Why are we so insistent that women and men are different? This introduction to gender provides a fascinating, readable exploration of how society divides people into feminine women and masculine men. Gender and Everyday Life explores gender as a way of seeing women and men as not just biological organisms, but as people shaped by their everyday social world. Examining how gender has been understood and lived in the past; and how it is understood and done differently by different cultures and groups within cultures; Mary Holmes considers the strengths and limitations of different ways of thinking and learning to 'do' gender.

Key sociological and feminist ideas about gender are covered from Christine Pisan to Mary Wollstonecraft; and from symbolic interactionism to second wave feminism through to the work of Judith Butler. Gender and Everyday Life illustrates gender with a range of familiar and contemporary examples: everything from nineteenth century fashions in China and Britain, to discussions of what Barbie can tell us about gender in America, to the lives of working women in Japan. This book will be of great use and interest to students to gender studies, sociology and feminist theory.

About the Author

Mary Holmes is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Flinders University, Australia. Currently she is co-writing a book called Adventures in Heterosexuality (with Chris Beasley and Heather Brook) and is the author of What is Gender? She is coeditor of Critical Concepts: The Sociology of the Body (also published by Routledge).

Reviews

'Holmes provides an excellent overview of understanding of gender through a sociological lens and encourages readers to recognize the importance of reflecting and critically thinking about the impact gender has on their lives - recommended.' - Choice, August 2009

Book Information
ISBN 9780415423496
Author Mary Holmes
Format Paperback
Page Count 180
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 330g