ABSTRACT
Why would feminist scholars want to read this book? At first glance the chapters seem unidirectional. The authors attempt to persuade other psychologists that the language by which we describe developmental processes and products and the methods by which we study development are gendered. Their chapters illustrate how traditional conceptions of memory, reasoning, social interactions, and understanding of mental life reflect a male perspective and how each topic can be enriched by incorporating feminist thought. Ultimately, however, the interchanges between feminist scholars and developmental psychologists need to be bidirectional. As psychological processes are rethought and a feminist developmental psychology emerges, this view then changes the individual described by feminists in other venues. A combined, compatible, richer perspective on humans emerges. But feminist scholars need not wait for developmental psychologists familiar with feminist work to transform developmental psychology. This chapter explains why even now, feminists can profit from reading developmental psychology.
