ABSTRACT

The fragmentation in most women's lives is actually a positive and creative model for change and development, since it flexibly fits the changing lifecycles of people and the technological revolution authors are living through. In the wider field feminist psychologists have now begun to analyse critically the hypotheses, research, methodology and findings on 'female psychology' and identity. All of this new work, which has cross-cultural and sociological implications as well, examines rigorously the invisible as well as the visible male bias in research, and constructively proposes new ways of seeing, questioning and interpreting sex role stereotyping, behavioural patterns, social conditioning and role relationships. At present educational provision, both formal and informal, is based on general assumptions of what is needed by adults, or for women in the specific women's education programme. Little attention is paid, not only to the fragmented lifestyles and responsibilities of women, but also to women's lifecycles which are different from men's.