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Dorothy Dinnerstein (April 4, 1923 – December 17, 1992) was an American academic and
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
activist, best known for her 1976 book ''The Mermaid and the Minotaur''. Drawing from elements of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
's psychoanalysis, particularly as developed by
Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...
, Dinnerstein argued that
sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
and
aggression Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...
were both inevitable consequences of
child rearing Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and educational development from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biological rel ...
being left exclusively to women.Dinnerstein, Dorothy (1987). ''The Rocking of the Cradle and the Ruling of the World'' (trade paperback) (Reprint with new introduction ed.). London:
The Women's Press The Women's Press was a feminist publishing company established in London in 1977. Throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s, The Women's Press was a highly visible presence, publishing feminist literature. Founding In 1977, Stephanie Dowrick cofo ...
. p. 26 and 33–34. .
As a solution, Dinnerstein proposed that men and women equally share infant and child care responsibilities.Dinnerstein, Dorothy (1987). ''The rocking of the cradle and the ruling of the world''. London: Women's Press. . Her theories were not widely accepted at the time they were published.Broughton, J., & Honey, M. (1988). Gender arrangements and nuclear threat: A discussion with Dorothy Dinnerstein. ''Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 8''(2), 27-40. Dorothy Dinnerstein was a feminist, expressing her position by stating that “it's easier for women than for men to see what's wrong with the world that men have run".


Personal life


Early life

Born on April 4, 1923 in the Bronx, Dinnerstein was raised in a Jewish community and was raised by her parents, Nathan Dinnerstein and Celia Moedboth, both progressive Jews. Cole, Alyson. "Dorothy Dinnerstein." ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on ) Nathan was an architectural engineer and Celia worked in administration at the Bronx Family Court. Unfortunately, Nathan's architectural engineer business did not survive the depression; Nathan found a job keeping the books at Mott Haven Salvage, owned by his brother-in-law Benjamin Moed, until his death at 49.


Marriage and family

During her collegiate years, she met and married Sidney Mintz, who later became a well known anthropologist. Their marriage ended shortly after WWII. Dinnerstein then married Walter James Miller. Miller was a poet and professor a
New York University
In the year 1955, the two had their only child, Naomi May. They divorced in 1961. Dinnerstein married Daniel S. Lehrman in 1961. Lehrman was a psychologist as well. Lehrman, who was previously married, had two daughters of his own, Nina and June, who lived with their mother Gertrude Lehrman in Queens, NY. Daniel and Dorothy lived in the Greenwich Village section of NYC and then in Leonia NJ. Lehrman taught and did research at
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
, as did Dinnerstein. Lehrman died suddenly of a heart attack in 1972, at the age of 53.


Education

After completing grade school in
The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, Dinnerstein attended
Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...
and received her undergraduate degree in 1943, earning a bachelor's in Psychology. Dinnerstein started her graduate studies at
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...
and earned the Ph.D. in psychology from the
New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...
in 1951.


Activism and career

After earning her degree, Dinnerstein was engaged in fighting for progressive causes including women's rights, environmentalism, an end to the Viet Nam war, and against nuclear proliferation. As part of her passion about these issues, she participated in a demonstration that briefly shutdown
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
. Dinnerstein did her doctoral research under
Solomon Asch Solomon Eliot Asch (September 14, 1907 – February 20, 1996) was a Polish people, Polish-United States of America, American Gestalt psychology, Gestalt psychologist and pioneer in social psychology. He created seminal pieces of work in impressi ...
, a prominent social psychologist. A resident of Leonia, New Jersey, she taught at Rutgers–Newark in New Jersey as a professor of psychology from 1959 until 1989. Her early work involved laboratory studies on the influence of overlapping structures on various aspects of sensory perception. While working at Rutgers University, Dinnerstein recruited Asch and they co-founded the Institute for Cognitive Studies at Rutgers. In addition to teaching, research and writing Dinnerstein also had a lasting commitment to feminist politics. Dinnerstein was central to the first Federal lawsuit against gender-based pay inequity in academia, and was an active participant in the
Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice The Seneca Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice was a women-only peace camp formed to protest the scheduled deployment of Cruise and Pershing II missiles before their suspected shipment from the Seneca Army Depot to Europe in the ...
in the early 1980s. Before her death in 1992, Dinnerstein was involved in a new project about environmental issues called "Sentience and Survival" which explored the ways in which human cognitive structures interfere with taking appropriate actions to prevent environmental devastation.


