Sandra Bem
Sandra Bem | |
---|---|
Born | June 22, 1944 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Died | May 20, 2014 | (aged 69)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Carnegie Mellon University, University of Michigan |
Known for | gender schema theory, Bem Sex-Role Inventory |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Psychology |
Institutions | Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, Cornell University |
Sandra Ruth Lipsitz Bem (June 22, 1944 – May 20, 2014) was an American psychologist known for her works in androgyny and gender studies. Her pioneering work on gender roles, gender polarization[1][2] and gender stereotypes led directly to more equal employment opportunities for women in the United States.[3]
Influences on the field of psychology
Bem was an American psychologist known for her works in androgyny and gender studies.[4] Bem and her husband Daryl Bem advocated egalitarian marriage. The husband-wife team became highly demanded as speakers on the negative impacts of sex role stereotypes on individuals and society. At the time, there was a lack of empirical evidence to support their assertions because this was uncharted territory, and so Sandra Bem became very interested and determined to gather data that would support the detrimental and limiting effects of traditional sex roles.[5] In her early career, she was heavily involved in women's liberation movement, and she did work on sex-biased job advertising. Her involvement led to being a contributor to landmark cases concerning recruitment of women in the work force against companies such as AT&T and the Pittsburgh Press.[3]
Early on in Bem's career she created the
She asserted that masculine and feminine dimensions could be divided into two spheres, rather than one: A person with high masculine and low feminine identification would be categorized as "masculine". A person with high feminine identification and low masculine identification, would be categorized as "feminine". A person who had high identification with both characteristics would be categorized as "androgynous". A person who has low identification with both dimensions would be considered "undifferentiated".[8]
One of Bem's main arguments was that traditional gender roles are restrictive for both men and women, and can have negative consequences for individuals as well as society as a whole.
As previously mentioned, a person could be categorized as "androgynous" when taking the BSRI. Androgyny is defined as "the integration of both masculinity and femininity in a single individual". Androgyny allows one to freely engage in both masculine and feminine behaviors. According to Bem, people's behavior can demonstrate what she defined as situational appropriateness. Situational appropriateness is demonstrated when behavior is reflective of one's environment. For example, a woman demonstrating knowledge of sports at a basketball game is appropriate. Androgyny may also blend modalities. An example of androgyny blending modalities would be a woman being both assertive and compassionate when firing someone from a job.[9]
Awards and honors
Sandra Bem received many awards for her research. Her first was the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career contribution to Psychology in 1976. In 1977 she was awarded the Distinguished Publication Award of the Association of Women in Psychology and in 1980 she received the Young Scholar Award of the American Association of University Women (Makosky, 1990). In 1995, she was selected as an “Eminent Woman in Psychology” by the Divisions of General Psychology and History of Psychology of the American Psychological Association.[10] Critics of Bem's work generally argued against the political nature of her theories and her objectivity in the material which she studied.
Education and career
Bem attended
After obtaining her Ph.D., Bem got a full-time tenure-track position as a professor at Carnegie-Mellon for three years and then moved on to work at Stanford University, where she worked until 1978. She left Stanford University because her application for tenure was denied. She and husband Daryl Bem both took tenured teaching positions at Cornell University in 1978, where she became a psychology professor and the director of the women's studies program.[14][11] While at Cornell, Bem focused research on gender schema theory, sexuality, and clinical psychology until she retired in 2010.[6]
Personal life
Bem was born June 22, 1944, in
Bem's first career goal was to be a secretary like her mother, so that she could have her own phone and desk – symbols of autonomy and status that her father never had.
But she eventually married
The Bems had two children together.[11] They also had a grandson, Felix Viksne Bem (son of daughter Emily). While they eventually chose to live separately, they remained married until Sandra's death on May 20, 2014.
Illness and death
Bem was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and, four years after diagnosis and after pursuing experimental treatments, she followed through with her plan to die by suicide at her home in Ithaca on May 20, 2014.[3][17] Her husband, Daryl, was present with her when she died at 69.
Works
- Bem, S. L. (1974). "The measurement of psychological androgyny". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 42 (2): 155–162. PMID 4823550.
