The Sociology of Gender: A Brief Introduction

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, passionate, and compelling
Review: In this book aimed mainly at undergraduates, Laura Kramer writes with compassion & understanding about the sociology of gender. Although she favors a multiracial feminist perspective, she sympathetically reviews other leading perspectives on gender, including radical, socialist, postmodernist, and liberal feminism. For each issue she addresses, she shows how other perspectives shed light on a different piece of the puzzle.

A great strength of the book is Kramer's historical perspective on gender issues. She notes that we are now in the "third wave" of feminist activism, and she shows how definitions of "problems" and "solutions" have changed over the past 100 years. "Femininity" and "masculinity" are not fixed categories but rather have evolved as American culture and social structure have changed. Underlying much of her analysis is the assumption that economic forces, especially changing employment opportunities, account for a great deal of the change in gender ideology and politics.

Students will find the 5 page glossary of key terms and the 16 page references section invaluable for further research. Each chapter ends with 3 discussion questions. Non-students will learn much from Kramer's lucid explanations and detailed examples. She cares deeply about the issues in this book, and it shows.