The Psychology of Women (with InfoTrac ) [Paperback]

Margaret W. Matlin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0534579647 | ISBN-13: 978-0534579647 | Publication Date: June 17, 2003 | Edition: 5

This highly respected, best-selling text offers students an enjoyable, extraordinarily well-written introduction to the psychology of women. Appropriate for students from a wide variety of backgrounds, this comprehensive book captures women's own experiences through direct quotations and an emphasis on empirical research. Known for her balance of scholarship and readability, as well as for her inclusion of women from diverse backgrounds, Margaret Matlin continues to lead the way for the Psychology of Women course. Matlin has meticulously updated this edition to reflect the most current research, and continues to exhibit a genuine interest in and understanding of the students for whom the book is written. Her text includes a chapter on old age, and discussions of topics such as welfare issues, pregnancy and women's retirement, which are central in many women's lives, but not consistently covered in other texts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Matlin's text no longer allows for information about women of color to be placed in a side box to possibly be discussed if the instructor chooses to find the topic important. She has keenly integrated cross-cultural research and clearly discusses the importance of women of color throughout her text.... Thank you Dr. Matlin for no longer allowing women of color to continually go invisible in most psychology textbooks and thank you for giving women of color a place and a voice in your book!!!"

"In general, the writing style is terrific. The author comes across as a person!!! The occasional insertion of comments about her own students reveals a genuine ability to listen to and learn from her students. I don't see how students can fail to respond positively to this technique. I find the level of writing to be a good one for my students in general (not too hard, not too easy, and pleasantly 'engaging')."

"One of the most wonderful features of this book is the inclusion of many demonstrations and exercises. They can be done in class in some cases, and can be done outside class in other cases. They require little preparation and can be done by anyone, regardless of how few resources or equipment a school has in hand. They are thoughtful and instructive. I love them!"

"The author has a very engaging style. The use of the first person, the use of diverse voices of women in paragraphs, and the author's use of humor and gentle satire are all very effective."

"Matlin's PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN, Fifth Edition would make an excellent choice as an adopted textbook. It is well organized, clearly written, and readily accessible in its presentation of the theoretical positions and current research in the field. The coverage is comprehensive and cross-cultural, the many vignettes, demonstrations, figures and tables are particular strengths."

About the Author

Margaret Matlin currently holds the title of Distinguished Teaching Professor of Psychology at SUNY Geneseo, where she has taught courses in the Psychology of Women for 32 years. Dr. Matlin has been honored with several major teaching awards, including the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the American Psychological Association Teaching of Psychology Award for four-year institutions, the American Psychological Foundation's Distinguished Teaching in Psychology Award, and the Society for the Psychology of Women's Heritage Award for lifetime contributions to the teaching of the psychology of women.

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 5 edition (June 17, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534579647
• ISBN-13: 978-0534579647
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Feminist Slant, yes..., September 11, 2010

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Robertico Hubris (Northern Utah) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Psychology of Women (with InfoTrac Printed Access Card) (Paperback)

Sure, this book has a decisive feminist stance, but what do you expect of a book on the psychology of women? Most women have at least some "feminist" thoughts, this book reflects that. It's not a book about militant feminism, though it is mentioned, as it is an aspect of the reality of some women. I've only read about 3 chapters of the book so far, but I have seen it bring up some very valid points, such as "The invisibility of women in history".

If you're completely anti-feminist, you shouldn't be taking a class of this nature, because I suspect that any book approaching this subject is going to have a feminist slant.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars feminist propaganda, September 20, 2009

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Undergrad_guy (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Psychology of Women (Paperback)

This book is not what it says it is. "The Sociology of Women" would be more fitting. "An Introduction to Feminism" would be close to apt.

Dr. Matlin is a familiar breed -- the "I know I'm right so I'll tell others anything in order to get them to believe what I already know to be true" breed.

For instance, there is a page with a drawing of a man and a woman, and Matlin encourages you to show the drawings to a child and ask questions like which one of these people is meek and mild and which one is confident. The problem is, the man is drawn with a confident cowboy body posture and the woman with an unsteady hands-behind-the-back meek stance. The book, of course, implies that the child's response would be solely based on culturally impressed gender stereotypes.

When the book does get around to non-feminist thought, it makes no effort to give the guys a fair shake. Rather than mention any of the perfectly reasonable items on the men's movement agenda (e.g. men shouldn't have to pay more for car insurance or be denied a loan based on gender or be forced to pay child support for a child that isn't their's) Matlin quickly glosses over the idea of the men's movement and portrays it as denying the seriousness of wife-beating.

I'm sure there are many more examples and I'm sure there are much more flagrant examples. I'm not going to find them though, because the five-minute scan that revealed everything you see above was enough to convince me not to take the "Psychology of Women" class at my school.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Psych of Women, September 26, 2011

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knicole07 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Psychology of Women (Paperback)

I use this book for my Psychology of Women class. It is an excellent source for the class but not crazy about the author. It can come off as biased, but I would recommend it for a class as such.