The ‘feminisation’ of psychiatric discourse: A Marxist analysis of women’s roles in neoliberal society

Abstract

In analysing the increasing rates of female ‘mental illness’ in neoliberal society, this article draws on Marxist and feminist theory to conceptualise psychiatry as an institution of patriarchal and capitalist power, responsible for reinforcing traditional gender roles. Through outlining the changing circumstances of women, including the recent ‘feminisation’ of the labour force, we argue that there has been a more acute need for patriarchal capitalism to curtail the emancipatory potential of women through the heightened enforcement of sex-role ideology. This is demonstrated through a profile of ‘feminised’ mental disorders which have appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) since 1980 – including premenstrual dysphoric disorder and female sexual interest/arousal disorder – which we argue purposely reproduce a discourse which restricts women’s advancements in paid employment while reinforcing the cliché of ‘respectable femininity’ as still primarily associated with the family and the home. We conclude the article by suggesting that, under the conditions of neoliberalism, the mental health system is becoming an increasingly powerful institution for the social control of gender.