John Carroll University - Carillon Yearbook (University Heights, OH)

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Note Jughout the past decade, the Psychology of being a woman as s the very concept of womanhood has undergone a complete iorphosis. The traditional image of women as dependent, non- lg individuals has given way to a new woman, aware and ,g to realize her ambitions. Goals and ambitions very for e'ach a college graduate, a woman usually steps into one of three ms: lj marriage with no career, 25 marriage with a career, or 35 er with no marriage. If the second or third situation occurs, the 1 may find herself caught in a psychological double-bind . ionally, woman have been designated as inferior because they it occupied with the uirnportantl' things of life. Because of this 1 have often internalized a low self-concept. At the same time, to participate in professional roles--in the usignificantn activities iety--are likely to evoke anxiety about their femininity. This J is especially prominent if a woman is actually successful e then she is likely to be competitive, independent, active, and ng. f one perceives the value of self determines the level of self- .. The lower a person's self-esteem, the greater the anxiety and :ater the response to pressure to assume a role. As a result of role ations, a woman may not want to develop all of her abilities. At ne time, a woman may perceive herself as not using her potential ar attributes. In other words, she is not approximating her ideal- fide divergence from one's ideal-self concept leads to low self- .. A woman who successfully combines roles and who acts on her 20 individual and consequently, each woman perceives he identity in unique way. The following articles serve to emphasize as well - illustrate the wide range of thought concerning the female identity an role within today's society. various skills and attributes is likely to have high feelings of sel esteem. A woman who defensively utilizes only certain aspects of h potential, but who is motivated to gratify the achievement aspect a herself in addition to the feminine aspects, is likely to have low feelin 3 of self-esteem. Q A woman must actualize her potential in order to be psychologicall satisfied. For some women this potential may be actualized in th home. A wonderful family life is the goal in this case. For some wome a professional career is necessary to actualize this potential. Whether be the home andfor a profession, a woman should strive f' competence. In the home there is little or no conflict between co i petence and femininity. In a profession some women feel that femin nity must be sacrificed for competence. This need not be the case. It possible for a woman to be on the same level as a man without Haping the man. A woman must attain her own competent and feminin identity. It is then that she will be self-actualized and have hig feelings of self-esteem. Dr. Helen Murphy Department of Psychology

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Women are creatin g social change through their work, but even more through their state of rnino' . . D of Carroll, unite you ig to lose but your ster- : world is changing and changing with it. I see 1 a new sense of selfhood, the grow instead of on the ir futures will be deter- by one choice--the men 1--but by many choices, .utOnOm0uS, striving, ex- '-respecting choices. Is this Lion means? rroll men think liberation ford. You're not one of en's lib types, are you? spiciously. What is that? eturn, truly not knowing. reigns. They don't know hey donit like it. What do it anywayl' they ask rheto- Freudian query of despair We want what you wantf' I say: food, clothing, shelter, love, children, friends, challenging work, a life of the mind as well as a life of the body, an open future to do with what we can and will. Respect for personhood, as we respect their persons. Down with chickhood! A century ago, women were just beginning to win access to higher edu- cation. At that time for a woman to marry was to give up legal person- hood and rights and to become sub- merged in her husband's identity. Yet marriage was a woman's path to eco- nomic security and social accept- ability. Denied most forms of higher education or vocational training, mar- riage and motherhood proved to be her only recourse. w 22 Because they had experienced this stark denial of freedom, knowledge and opportunity, the women who first won the right to be educated to the extent of their desire and ability be- came doctors, lawyers, college profes- sors, college presidents, school princi- pals and other professionals. Many people today have forgotten for never knewj that during the nineteen twenties there were more professional women than there are today. More women earned Ph.D.'s in the '20's than in the '60's. A decline be- gan with the Depression. When jobs are scarce, our patriarchal society, through discriminatory laws and cul- tural pressures, persuaded women to decelerate professional expectations. World War II provided a short-term diversion for non-professionals when womanpower was needed in the facto- ries, but the war was followed by a massive return to the Homev as the advent of television emphasized the values of consumerism, home-making and large families. Is the current upsurge of profes- sional aspirations among women, then, just a swing of the pendulum? A fashion trend, in effect, like the cyclic- al popularity of skirt lengths? I tend to think not, and my opinion is based on the serious analytical approach which women of all ages are increas- ingly taking toward an understanding of their own social condition. A na- tional commitment to equal pay and non discriminatory employment pat- terns also distinguishes the present from past periods of relative emanci- pation of women. As men experience humanhood free of the rigid sex stereotypes of the past, they will discover new occupational opportunities too, and new depths of interpersonal relationships. Yes- terday's jokes about liberation are stale and tired, today's women refuse to be humiliated about their aspira- tion. Women are creating social change through their work, but even more through their state of mind. Women are creating social change through their attitudes toward mar- riage, toward male fellow-humans, but the greatest changes will be created because of new attitudes toward self Dr. Kathleen Barber