and veteran women steadily increases. The goal of the current review is to summarize the works in this vitally important area and identify remaining gaps and needs for future empirical work.