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Women: Reproducing Patriarchal Relations

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Psychiatric Hegemony

Abstract

In profiling the development of the mental health system over the past 200 years, Cohen argues that psychiatry and allied professions have been a constant source of patriarchal power, responsible for reinforcing traditional gender roles and punishing deviations from them. With recent changes in the nature of industrial capitalism and the demands placed on women to not only reproduce the future workforce but also engage in the flexible labour market, the sociologist of mental health shows how an increasing number of “feminised” categories of mental illness have served to further medicalise the emotions, experiences, and behaviour of women in neoliberal society. This is demonstrated through detailed case studies of hysteria and—its modern equivalent—borderline personality disorder.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Bruce M. Z. Cohen

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  1. Bruce M. Z. Cohen
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Cohen, B.M.Z. (2016). Women: Reproducing Patriarchal Relations. In: Psychiatric Hegemony. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46051-6_6

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