- Bem, Sandra L. and C. Watson. (1976). "Scoring packet: Bem Sex Role Inventory". Unpublished Manuscript
- Bem, Sandra Lipsitz; Martyna, Wendy; Watson, Carol (1976). "Sex typing and androgyny: Further explorations of the expressive domain". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 34 (5): 1016–1023. PMID 993980.
- Bem, S. L. (1976). "Sex typing and the avoidance of cross-sex behavior". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33, 48.
- Bem, S. L. (1977). "On the utility of alternative procedures for assessing psychological androgyny". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 45 (2): 196–205. PMID 850004.
- Bem, S. L. (1977). The 1977 annual handbook for group facilitators.
- Bem, S. L. (1979). "Theory and measurement of androgyny: A Reply to the Pedhazur–Tetenbaum and Locksley–Colten Critiques." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1047.
- Bem, S. L., & Andersen, S. M. (1981). "Sex typing and androgyny in dyadic interaction: Individual differences in responsiveness to physical attractiveness." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 74.
- Bem, S. L. (1981). "Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing". Psychological Review. 88 (4): 354–364. ISSN 1939-1471.
- Bem, S. L. (1981). "The BSRI and gender schema theory: A reply to Spence and Helmreich". Psychological Review, 88, 369–71.
- Bem, S. L. (1982). "Gender schema theory and self-schema theory compared: A comment on Markus, Crane, Bernstein, and Siladi's "Self-schemas and gender"". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43,1192
- Bem, S. L. (1989). "Genital Knowledge and Gender Constancy in Preschool Children". Child Development. 60 (3): 649–662. PMID 2737014.
- Bem, S. L. (1993). The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Bem, S. L. (1995). "Dismantling gender polarization and compulsory heterosexuality: Should we turn the volume down or up?". Journal of Sex Research. 32 (4): 329–334. ISSN 0022-4499.
- Bem, S. L. (1998), An Unconventional Family. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Bem, S. L., Schellenberg, E. G., & Keil, J. M. (1995). "‘Innocent victims’ of AIDS: Identifying the subtext". Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1790–1800.
- Chesler, P., Rothblum, E. D., & Cole, E. ( 1995). Feminist foremothers in women's studies, psychology, and mental health. New York: Haworth Press.
- Frable, D. E. S. and Bem, S. L. (1985). "If you are gender schematic, all members of the opposite sex look alike". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 459.
References
- ^ Polygendered and Ponytailed: The Dilemma of Femininity and the Female Athlete, 2009, Women's Press, Dayna B. Daniels, Gender polarization, Retrieved Aug. 22, 2014, (see page 29) "...Gender polarization can be defined as the organizing principle upon which many cultures and their social institutions have been created...
- ^ Bem, S. (1993). Gender polarization. The lenses of gender: transforming the debate on sexual inequality, (pp. 80–82). Binghamton, NY: Vail-Ballou Press.
- ^ a b c Ove, Torsten (22 May 2014). "Obituary: Sandra Bem / Psychologist, feminist, pioneer in gender roles". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- ^ "Sandra Ruth Lipsitz Bem". Women's Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society. Webster.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
- ^ doi:10.1037/h0078488.
- ^ a b c "Psychologist's Feminist Voices". Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
- ^ Bem, S.L. (1981). Gender schema theory; A cognitive account of sex typing, Psychological Review, 88(4), 354-364
- ^ "Psychologist Sandra Bem". BE-ME Education. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
- ^ Bem,S.L.(1974). The measure of psychological androgyny. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 42(2), 155-162
- ^ Bem, Sandra. "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Cornell University.
- ^ a b c d e [1], Women’s Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society.
- doi:10.1037/h0078488.
- ^ a b Parker Makosky, V.,(1990). In, A. O'Connell & W. Felipe Russo (Eds.), Women in psychology: A bio-bibliographic sourcebook,(pp. 30–39). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press Inc.
- ^ ISBN 9780300090925.
- ^ George, M. "Profile of Sandra Bem". Psychology's Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
- ^ Nussbaum, Emily (May–June 1998). "Does the exotic become erotic?". Lingua Franca. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2011.
- ^ Henig, Robin Marantz (May 14, 2015). "The Last Day of Her Life". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2015.