The first book to take a multicultural perspective on the psychology of women, including the issues of ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, and physical abilities

This book addresses the continuing call to incorporate diversity issues into the scholarship on the psychology of women. Each chapter takes an inclusive look at one aspect of women's lives and shows how the available research and theory relate or do not relate to diverse groups of women; issues of ethnicity, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, and physical ability are examined. The chapters present the state of the literature in psychology and related fields, and authors describe what we know and do not know about issues of diversity in women's experience.

The authors and editors themselves represent diverse perspectives. The book includes Joan C. Chrisler and Alyce Huston Hemstreet on women's health needs; Martha E. Banks, Rosalie J. Ackerman, and Carolyn A. Corbett on neuropsychological issues for physically challenged women; Lillian P. Holcomb and Carol B. Giesen on older women and physically challenged women as college students; Ann Marie Orza and Jane W. Torrey on teaching the psychology of women; Rachel Josefowitz Siegel, Sudha Choldin, and Jean H. Orost on the effects of religious ideology on women's psychosocial development; Darlene C. DeFour and Michele A. Paludi on women and achievement; Geraldine Butts Stahly and Gwat-Yong Lie on women and violence; and Suzanna Rose on women's friendships.