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Sex Roles and Psychopathology pp 51–72Cite as

Gender Ideology and Phobias in Women

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Abstract

In the last decade, a shift in perspective has occurred regarding the relationship between sex role behavior and mental health. Where once it was common knowledge that sex role conformity was prerequisite to mental health, some investigators now show an uncommon boldness in suggesting that a rigid conformity to one’s “appropriate” sex role may provide fertile ground for the development of psychological maladjustments (Pleck, 1976). The limitations of a woman’s traditional role, for example, have been thought to be significantly related to the etiology of a number of specific mental disorders, including depression, hysteria, anorexia nervosa, and phobias (Fodor, 1974; Frances and Dunn, 1975; Weissman and Klerman, 1977; Wolowitz, 1972).

Every human being must solve two problems, the problem of economic security and the problem of self-esteem. Our culture assigns to men and women different ways and means for solving both. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20857, USA

    Barry E. Wolfe

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  1. Barry E. Wolfe
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, USA

    Cathy Spatz Widom (Chairperson and Associate Professor of Forensic Studies, Associate Professor of Psychology) (Chairperson and Associate Professor of Forensic Studies, Associate Professor of Psychology)

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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York

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Wolfe, B.E. (1984). Gender Ideology and Phobias in Women. In: Widom, C.S. (eds) Sex Roles and Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4562-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4562-6_3

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