Women in American Society

by Sapiro, Virginia

• ISBN13: 9781559349352
• ISBN10: 1559349352
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-06-01
• Publisher: Mayfield Pub Co

Summary

This introduction to women's studies provides a comprehensive synthesis and critique of feminist scholarship and research. The text integrates current scholarship and research from a wide variety of disciplines including political science, sociology, psychology, economics, education, history, law, and mass communications.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
PART ONE Developing Frameworks for the Study of Gender and Society	1	(142)
1 Women's Studies: An Introduction	3	(28)
Representing Women	3	(4)
Women's Studies as a Field of Study	7	(4)
Social Science Methods of Studying Women and Gender	11	(11)
Social Science as Systematic Observation	11	(4)
Methods Women's Studies Researchers Use	15	(7)
Understanding and Interpreting Women's Lives	22	(9)
When Is a Difference Really a Difference?	23	(3)
When and Why Are Gender Differences Interesting?	26	(2)
Difference and Inequality	28	(3)
2 Societal-Level Approaches to Understanding Women's Lives	31	(46)
U.S. Women in Global Perspective	31	(17)
Literacy and Education	32	(2)
Marriage and Reproduction	34	(6)
Work and Economic Life	40	(1)
Women and the State	41	(7)
Explaining Women's Situation at the Societal Level: Six Theoretical Approaches	48	(26)
Women's God-Given Nature: The Eternal Feminine	48	(1)
Natural Woman and Man: The Role of Biology	49	(7)
The Inevitable Progress of Enlightenment and Modernization	56	(4)
Structural-Functionalist and Evolutionary Theories	60	(5)
Economic and Historical-Materialist Theories	65	(4)
Sex War: The Struggle for Dominance	69	(5)
Toward Understanding Social Change and Women's History	74	(3)
3 Individual-Level Approaches to Understanding Women's Lives	77	(37)
What Difference Does a Person's Gender Make?	78	(8)
Masculinity, Femininity, and Character	79	(3)
Personality and Cognitive Skills	82	(4)
Explaining Women's Situation at the Individual Level: Five Approaches	86	(26)
The Biological Basis of Female and Male	86	(2)
Psychoanalytic Theory: The Creation of Masculinity and Femininity	88	(6)
Cognitive-Developmental Theories	94	(6)
Learning Theories	100	(4)
Synthesizing Cognition and Learning: Gender-Schema Theory and Doing Gender	104	(4)
Institutional Theories and Discrimination	108	(4)
Individual Development and Social Change	112	(2)
4 Commonality and Difference Among Women	114	(29)
Recognizing Difference	115	(2)
The Differential Impact of Sex/Gender Systems	117	(7)
The View From the Dominant System	118	(4)
The View From Different Groups of Women	122	(2)
Untangling Oppressions	124	(7)
The Parallel Model	124	(1)
The Distinct-Components Model	125	(2)
The Complex Model	127	(1)
Hierarchies of Oppression	127	(1)
Exemplifying Complexity: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Violence	128	(3)
Some Sketches of Unity and Diversity	131	(9)
Age	132	(1)
Class	133	(3)
Race and Ethnicity	136	(1)
Geography and Culture	137	(3)
Conclusion: Learning From Difference	140	(3)
PART TWO Gender-Defining Institutions	143	(178)
5 Education: Learning to Be Male and Female	145	(31)
Historical Perspectives on Women's Education	145	(8)
Early Efforts	145	(2)
Expanding Access	147	(1)
Increasing Leadership Roles	148	(4)
Achieving Higher Education	152	(1)
Women's Education Today	153	(14)
How Much Education?	153	(5)
What Did You Learn in School Today?	158	(4)
Gender and Evaluation	162	(2)
Segregation and Schooling	164	(3)
Women as Educators	167	(4)
Education and the Future	171	(5)
The Question of Choice	171	(1)
Education for What?	172	(1)
Education for and About Women	173	(3)
6 Normal Gender: Health, Fitness, and Beauty	176	(40)
Gender-Based Norms in Women's Health Care	177	(29)
Anatomy and Health	178	(3)
Reproduction and Health	181	(6)
Families, Family Roles, and Health	187	(2)
Domestic Violence as a Health Issue	189	(3)
Work and Health	192	(2)
Beauty, Fitness, and Health	194	(8)
Practice of Health Care: Are Men and Women Treated Differently?	202	(4)
Women's Roles in Shaping Health Care	206	(6)
Healers, Doctors, and Other Health-Care Professionals	206	(3)
Health-Care Activists	209	(1)
Mothers and Daughters as Health-Care Providers	210	(1)
The Influence of Women as Health-Care Consumers	211	(1)
Toward a New Understanding of Women's Health	212	(4)
7 Women and Religion	216	(27)
