Paradoxes of Gender
by Judith Lorber
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In this pathbreaking book, a well-known feminist and sociologist - who is also the Founding Editor of Gender & Society - challenges our most basic assumptions about gender. Judith Lorber views gender as wholly a product of socialization subject to human agency, organization, and interpretation. In her new paradigm, gender is an institution comparable to the economy, the family, and religion in its significance and consequences. Drawing on many schools of feminist scholarship and on research show more from anthropology, history, sociology, social psychology, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies, Lorber explores different paradoxes of gender: why we speak of only two "opposite sexes" when there is such a variety of sexual behaviors and relationships; why transvestites, transsexuals, and hermaphrodites do not affect the conceptualization of two genders and two sexes in Western societies; why most of our cultural images of women are the way men see them and not the way women see themselves; why all women in modern society are expected to have children and be the primary caretaker; why domestic work is almost always the sole responsibility of wives, even when they earn more than half the family income; why there are so few women in positions of authority, when women can be found in substantial numbers in many occupations and professions; and why women have not benefitted from major social revolutions. Lorber argues that the whole point of the gender system today is to maintain structured gender inequality - to produce a subordinate class (women) that can be exploited as workers, sexual partners, childbearers, and emotional nurturers. Calling into question the inevitability and necessity of gender, she envisions a society structured for equality, where no gender, racial ethnic, or social class group is allowed to monopolize economic, educational, and cultural resources or the positions of power. show lessTags
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This was excellent. Still, it would be nice to have up-to-date figures. In general, though, while things have improved a little, the major problems still remain.
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ThingScore 75
Dieses Buch sei all denen empfohlen, die sich mit Gender-Fragen beschäftigen und auf der Suche nach einer guten und übersichtlichen Einführung sind. Judith Lorber verarbeitet in ihrem Buch eine Fülle von Titeln (die Bibliografie umfasst 81 Seiten), die sich mit Gender- und Gleichberechtigungsfragen auseinandersetzen. Ihr gelingt es, diese Flut von Informationen schlüssig und für show more jedermann/-frau verständlich aufzuschlüsseln und zusammenzufassen. Sie stützt sich dabei u.a. auf die These Simone de Beauvoirs, man werde nicht als Frau geboren, sondern dazu gemacht, oder anders formuliert: die uns bekannten Geschlechterrollen sind samt und sonders konstruiert. Lorber entlarvt die Dichotomie Natur /Kultur als künstliches Konstrukt, das dazu dient, bestehende Machtverhältnisse aufrechtzuerhalten und zu legitimieren, das aber gleichzeitig markante Paradoxien aufweist. show less
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List of Removed Books from Nimitz Library
353 works; 1 member
Author Information
12+ Works 379 Members
Judith Lorber is Professor Emerita of Sociology and Women's Studies at The Graduate School and Brooklyn College, CUNY.
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Paradoxes of Gender
- Original publication date
- 1994
Classifications
- Genres
- Sociology, Nonfiction, Sexuality and Gender Studies, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 305.3 — Society, government, & culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Social group - Age, Gender, Ethnicity People by gender or sex
- LCC
- HQ1075 .L667 — Social sciences The family. Marriage, Women and Sexuality The Family. Marriage. Women Sex role
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 109
- Popularity
- 298,510
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.60)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
