Rebalancing the Journey: Gender Inequality in Psychedelics
Psychedelic drugs elicit feelings of unity, yet traditionally the field of psychedelic research, in the past and present, is largely gender imbalanced. In light of our ongoing psychedelic renaissance, it is more important than ever we continue to push for equal voices and use this cultural revolution as an opportunity to move away from the prevailing inequalities of the past.
Although the past hundred years has seen milestone progressions towards gender equality, reconciling a centuries-long history of patriarchy will be a long path. Despite doubling since 1995, women still hold mere one-in-four legislative seats worldwide. With men continuing to dominate politics, business and science, the globe remains predominantly under male leadership and influence.
If psychedelics are so renowned for evoking peace and unity, why is it the growing field that seems to be emerging in patriarchy? The stigma around women and science could provide explanations, and the antiquated gender roles of females as care-givers may also contribute largely. In the psychedelic field, women have typically taken on the role of "sitter" and counselling-guide, with the "sitting" particularly prevalent among wives of famous psychedelic figures, such as Rose Hoffer (Abram Hoffer's wife) and Mary Agnew (wife of psychologist Neil Agnew). Conforming to a caregiving role would entail women with boundaries of safety, whilst non-caregiving males may be less inhibited to explore the realm of the inner psyche with psychedelics. Although a female's care-giver's role seems extremely outdated, data from today suggests men are still more likely to try psychedelics than women. For example, the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows fewer than 12% of women have ever used hallucinogens, whereas nearly 20% of men have. Whilst these drugs remain illegal to obtain and wrapped up in stigma, adhering to an archetypal female role may discourage women from having personal experience or other involvements with psychedelics. Such statistics call attention to the issue of standardised gender roles lingering in contemporary society and how psychedelics' legal status affects users' demographic.
Data from Drugs Misuse Survey 2018/2019 comparing drug use between women and men
Men have always had authority over science, and the continued overshadowing of men in science today is undeniable. For example, a recent statistic found that only 35% of higher education students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects were women. Considering we've evolved from a time when women weren't allowed to enter higher education, this certainly marks an improvement. However, the statistic is just one of many that highlight the overhanging effects of masculine and feminine stereotypes, such as science being a "male-role", from previous generations.
Psychedelic science is no different from the rest of history and culture regarding gender disparity, with psychedelic research predominantly spearheaded by white men and most disciplines encompassed in the psychedelic movement, from the laboratory to the bookshelf, tend to display this patriarchal inequality. When we think of pioneers in psychedelics, people like Albert Hoffman, Stan Grof and Aldous Huxley come to mind, all white, all educated, all male. Not only do women and people of colour face stigmas in pursuing careers in science and research, but the lack of opportunities and underrepresentation of both groups, both historically and today, is indisputable.
The dominance of male figures in the psychedelic movement has been particularly apparent in the ongoing psychedelic conferences and panels, which have made an enormous emergence over the pandemic, with various psychedelic speakers across the globe connecting via Zoom. Lucid News published an article in July 2020, reporting a cause for concern, that on examination of seven psychedelic conferences, which included just over 400 total speakers, 68% of the speakers were men, and over 90% were white. There is no discredit to all the groundbreaking work in which white males have contributed over the years. However, it is undeniable that there is a lack of representation in the psychedelic community, which needs to change. It is essential psychedelic media empowers the voice of women, people of colour, and all other groups which have been discriminated against, creating equal representation and role models for all groups of society to relate to and look up toward.
Thankfully, more light is becoming shed on gender equality in psychedelics and unwritten contributions of women in psychedelic history such as Valentina Wasson Mabel Luhan and Gertrude Paltin, amongst others, are being rediscovered. Pivotal women in the re-emergence of psychedelics today are also marking their stance as powerful female exemplars. We are honoured to have worked with some of these crucial figures in the making of our documentary. Such women include Dr Rosalind Watts, clinical lead of the Psilocybin for Depression trials at Imperial College London - whose research has instigated much of the driving force behind psilocybin rescheduling as a therapeutic; and Natalie Ginsberg, policy director for MAPS - working on the forefront of the battle to end the war on drugs.
Women whose contribution to psychedelics has been relatively untold till today, Valentina Wasson (right) and Mabel Luhan (left)
Heading the push for greater equality in the psychedelic sphere is Chacruna Institute, a supporting organisation of ours, founded by Brazillian anthropologist Bia Labate. Among their missions is to "promote access, inclusion and diversity by including the voices of women, queer, people, indigenous peoples, people of colour and the global South in the field of Psychedelic Science." Within their vast array of articles, Chacruna has chronicle series specifically on both women in psychedelics and sex and power, covering issues from abortion in light of plant medicine to sexual abuse women have faced in psychedelic ceremonies. They chair events dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion, such as their Women in Psychedelics Forum. Furthermore, their initiatives have a Women, Gender Diversity and Sexual Minorities Working Group whose aim is to: "foster accessibility and diversity in psychedelic science, practice, and discourses, addressing and dismantling sexist, heteronormative, transphobic and homophobic forms of oppression, and allying with other under-represented communities to combat oppressive practices in psychedelic communities and science."
Founder of Chacruna Institute, Bia Labate
Despite the global efforts to increase diversity amongst the psychedelic press, inequality remains. Beyond the media, the lack of female representation has also alluded to dangers within psychedelic research itself. Traditionally, experiments in drug development have a much greater number of male participants. With women-specific adverse effects left unaccounted for before bringing drugs to market, women have suffered as a result. For example, from 1997 to 2001, eighty percent of prescription drugs withdrawn from US markets had greater health risks for women than men. There is already a wealth of evidence showing that the non-classical psychedelic, MDMA, is likely to have more adverse effects in women than men. Yet, the lack of research and education into women's health regarding drugs has meant this isn't well known among the users' community. As psychedelic drug development continues, there must be an equal representation between male and female participants. Research must not continue to overlook how female-physiological differences may affect responses to different psychedelic compounds. Leonie Schneider, a psychedelic trial participant, shared her experience:
"I was fortunate enough to participate in the later phase studies on the use of psilocybin for depression at Imperial. But there were many barriers to overcome in order to participate - both institutional and socio-cultural, and these need to be addressed in every study design. Only then will women be able to get the full benefit of access to new and transformative medications without preventable risks and side-effects."
With the last psychedelic wave of the 1960s, a shift in culture towards greater equality coincided. The flower power summer of love saw the introduction of the birth control pill and legalisation of abortion. This gave women new autonomy and the freedom to choose against the archetypal care-giving role. More women joined workforces and feminist voices grew leading us to the greater equality we see today. The second wave of psychedelic research today has been fronted by some powerful women, however, the societal representation within psychedelic culture is still not good enough. The psychedelic movement has a huge potential to create some critical cultural paradigm shifts, yet within the fabrication of the psychedelic renaissance, outdated patriarchal patterns have re-emerged. Whilst the movement exponentially grows let’s make sure we are aware of and actively progress away from all prevailing inequalities in psychedelics, gender, race, sexuality, education and more, before the field becomes yet another dominated by the white man.
Learn more action being taken to address gender inequality in the field of psychedelics, and help evolve the field by joining our mailing list and supporting the Psychedelic Renaissance Documentary via a donation to MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies)
