Analyzing Gender

A Handbook of Social Science Research

In the last decade, there has been an enormous amount of scholarship on women's issues, feminism, and gender as variables in various institutions and processes of society. This interest in gender, particularly in the role of women, has been evident in all the social sciences. The volume of books, articles, series, and journals dealing with women continues to increase rapidly. Yet until now, there has been no key to this large body of literature. More than just another collection of articles on women's studies, Analyzing Gender is the major synthesis of current social science research on issues involving gender. This volume is a tightly edited collection of articles that consolidates our current state of knowledge about the role of women in society. Contributors come from a wide variety of social science disciplines and theoretical perspectives, but universally seek to enlighten us on what this flurry of activity has demonstrated about the issues that face women in contemporary society. Chapters are broad in scope--and carefully examine the current state of knowledge and research. Analyzing Gender is destined to become the benchmark for current and future research on sex roles and gender studies. "This important new collection promises to be a landmark in the evolution of feminist scholarship. The contributions and the editors' comprehensive introduction move beyond examining bias in the social sciences to examining new descriptions, concepts, and theories that emerge from research on women. As a result, the book will help us think about how feminist studies are transforming social scientific thought." --Margaret L. Anderson, University of Delaware "Remarkable reading." --Midwest Book Review "An exciting and consistent collection of essays using the social construction of gender perspective. This book will advance feminist social science theory and have an honored place in feminist libraries and on feminist course lists. I look forward to using it." --Judith Lorber, CUNY Graduate Center "This volume introduces new terrain and provides a benchmark for feminist sociology." --Contemporary Sociology "Likely to become a definitive reference for any feminist social scientist. . . . Analyzing Gender is provocative, politically self-conscious, thorough, and a work of impeccable integrity. . . . In emphasizing the centrality of the intersection of contemporary systems of hierarchy, the complexities of the diverse realms of social life, and the importance of subjectivity and experienced life, Analyzing Gender distinguishes itself from other surveys of feminist thinking." --Contemporary Psychology "Presents state-of-the-art research and thought on issues related to gender. . . . Hess and Ferree have provided an informative and insightful introductory essay. . . . An essential resource for scholars as well as students, the collection is uniformly written and referenced. Each essay includes a substantial, up-to-date bibliography and there is a well-organized index for the volume as a whole. Highly recommended." --Choice "An essential addition to the bookshelf of anyone teaching the area." --Book Ends "Most will find [Analyzing Gender] a valuable book to own, to consult and employ in feminist teaching and research. . . . Its chapters provide comprehensive coverage of such staple arenas of gender analysis as family, work, sexuality, popular culture, and political life, amplified by essays on feminist challenges to religion, medicine, law, knowledge, and militarism. Most are highly informative, offering useful 'crash courses' in their respective subfields. . . . Among Analyzing Gender's many strengths is its keen sensitivity to class, race, and other power-laden differences between women." --SIGNS: Journal of Women in Culture and Society "An excellent collection of contributions. . . . There are many scholarly and innovative chapters here which educators are strongly recommended to read. . . . This is an outstanding collection overall and a valuable consolidation of the current stae-of-the-art in gender research." --Evaluation and Research in Education