An excerpt from Lucy Johnstone's ( @ClinpsychLucy) "Users and Abusers of Psychiatry - A Critical Look at Psychiatric Practice" Routledge (2000) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000FA5ZFA/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

"None of this is meant to imply that it is a mistake for women to follow the traditional path of marriage and motherhood. Where this can lead to problems, though, is first, if it is a forced choice because it is the unquestioned thing to do and other options are not easily

available; second, if these roles are carried out at the expense of the woman getting what she needs for herself, so that she is giving out of her own neediness and always putting herself last; and third, if the role of wife and mother is idealized by society while at the

same time wives and mothers are devalued, unsupported and blamed in reality. These themes have been developed by other writers. In her classic book, Women and Madness, published in 1972, Phyllis Chesler argued that women are in danger of being labelled as mad either when they

take the devalued female role to extremes – for example, becoming excessively anxious, weepy and dependent – or when they reject the traditional role by, for example, being seen as too aggressive.

The trap is illustrated in a well-known study by Dr Broverman and her colleagues in 1970, which has been confirmed by subsequent research.

Seventy-nine psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, both male and female, were given a questionnaire consisting of pairs of descriptions, for example, ‘very emotional–not at all emotional’ and ‘not at all aggressive–very aggressive’.

They were asked to tick the descriptions that represented healthy male and healthy female adult behavior. They were also asked to tick the descriptions that fitted their idea of healthy adult behavior (sex unspecified).

The results showed that the professionals’ ideas of what constituted a healthy mature male were very similar to their idea of a healthy adult. However, healthy, mature women, in their view, should be:
More submissive, less independent, less adventurous, more easily influenced,

less aggressive, less competitive, more excitable in minor crises, having their feelings more easily hurt, being more emotional, more conceited about their appearance, less objective, and disliking mathematics and science.

As the authors comment: ‘This constellation seems a most unusual way of describing any mature, healthy individual.’ The trap awaiting women who come into contact with the psychiatric services is obvious.

On the one hand, being independent, assertive and adventurous is seen as abnormal and discouraged in various ways.

On the other hand, the more excitable, emotional, dependent behavior that is expected of women is also seen as unhealthy, because the standard of emotional health is virtually the same as the idea of the healthy adult male. Either way, the woman loses.

Other evidence confirms that women with less conventional lifestyles and attitudes may fare particularly badly in psychiatry, often receiving the overt or covert message that they should not deviate from traditional female norms.

For example, lesbians have reported that their sexual orientation is either ignored, viewed as the ‘cause’ of their problems, or seen simplistically as the result of factors such as sexual abuse.

They experience widespread ignorance, harassment and judgementalism within the psychiatric services. Women make up 20 per cent of the population of special hospitals like Broadmoor and Rampton, as opposed to 4 per cent of the prison population. One explanation is that

aggression, violence and drug-taking are judged much more harshly in women, and are more likely to lead to diagnoses such as ‘psychopathic personality disorder’ rather than a straightforward prison sentence because they are seen as contrary to appropriate female behavior."

@ThreadVoice audio