6 Tuesdays | Oct 21 – Dec 9 | Facilitated by JoAnn Ponder, PhD

We have recently witnessed brazen displays of patriarchy, oppressive behavior toward women, attempts to control their bodies, and threats or acts of violence toward them in American political and social life. Given the longstanding roots of patriarchy and misogyny in our culture, it is not surprising that patriarchal and misogynistic attitudes and beliefs have found their way into psychoanalytic theory, organizations, and consulting rooms. HPS will offer a study group consisting of 6 meetings to explore these issues. While volumes have been written on these issues, we will read and discuss only a sample of relevant articles authored by contemporary relational psychoanalysts as well as earlier articles by a social psychologist and analysts who have devoted a major portion of their careers to thinking and writing about these topics. Our study group will explore the cultural basis and psychodynamics of patriarchy/misogyny and its effects on people of various gender identities and sexual object choices. We will consider how these biases may be enacted and addressed in our clinical work with patients in individual and couples treatment.

CE