Discuss differences based on gender and how these differences may impact the counseling process.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

?Broad stereotypical Western cultural assumptions include ideas about women as being primarily suited to nurturing roles and as being less competent than men in other kinds of roles.
?These cultural assumptions portray men as being overly competitive and driven by external notions of success. Women and men both pay a price for these assumptions, particularly when they internalize them and believe the implicit limitations imposed by these assumptions.
?Because of these assumptions women may suffer job discrimination and be offered jobs that emphasize their nurturing ability and underplay their other competencies. They may even feel devalued because of their nurturing capabilities, particularly in their ability to connect with others in relationship.
?Any number of pathological symptoms, such as depression, agoraphobia, or eating disorders, can result from this combination of being undervalued and seeing oneself as inferior. An ugly cycle of political oppression and self-blame perpetuates itself.
?Men, on the other hand, may drive themselves so much to fulfill their own and the prevailing culture’s notions of success that they miss out on the intimacies afforded by close relationships with others, and they may develop symptoms of their own that are driven by cultural expectations and assumptions. They can literally work themselves sick. Disorders that are typically associated with male gender issues include problems of addiction, violence, workaholism, and general feelings of inadequacy.
?You can increase your own awareness of some of these political issues by being aware of the ways your male and female clients have been shaped by and have internalized these cultural messages.
?You can become a student of feminist theory examining the particular ways culture affects a woman’s self-image, and you can also look at the literature about the relationship of culture and male development.
?This increased awareness of the politics of gender will help to alert you to its problems and related symptoms when you see them in your clients. This awareness is also important so that you don’t reinforce the prevailing cultural norms and stereotypical assumptions about gender roles in your own counseling practice. This would serve to oppress your clients even further.