Patriarch or Promoter of the Women’s Movement? Ernest Dichter and his Interpretation of the Female Image

Abstract

At first, this statement by Ernest Dichter seems to reveal a social traditionalist who puts men and women into their ‘appropriate’ spheres of work and household, respectively. Looking behind the scenes of Dichter’s research and writing strategies, however, a more complicated picture is revealed. In order to unpick Dichter’s uneasy relationship it is not only necessary to analyse his research studies, articles and main works but also to incorporate the historical and social environment of the motivation researcher. At the time of Dichter’s birth in 1907, the so-called first women’s movement was internationally concerned with the issues of female suffrage. For Austrian (as well as German, English and American) women the years 1918–1920 finally brought their right to vote in democratic elections. At a time when European and American middle- and working-class women were fighting for their political rights and social equality, the issue of contested gender roles was relevant for Dichter’s family, too. His autobiography clearly shows that his mother was not only responsible for the family income but was also recognised as the ‘head’ of the family. Although this was rather due to his father’s failure at work and his financial distress than to any feminist inclinations, Dichter was doubtlessly influenced during his childhood by a dominant mother. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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