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    April 8, 2008

    Feminism Causes Depression: Dennis Prager

    Filed in: Characteristics of women, Life and Work, Marriage, Women In the Professions by Dr. Lois Frankel @ 5:27 am

    A friend sent me an article, Why Are So Many Women Depressed, by Dennis Prager.  She wanted to know what I thought of it.  My first thought was why would anyone with half a brain put his name to this absurd nonsense.  The net-net of the piece is that feminism unrealistically raised the expectations of women and failed to deliver.  Hence, feminism is at the core of a high incidence of depression among women.  Prager then has the audacity to claim, “ For most women — of course, not all — careers are not nearly as fulfilling as are a good marriage and family.”  Dennis… from where did you pull these numbers? Or, to paraphrase Jerry Maquire, “Show me the study.”  Psychologist Anna Freud had it right when she said, “It’s the good, capable, conscientious woman who is more likely to be depressed than her counterparts.” Maybe if we lived in a society where women weren’t forced to choose between a career and family they wouldn’t be so depressed.  Maybe if the full range of a woman’s capabilities were acknowledged and utilized without her having to dumb down so as not to offend male bosses, colleagues, brothers, or husbands women wouldn’t be so depressed.  And maybe — just maybe — if people like Dennis Prager spent less time focusing on what’s wrong with women and more time focused on what’s right with them despite the choices they make, women wouldn’t be so depressed.  Now you know what I think about the article.  What do YOU think? 

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    3 Comments »

    1. Lois - Wow! What a thought piece Prager has written…what I think is most interesting is the idea that feminism promised that women can “marry a good man and make a happy family” and that “they could also expect to have a fulfilling, financially rewarding, society-honoring career.”

      I don’t remember feminism promising all that to me; rather, I recall feminism taught me that I had choices. And, I have to say that had I not been aware of those choices, I certainly would be depressed.

      Comment by Carol Frohlinger, JD — April 8, 2008 @ 9:42 am

    2. Well put, Carol. It’s all about choices, not about someone or something making us happy. We weave the fabric of our lives through each choice we make.

      Comment by Dr. Lois Frankel — April 8, 2008 @ 10:48 am

    3. Come on! Nobody knows what “causes” depression, and the fact that cause is a social judgment is just one reason.

      Women generally show up considerably higher in ALL psych dx, and that’s a cultural pattern - women will go to the dr when men will go throw a ball instead.

      Women spend way more time agonizing about what’s going on, while men either just do it or suck it up - and no study is needed or useful, because none of these phenomena are susceptible to any kind of measurement.

      Comment by Jack Smith — May 7, 2008 @ 12:02 pm

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