The Life and Work of Mary Crawford: A Feminist Psychologist

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Recommended: The Effect of World War II on Women's Lives

Mary Crawford is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most influential feminist psychologists in history, a first responder, in the uphill battle against “womanless” and anti-feminist psychological practices. She has achieved high accomplishments, as well as endured many hardships, and has fought to secure equality for women and to improve the lives of women all across the globe. Crawford is an accomplished author, her work spanning a diverse range of subjects; in articles, research, and several books. Crawford has received several awards for her accomplishments, which includes the Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology (Korostoliev 2012). Crawford’s accomplishments did not come easily, but with her determination and resolve, she managed to shatter the glass ceiling in an extremely hostile sexist era and rose to the top of history’s most important spokespersons for women’s equality.

Biography

Mary Crawford was raised in a traditional white middle-class Catholic family just after the end of WWII in Pennsylvania (Korostoliev 2012/ Crawford, Unger 2001). Her father, an Air Force sergeant, was the head of household (Crawford 2001) and her mother was a traditional home-maker (Korostoliev 2012). As was standard in the time, Crawford was expected to follow in the footsteps of her mother in a traditional family role (Crawford 2001). In her adolescence, Crawford began idolizing many role-models of non-traditional females in powerful and interesting roles outside the home (Crawford 2001). Crawford listened to radio shows, read books like Nancy Drew, and was influenced by female leaders like Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of the newly created Israel (Crawford 2001).

Academia was always a strong point...

... middle of paper ...

...eministvoices.com/mary-crawford/

Korostoliev, A. (2012) Psychology’s Feminist Voices. Retrieved from http://www.feministvoices.com/mary-crawford/

Crawford, M., & Fox, A. (2007). From sex to gender and back again: Co-optation of a feminist language reform. Feminism & Psychology, 17(4), 481-486. doi:10.1177/0959353507084333

Unger, R. K., & Crawford, M. ( 1993). Commentary: Sex and gender: The troubled relationship between terms and concepts. Psychological Science, 4, 122– 124. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.1993.tb00473.x

Kaufman MR, Shefer T, Crawford M, Simbayi LC, Kalichman SC. Gender attitudes, sexual power, HIV risk: a model for understanding HIV risk behavior of South African men. AIDS Care. 2008;20(4):434–41.

Crawford, M. and M.A. Kaufman (2008) ‘Sex Trafficking in Nepal: Survivor Characteristics and Long Term Outcomes’, Violence against Women 14(8): 905–16.

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