The Psychology of Women (with InfoTrac Printed Access Card) [Paperback]

Margaret W. Matlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0495091545 | ISBN-13: 978-0495091547 | Edition: 6

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 womens' own experiences through direct quotations and an emphasis on empirical research. Known for its balance of scholarship, readability, and inclusion of various kinds of women, Margaret Matlin continues to lead the way for the Psychology of Women course. Meticulously updated to reflect the most current research, PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN was written with a genuine interest in and understanding of the students for whom the book is written. Her text includes a chapter on old age as well as discussions of topics such as welfare issues, and 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." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 6 edition (March 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0495091545
• ISBN-13: 978-0495091547
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,105 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.

2 of 2 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.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Biased garbage, December 12, 2010

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Psych Student "average dude" (East Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews

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

I was assigned this book for my Psychology of Women class. As another reviewer said, it would be more accurately described as "Sociology of Women", as there is almost no actual psychology in the book. I took the class because I, as a male, was genuinely interested in how women think and perceive the world. While my professor was really great and decidedly neutral, this book is completely one-sided. It paints the white American heterosexual male as the most evil force in society and concentrates solely on pointing out the author's problems with society. While I agreed with many points in the text, the author demonizes males whenever possible and ignores viewpoints that might challenge her view of the world as a socially constructed androcentric nightmare (her dismissal of the ENTIRE field of evolutionary psychology in one paragraph was especially arrogant and ignorant).
Don't buy this book, and if you're a professor, please choose another text to assign to your students. I'm sure there are better ones.