"Building a Sane Society and Transforming Psychology and Mental Health-Care"

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Supporting women's rights

Aloha Everyone:

Most people would agree that an individual's mental health and sense of psychological well-being is fostered when a person's humanity is affirmed and valued within her or his environment.  Conversely, people experience anger, frustration, and depression when their fundamental rights are disallowed and devalued.  Today we celebrate an important date that helped to affirm and elevate the dignity of women in the United States.  On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing American women the right to vote, was declared in effect.

Social justice-minded counselors and psychologists recognize that this sort of legislation not only has political implications, but also has a significant psychological affect as on women and men.  In effect, this historic legislation promotes the psychological well-being of women by affirming their dignity and ensuring their fundamental right in participating in the decision-making process in our country.

This legislative act also helps men to re-think the various forms of patriarchy that privileges them at the expense of their female counterparts.  This sort of de-centering might arguably be viewed as a positive though frequently unwanted form of positive psychology.

Although feminists have done much to improve the quality of women's lives by working to equalize their political-economic-social status in the U.S. over the past century; the struggle for women's rights is far from over.  Disproportionate representation of men in Congress, the fact that no women or persons-of-color can break through the glass ceiling in the Office of the President, the rising rates of homeless women and their children, the staggering number of women in poverty, the unequal salary for women who have the same qualifications and do the same work as men, roll backs in women's reproductive rights, and the epidemic of violence that is bestowed on our sisters of all ages are but a few of the on-going moral-political-psychological dilemmas that women face in our nation.

Today I will meet with the President of the University of Hawaii to discuss what sort of actions the university can take to ameliorate the various forms of violence that women, gays, lesbians, and persons of diverse ethnic-racial groups experience on our campus.  In doing so I will outline some specific strategies that reflect my knowledge and skills as a mental health professional and offer my assistance in promoting a greater sense of peace, justice, and mental health in our community. 

This action is part of the social justice movement that is emerging in the fields of counseling and psychology -- the sort of action that you are involved in your own communities and universities -- the sort of action that builds on the legacy of the women's rights advocates whose work led to the passage of the 19th amendment -- a legacy that we celebrate today.

Please join me in celebrating this historic event and recommiting ourselves to doing something today (regardless of how small small or big it may be) that reflects our own commitment for women's rights and our love for our mothers and sisters who have given us life and enrich

us simply through their being.  

In the continuing struggle for justice and peace,

Michael D'Andrea

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