Religious Teachings About Women and Gender	218	(12)
God Talk: Is It Male?	219	(1)
Defining Male and Female	219	(6)
Morality, Sexuality, and Gender	225	(3)
Feminist Alternatives and the Women's Spirituality Movement	228	(2)
Women's Religious Activities and Influences	230	(9)
Everyday Life as Religious Activity	230	(2)
Women's Service Outside the Home	232	(3)
Women as Religious Authorities and Leaders	235	(4)
Religion and Society	239	(4)
8 Gender and the Institutional Media of Communication	243	(38)
The Mass Media	244	(19)
Women in the News	244	(10)
Gender and the Message of the Media	254	(8)
The Impact of the Mass Media	262	(1)
The Commercial Media	263	(4)
The Cultural and Artistic Media	267	(10)
Women as Artists	268	(4)
Gender and Sexuality as Subjects of Art	272	(5)
Media of Change?	277	(4)
9 Law and Policy, Government, and the State	281	(40)
Governmental Views of Women	282	(14)
Protection of Rights	282	(5)
Fulfillment of Obligations	287	(7)
Women's Policy Issues	294	(2)
Women, Crime, and Justice	296	(11)
Women as Victims	297	(4)
Women as Criminals	301	(5)
Women in the Criminal Justice System	306	(1)
Women's Political Participation and Influence	307	(9)
Gender in Electoral Politics	307	(5)
Nonelectoral Citizen Politics	312	(2)
The Impact of Women in Politics	314	(2)
International Politics	316	(1)
Women, Feminism, and Democracy	317	(4)
PART THREE Choice and Control in Personal Life, the Family, and Work	321	(168)
10 Gender, Communication, and Self-Expression	323	(33)
Referring to Women, Men, and People	324	(8)
Gender-Specific Terms	325	(5)
Gender-Neutral Terms	330	(2)
Autonomy and Control in Communication	332	(18)
Male and Female Language	334	(2)
The Right-of-Way: Gender and Status	336	(9)
Strategies of Power and Influence	345	(5)
Future Options	350	(6)
11 Consenting Adults? Personal and Sexual Relationships	356	(46)
Gender and Personal Relationships	357	(2)
Sexuality and Sexual Relationships	359	(19)
Defining Sexuality and Sexual Relationships	360	(1)
Sexual Identity and Orientation	361	(10)
Sexuality, Love, and Power	371	(7)
Sex, Coercion, and Violence Against Women	378	(12)
Sexual Harassment	380	(4)
Rape	384	(6)
Marriage: Family, Property, and State	390	(9)
The Marriage Contract	390	(1)
Names and Places	391	(1)
Rights and Obligations	392	(1)
Property	393	(1)
The State's View of Marriage	394	(1)
Marriage, Gender, and Day-to-Day Life	395	(2)
Divorce	397	(1)
The Law on "Living in Sin"	398	(1)
Politics of Personal Life	399	(3)
12 Reproduction, Parenthood, and Child Care	402	(38)
To Be or Not to Be a Parent	404	(15)
Reproduction and Choice	404	(4)
Contraception	408	(4)
Abortion: Legal Status	412	(4)
Public Funding for Abortion	416	(1)
Abortion Politics and the Current Situation	417	(2)
Parenthood	419	(16)
Motherhood and Fatherhood	420	(2)
Mothering and Fathering	422	(3)
Single and Separated Parents	425	(4)
A Case Study of African-American Families	429	(4)
Parents Without Children	433	(2)
Beyond the Family: Who Cares for Children?	435	(5)
13 Work, Employment, and the Economics of Gender	440	(49)
Making a Living Versus Making a Home: Defining Differences	442	(10)
The Rise and Fall of Homemaking	442	(3)
The Political Economy of Homemaking	445	(7)
Making a Living Versus Making a Home: Choices	452	(11)
Women's Employment: Historical and Aggregate Views	453	(3)
Women's Employment Experiences Through Life	456	(7)
Gender Divisions of Labor in Employment	463	(14)
What Is the Difference Between Women's and Men's Work? Horizontal Segregation	463	(5)
What Is the Difference Between Women's and Men's Work? Vertical Segregation	468	(3)
Employment Discrimination	471	(3)
The Law on Discrimination	474	(3)
Income, Worth, and Poverty	477	(6)
Women's Pay	478	(3)
Other Means of Support: Social Welfare	481	(2)
Organization of Women in the Workforce	483	(2)
The Uneasy Balance	485	(4)
PART FOUR Feminism and the Global Context	489	(37)
14 Feminism and the Future	491	(35)
The Development of Feminism and Women's Movements in the United States	493	(28)
Social-Movement Theory	493	(3)
Before the Civil War	496	(5)
Fifty Years and More: From Civil War to Suffrage	501	(6)
The Quiet Time: From Suffrage to Presidential Commissions	507	(4)
Rebirth of Feminism: Emma Said It in 1910/ Now We're Going to Say It Again	511	(3)
Feminism and the Women's Movement Today	514	(4)
Oppositions	518	(3)
Global Feminisms	521	(3)
Feminism and the Future	524	(2)
References	526	(29)
Name Index	555	(4)
Subject Index	559