IV. Men as Individuals, Women as a Sexed Category: Implications of Symbolic Asymmetry for Feminist Practice and Feminist Psychology

Abstract

In this article we discuss the implications of symbolic asymmetry for feminist practice and feminist psychology. In the first part, we present the theoretical framework in which the concept developed, as well as some of the studies that supported its relevance for gender studies. We also present an insight into the historical and social context in which research on symbolic asymmetry was conducted in order to show the relationship between gender ideology and social circumstances, as well as the role of feminist research in deconstructing dominant discourses on gender and prevalent manifestations of anti-feminism. In the second part, we conclude by situating the view of men as individuals and women as a sexed category in the emergence of modern discourses on gender, and argue in favour of the usefulness of an historical approach for feminist psychology. SYMBOLIC ASYMMETRY IN GENDER RELATIONSResearch on symbolic asymmetry in gender representations developed out of the debate on social identity and inter-group relations that took place in social psychology in the 1980s. By then, several authors were questioning the role attributed to motivational factors such as the search for positive social identity as an explanation for in-group favouritism and out-group discrimination (Tajfel and Turner, 1979). Following Billig's assertion that the concept of positive social identity could only be acceptable as a product of ideology and not as an individual process (Billig, 1976), alternative levels of explanation were considered (Doise, 1986(Doise, , 1988, such as differences in power between groups (Deschamps, Feminism & Psychology

Numbers do not tell the whole story: Gender and medicine in Portugal

“…The health sector is a gendered organizational structure (Doyal, 2001;Riska, 1993), as international (e.g., Lapeyre & Le Feuvre, 2005;Linehan et al, 2013;Rosende, 2008;Williams, 1995a) and Portuguese research findings (e.g., Fernandes Perelman, & Mateus, 2010;Laranjeira, Marques, Soares, & Prazeres, 2008;Marques, 2011) have demonstrated in the cases of both nursing and the medical field in general. This health gendering may shape not only choices of specialty and other career opportunities, but also the relationship between health professionals and clinical practice (Fernandes et al, 2010) Furthermore the symbolic asymmetry theory (e.g., Amâncio, 1997;Amâncio & Oliveira, 2006) allows us to think that in masculine professions such as medicine, the perception of men as distinctive individuals would be confounded with the model of professional, while women would be seen as an undifferentiated category based on sex, representing the other, thus contributing to maintain men's dominant position. An example of this confusion which is relevant for our study is the association of male stereotype with the competencies needed for the profession.…”

“…In keeping with Marques (2011), this study adopts the gender symbolic asymmetry model (Amâncio, 2007;Amâncio & Oliveira, 2006), according to which gender representations differentiate men as a symbolical reference from women as the other. We assume in this study that this gender asymmetry influences the tokenism dynamics, contributing to the advantages that men gain from token position when compared with women.…”

Gender and politics: The relevance of gender on judgements about the merit of candidates and the fairness of quotas

“…Underlying the discourses against these kinds of measures is often the argument of merit (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2008;Young 1990). According to this argument, the inclusion of women in electoral lists using quotas is an unfair process that will result in a reduction in the competence and legitimacy of deputies to represent people (Amâncio and Oliveira 2006). In the following section we will show that the merit argument is a fallacy 'contaminated' by gender ideology that contributes to the opposition to gender quotas.…”

“…Thus, both the gender of the quota target and that of participants will influence judgements of merit and fairness. In fact, although both men and women share gender asymmetric representations, women seem to internalize them more (Amâncio and Oliveira 2006). Thus, we expected that men's judgements, more than women's, would be based on the competence information provided.…”

“…Whereas men are the referent, women have a condition of alterity (Beauvoir 1949). Thus, images associated with the male category emerge as a universal category of distinctive individuals who are perceived as autonomous, selfdetermined persons and associated with the public sphere (Amâncio and Oliveira 2006).…”