# Deborah Tolman

Deborah L. Tolman is a developmental psychologist and the co-founder of SPARK: Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge. She is the author of Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality, which was awarded the 2003 Distinguished Book Award from the Association for Women in Psychology.

## Career

Tolman received her Ed.D from Harvard University in 1992. She is the former director of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality, and professor of human sexuality studies at San Francisco State University. Before moving to San Francisco, she was "the senior research scientist and director of the Gender and Sexuality Project, and then an associate director of the Center for Research on Women, both at Wellesley College."
Tolman is currently a professor of Women and Gender Studies at the Hunter College School of Social Work, and professor of Critical Social Psychology at the Graduate Center of CUNY.
Her research on adolescent sexuality, gender development, gender equity and research methods has been funded by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Ford Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation.
In October 2010, Tolman co-founded SPARK (Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge), an intergenerational "girl-fueled" movement building organization (with Lyn Mikel Brown) dedicated to challenging the sexualization of girls by engaging girls to be activists and working with partner organizations around the country. SPARK links academia to activism and suggests an alternative to the divisive "wave metaphor" regarding feminism.
In 2018 Tolman founded SexGenLab, a sexuality and gender educational tool and research collective, in partnership with Graduate Center CUNY students.
Tolman was president of the Society of Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology (SQIP), a section of APA Division 5, and worked on the advancement of qualitative methodology. SQIP is responsible for producing the Qualitative Psychology Journal.
Tolman is a commentator in the 2023 Hulu documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. The documentary follows the life and career of actress and model Brooke Shields from her exploitation as a child star to her work as an adult.

## Writing

In 2003 Tolman's book on adolescent girls' sexuality, Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality, was awarded the 2003 Distinguished Book Award from the Association for Women in Psychology. Her collaboration with Carol Gilligan led to the creation of “The Listening Guide” methodology, a research method used to interpret subject interview transcripts with an emphasis on vocal communication cues.
Tolman was Editor-in-Chief alongside psychologist Lisa M. Diamond of the APA Handbook of Sexuality and Psychology published by American Psychological Association in 2013.
Tolman has written 60+ articles and book chapters on adolescent girls' and boys' sexuality and research methods. Tolman's work and commentary on adolescent sexuality and challenging sexualization has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and multiple radio, television and online venues, including New York City's Joan Hamburg radio show and Brian Lehrer Show.

## Personal life

Tolman is married to Luis Ubiñas. They live in New York City and have two sons.

## Sources

* ↑ "Women's Media Center". womensmediacenter.com. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
* ↑ "Distinguished Publication - Association for Women in Psychology". www.awpsych.org. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
* ↑ "Spotlight on SRSP: Deborah Tolman | National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC)". Archived from the original on 2010-09-01. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
* ↑ Boerner, Heather (Spring 2007). "SF State Magazine Spring 2007 ~ A Questioning Mind | SF State Magazine". San Francisco State University. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
* ↑ "Hunter College SSW I Faculty Directory". Archived from the original on 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
* 1 2 "The Adolescent Sexuality Project |". Archived from the original on 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
* ↑ "NIH Awards by Location and Organization - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT)". report.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
* ↑ Sheahan, Patrick (16 March 1996). "The Spencer Foundation 1996 Annual Report". Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2024. Alt URL
* ↑ "Feminism in "Waves": Useful Metaphor or Not?". New Politics. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
* ↑ "Board |". www.queeringeducation.org. 2010-07-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
* ↑ "Home". SQIP. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
* ↑ "PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS – Review by April Neale – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS". 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
* ↑ Tolman, Deborah (2002). Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01856-3.
* ↑ "APA PsycNet". psycnet.apa.org. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
* ↑ www.apa.org https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4311512. Retrieved 2024-04-12. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
* ↑ Orenstein, Peggy (11 June 2010). "Girls Playing at Sexy". The New York Times.
* ↑ "Joan Hamburg - October 15, 2010 - Hour 2 - WOR News Talk Radio 710 HD". Archived from the original on 2011-04-10. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
* ↑ "Spotlight On: Luis Ubiñas". McKinsey. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.