Feminism and Mexican American Adolescent Women

Abstract

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Feminist Identity Development Scale (FIDS) and the Attitudes Toward Feminism and the Women's Movement Scale (FWM) with 389 Mexican American 11th-grade and 12th-grade women. Results indicated internal consistency coefficients of .61, .62, .76, and .77 for the FIDS Passive Acceptance, Revelation, EmbeddednessEmanation, and Active Commitment subscales, respectively, and .67 for the FWM. Mexican American high school women scored significantly differently on the feminism scales when compared to samples from previously published studies. Results from factor analyses failed to support the previously published FIDS factor structure. A two-factor model of feminist attitudes was identified with the factors being labeled Feminist Orientation and Traditional Orientation. Implications for the assessment of feminist attitudes and feminist identity with Mexican American adolescent women are discussed.A long-standing critique in the gender and feminist attitude literature is the definitional shortcomings and inconsistencies that have complicated the assessment of feminist-related attitudes (

How Do Feminist-Identified Women Cope With Discrimination? A Feminist Standpoint and Grounded Theory Study

“…Future researchers may wish to explore the roles of these particular coping mechanisms in the relation between discrimination and mental health outcomes among diverse groups of women. Prior research suggests that feminist identity may also develop and manifest differently for women with other marginalized identities such as sexual minority (DeBlaere et al, 2017), Black womanist-identified (Boisnier, 2003), and Latina women (Flores, Carrubba, & Good, 2006). Researchers may wish to examine how women who hold these particular identities choose coping strategies that are influenced by their feminist and intersecting identities.…”

The role of social cognitive factors in Mexican American students’ educational goals and performance: A longitudinal analysis.

“…Internal consistency estimates for subscale scores on the ARSMA-II have ranged from .79 to .83 on the AOS subscale and .87 to .91 for the MOS subscale with adult samples (Cuéllar et al, 1995;Cuéllar & Roberts, 1997;Lessenger, 1997), and from .76 to .83 for AOS scores and .87 to .91 for MOS scores with Mexican American high school students (Flores, Carrubba, & Good, 2006;Flores, Navarro, Smith, & Ploszaj, 2006;Flores, Ojeda, et al, 2006). Alpha coefficients for subscale scores on the AOS and MOS in the present study were .82 and .94, respectively.…”

Gender: Women—theories and research.

“…Research with diverse groups of women also supports the relevance of feminist identity for women of color (Boisnier, 2003;Flores, Carrubba, & Good, 2006;Myaskovsky, & Wittig, 1997;White, Strube, & Fisher, 1998) and sexual minority women (e.g., Szymanski, 2004). Szymanski's ( 2004) study of lesbian and bisexual women found significant negative relationships between heterosexism and feminist identity, suggesting that a feminist perspective facilitates sexual minority women's ability to cope with heterosexist biases.…”

“…Postmodern analyses rely on deconstruction, which encompasses tools that examine hidden meanings underlying suppositions that are often seen as given or inviolable. Deconstruction supports critical thinking and involves teasing apart, and often destabilizing, existing authority and power structures, including underlying assumptions about truth, reality, language, and the self (Flax, 1987). All theory is seen as bound by time, social and power relationships, and context.…”