Ingrid Johnston-Robledo

Education and Advertising: A Content Analysis of Commercially Produced Booklets about Menstruation

Educational booklets published by manufacturers of menstrual hygiene products have been used to teach several generations of girls about menstruation. The ubiquity and importance of the booklets make them potentially important contributors to attitudes toward menstruation. The content of 28 booklets that were produced commercially between 1932 and 1997 was analyzed for this study. The quality of the information presented in the booklets was examined to determine whether the later booklets contained more information that was both accurate and positive than did the earlier booklets. The later booklets were less likely than the earlier booklets to portray menstruation as a hygiene crisis but equally likely to promote secrecy. They also were more likely to depict ethnic diversity in their illustrations and less likely to make assumptions about the composition of girls’families. Adolescents’knowledge could be increased through the presentation of educational materials that are accurate, balanced, and developmentally appropriate.

Poor Women are Still Shut Out of Mainstream Psychology

Based on the limited number of abstracts accessed on PsycLit between 1984 and 1991 that included poor women, Reid (1993) concluded that such women were essentially “shut up” and “shut out” of mainstream psychological research and theory. The authors conducted a follow-up analysis for the years 1991 through 1997 to determine whether significant change had taken place. In addition, they looked at the inclusion of poor women in research in the areas of sexuality and reproductive health. Results of the analysis suggest that poor women remain marginalized in our disciplines discourse.

Singing “The Baby Blues”: A Content Analysis of Popular Press Articles About Postpartum Affective Disturbances

ABSTRACT A content analysis was conducted to evaluate the description of postpartum mood disturbances in magazine articles that appeared during the years 1980–1998. Nineteen articles about postpartum depression and eight articles about “the baby blues” were identified and analyzed for their discussion of etiologies, symptoms, treatments, resources, and demographic assumptions about their readers. The results indicate a strong bias in favor of the medical model of postpartum affective disorders. The articles contained contradictory information about the definition, prevalence, onset, duration, symptoms, and treatment of postpartum disorders, and the authors generally assumed that their readers were heterosexual, married, and middle class. Although the purpose of the articles was to educate readers about an important topic in womens health, they failed to provide accurate information, and thus are not a sufficient resource for new mothers who are seeking to learn about psychosocial aspects of the postpartum period.

Motherhood and Reproductive Issues

The topics discussed in this chapter (menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, birth, contraception, and motherhood) are central to the psychology of women. They are, after all, experienced only by women, and most women, despite the diversity of their lives, will experience menstruation and menopause and consider whether (and when) to use contraception. The majority of women will become pregnant at some point in their lives, and most who do will become mothers. Thus, our menstrual, menopausal, and reproductive experiences have the potential to draw together women who otherwise might not have much in common, and women do, under congenial circumstances, enjoy sharing with each other stories about menarche and mothering or arguing about whose labor or hot flashes were the most difficult to endure. Although menarche can be a source of pride, pregnancy exciting, and motherhood the fount of our greatest joys, reproduction can also become oppressive to women. Obstetrics and Gynecology, the only medical specialty exclusively focused on women, essentially defines women in terms of the traditional roles of wife and mother, and it redefines normal developmental events in women’s lives into illnesses and medical emergencies (Gannon, 1998; Rosser, 1993). Medical imperialism (Gannon, 1998) and sociocultural pressures can combine to convince women that they have little control over their reproductive experiences or force them to be secretive about the decisions they have made. Therefore, counselors and psychotherapists who work with women should expect to hear a wide range of attitudes, concerns, and experiences with regard to the topics of this chapter.

Beyond Lamaze: Socioeconomic Status and Women's Experiences with Childbirth Preparation

The purposes of this study were to investigate the relationship between income and various types and levels of childbirth preparation utilized by women, and to examine the relationship between preparation and childbirth outcomes. Forty-five primiparous women recruited from health care facilities and childbirth preparation classes participated in this study. After the birth of their infants, participants completed scales that measured childbirth preparation, perceived control, satisfaction with childbirth experience, pain perception, and pain medication. Lower income women were less likely than higher income women to attend childbirth preparation classes and more likely to acquire information about childbirth from their mothers. The women experienced similar childbirth outcomes except that lower income women reported higher levels of pain during childbirth. Findings from this study challenge the assumptions that lower and higher income women experience different childbirth outcomes and that women who do not attend classes are “unprepared.” Implications for research and practice include a re-evaluation of the way childbirth education is conceptualized.

Woman’s embodied self: An introduction.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0000047-001 Woman’s Embodied Self: Feminist Perspectives on Identity and Image, by J. C. Chrisler and I. Johnston-Robledo Copyright