Hard To Get Twenty-Something Women Summary

Diagnosing the Defense
One of the hallmarks of being human that separates people from other species is the constant need for understanding the surrounding world. In order to feel as if they are in control, people must find a sense of mastery over the universe and their environment, and this is done by interpreting information they receive. Simply put, an interpretation is an explanation of a certain phenomenon. Psychologist Leslie Bell, uses this sort of interpretation to understand why women feel like they have less sexual freedom when society seemingly gives them more in her work Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom. Similarly, another psychologist Martha Stout, attempts to interpret why her patients disassociate …show more content…
Emotions are the trigger that cause the psychological immune system to start working, therefore, if they can be controlled, so can the psychological immune system. “Overwhelming emotional significance registered by the amygdala actually leads to a decrease in hippocampal activation, such that some of the traumatic input is not usefully organized by the hippocampus” (Stout 421). By decreasing the emotional significance trauma has on a person, the less likely the psychological immune system will begin to work. “Explanation robs events of their emotional impact because it makes them seem likely and allows us to stop thinking about them” (Gilbert 142). Therefore, interpretation can lower the emotional bearing an event has on a person, consequently lessening the effects of the psychological immune system as well. This can be seen through Bell’s patient Alicia. Because she had a history of sexual abuse, Alicia often feared men. However, “the more distant a man, the safer he felt to her” (Bell 41). Because she did not form emotional relationships with men, Alicia’s psychological immune system did not turn on, and allowed her to feel safe around males. By interpreting why they feel and act as they do, a person can be able to let go of the emotional impact a trauma has, therefore resulting in