Works


''The Mermaid and the Minotaur''

During her time at Rutgers University, she began writing her first book, ''The Mermaid and the Minotaur: Sexual Arrangement and Human Malaise'' (1976) (also published in the UK as ''The Rocking of the Cradle and the Ruling of the World''). She wrote from the perspectives of a microsociologist, a feminist, a humanist, an ecologist, and a psychoanalyst. Drawing from elements of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
’s psychoanalysis, particularly as developed by
Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...
, Dinnerstein argued that sexism and aggression are both inevitable consequences of child rearing being left exclusively to women. She argued that women are infantilized and degraded as a result of false perceptions that they are associated with the realm of childhood as opposed to the world of adulthood.Bynum, G. L. (2011). The Critical Humanisms of Dorothy Dinnerstein and Immanuel Kant Employed for Responding to Gender Bias: A Study, and an Exercise, in Radical Critique. ''Studies in Philosophy and Education'', ''30''(4), 385-402. Women become the scapegoats of adult resentment towards authority figures because they served as controlling authority figures during childhood. Women are blamed for life's pitfalls because of the early-childhood perception that one's mother takes care of everything, so if something is wrong, it's the mother's fault for not making it all right.Prozan, C. K. (1992). ''Feminist psychoanalytic psychotherapy''. Jason Aronson. Men use sexism and patriarchal means to control resented authority figures (women). Men are isolated from the world of emotions and interpersonal relations usually associated with childhood, creating an impossible and harmful standard of male infallibility, invincibility, and invulnerability. As a solution, Dinnerstein proposed that men and women equally share infant and child care responsibilities. Dinnerstein concluded her book by saying that she recognized that families had started to move toward shared parenting for reasons unrelated to the consequences of female-dominated childcare; nonetheless, she wanted shared parenting to be “fortified by full awareness of these considerations." She added, "This effort of theirs arents' effort toward shared parenting moreover, is supported by all the forms of action now being taken toward equity in the economic, political, legal, etc., spheres".Dinnerstein, D. (2010). ''The mermaid and the minotaur''. Other Press, LLC. Dinnerstein's theories in this book were not widely accepted at the time they were published. The book became a classic of U.S.
second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades, ending with the feminist sex wars in the early 1980s and being replaced by third-wave feminism in the early 1990s. It occurred ...
and was later translated into seven languages.


Other publications

* Dinnerstein, D. (1965). Previous and concurrent visual experience as determinants of phenomenal shape. The American Journal of Psychology, 78(2), 235-242. * Dinnerstein, D. (1988). What does feminism mean? Women & Environments, 10, 7-8. * Dinnerstein, D. (1990). Survival on earth: The meaning of feminism. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 2(4), 7-10. * Dinnerstein, D., Gerstein, I. & Michael, G. (1967). Interaction of simultaneous and successive stimulus groupings in determining apparent weight. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(2). 298-302. * Dinnerstein, D. & Wertheimer, M. (1957). Some determinants of phenomenal overlapping. The American Journal of Psychology, 70(1), 21-37.


Death

On December 17, 1992, at the age of 69, Dinnerstein was killed in a car accident. She was survived by a daughter and two step-daughters."Dorothy Dinnerstein; Feminist Writer Was 69"(Obituary). ''The New York Times''. December 19, 1992. Retrieved April 2, 2011.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinnerstein, Dorothy American women psychologists 20th-century American psychologists 20th-century American writers Road incident deaths in New Jersey Brooklyn College alumni Writers from Leonia, New Jersey Rutgers University faculty The New School alumni 1923 births 1992 deaths Swarthmore College alumni 20th-century American women academics