Why should person-centered facilitating be gender-sensitive?

ABSTRACT

Human beings do not have a fixed sex/gender but everyone is constantly (re)creating the concepts of femininity and masculinity. But gender still functions as a basis for discrimination in the existing social order. The authors point out the importance of knowing about and reflecting gender prejudices as well as gender stereotypes, forms and mechanisms of discrimination being at work in order to not reproduce gender inequalities in facilitated groups. This article summarizes principles and present insights into gender-sensitiveness that might be important for person-centred encounter-groups.

Pourquoi la facilitation centrée sur la personne devrait-elle être sensible au genre ?

Les êtres humains n’ont pas de genre/sexe fixe mais chacun est constamment occupé à (re)créer les concepts de féminité et de masculinité. Or, dans l’ordre social établi, le genre continue de fonctionner comme une référence de discrimination. Afin d’éviter de produire des inégalités liées au genre dans les groupes facilités, les auteurs pointent l’importance de connaître et de réfléchir autant les préjudices liés au genre que les stéréotypes rencontrés ainsi que les formes et les mécanismes de discrimination à l’œuvre afin d’éviter de reproduire les inégalités de genre dans les groupes facilités. Cet article résume des principes et des réflexions actuels sensibles à la question du genre, qui peuvent s’avérer importants dans la facilitation des groupes de rencontre centrés sur la personne.

Warum sollte Personzentriertes Facilitating hellhörig für Gender sein?

Zusammenfassung: Menschen haben kein festgelegtes biologisches oder soziales Geschlecht, aber ständig schaffen alle die Konzepte von Femininität und Maskulinität neu. Aber soziale Geschlechtsrollenzuschreibung funktioniert in der existierenden sozialen Ordnung immer noch als ein Grund zu Diskriminierung. Die Autorinnen weisen auf die Wichtigkeit hin, sowohl Gender-Vorurteile als auch Gender-Stereotypen, Formen und Mechanismen der Diskriminierung, die aktiv sind, zu kennen und zu reflektieren, um keine Gender-Ungleichheiten in begleiteten Gruppen zu reproduzieren. Dieser Artikel fasst Grundsätze und aktuelle Einsichten zur Beachtung von sozialen Geschlechtsrollen zusammen, die für personzentrierte Encountergruppen wichtig sein könnten.

Porque deveria a facilitação centrada na pessoa ser sensível ao género?

Os seres humanos não têm um sexo/género fixo, mas toda a gente insiste em (re)criar constantemente os conceitos de feminilidade e de masculinidade. O género continua a funcionar como base para a discriminação na ordem social vigente. Os autores assinalam a importância de conhecer e reconhecer: as manifestações de preconceitos; os estereótipos; as formas e mecanismos de discriminação ligados ao género existentes, com vista a não reproduzir desigualdades ligadas ao género em grupos facilitados. Este artigo resume princípios e insights atuais relativos à sensibilidade de género e que podem ter relevância nos grupos de encontro centrados na pessoa.

¿Por qué la facilitación centrada en la persona debe ser sensible al género?

RESUMEN: Los seres humanos no tienen un sexo / género fijo, pero todos constantemente (re) crean los conceptos de feminidad y masculinidad. Pero el género todavía funciona como base para la discriminación en el orden social existente. Los autores señalan la importancia de conocer y reflejar los prejuicios de género, así como los estereotipos de género, las formas y los mecanismos de discriminación en funcionamiento para no reproducir las desigualdades de género en los grupos facilitados. Este artículo resume los principios y las ideas actuales sobre la sensibilidad de género que podrían ser importantes para los grupos de encuentro centrados en la persona.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender-sensitive
• facilitating
• person-centered
• male/female
• communication

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. “It is the responsibility of psychotherapists to reflect social structure and its impact on the mental health of women* and men* both in theory as in practice.“ Hasler and Macke (2012): Braucht Psychotherapie geschlechter-differentes Wissen? In: WLP 1/2012, p.19.

2. “Doing Gender” is a classic sociological concept developed by Candace West and Don Zimmerman. It means that gender is a routine accomplishment in everyday life and an ongoing activity. We can’t avoid doing gender. We do gender in interaction with others. It is a product/construction of social interaction.

3. Schmid (2004) p.3 As an example he analyzes the view on the actualizing tendency which has been developed from an androcentric idea of a “directional, forward striving, expanding, transcending, increasing force, a force towards autonomy” to a feminist view of it “ as the force of the individual embedded in interconnectedness. Consequently, this would stress the social nature of the person much more than it was originally conceptualized in Rogers’ anthropology.” Even though it is beyond the scope of this article we would like to Stern´s illuminating insights into the dilemma of separating self and relationship and its consequences for adolescent girls and women (Stern, 1991, p. 112ff).

4. “The feministic vision of a better world is not the idea of a ‘female future’ but of a human future free of the constraints of gender, free of violent relationships, male cohorts and ‘feminine mystique’.” Johanna Dohnal, first Austrian minister of women´s affairs in a lecture at the Technical University of Vienna in 2004.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karin Macke

Karin Macke, is a person-centered psychotherapist and counsellor, member of the IPS Vienna (Institut für Personzentrierte Studien) and of the WAPCEPC, works at the Women Counselling Service Vienna “Frauen beraten Frauen” and at the Counselling Service for the Webster University Vienna; teaches ethical questions in Psychotherapy at Universität Wien as well as Gender Sensitivity in Counselling at Donau-Universität Krems. Is a writer and teaches creative writing.

Gabriele Hasler

Gabriele Hasler, works as a freelance person-centered therapist in Vienna, she is a trainer with the Academy for Counseling and Psychotherapy of APG•IPS in Vienna, has a degree in Feminist Politics & Education, offers educational workshops for therapists and counsellors.