Gender-Paradoxien: Aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Hella Beister Redaktion und Einleitung zur deutschen Ausgabe: Ulrike Teubner und Angelika Wetterer (Geschlecht und Gesellschaft)

by Judith Lorber (Contributor)

In this innovative book, a well-known feminist and sociologist (only use for adv. in G& [-who is also the founding editor of Gender & Society-] challenges our most basic assumptions about gender. Judith Lorber argues that gender is wholly a product of socialization, subject to human agency, organization, and interpretation, and that it is a social institution comparable to the economy, the family, and religion in its significance and consequences. 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 positions of power.

Genres: Sociology, Gender, Feminism, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Gender Studies, Grad School

494 pages, Hardcover

First published April 27, 1994

About the author

Judith Lorber is Professor Emerita of Sociology and Women’s Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. She is a foundational theorist of social construction of gender difference.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest knock against this book is a feature I've noticed with a lot of books written by sociologists: hardly a sentence gets by without a footnote or a bibliographic reference. In fact you can read page after page and not find a sentence that is Lorber's own: if it's not a direct quote, it is a paraphrase. The endnotes, bibliography, index make up more than 25% of the book—122 pages! Scrupulously researched, and a compendium of facts and viewpoints on gender. It's a great sourcebook for tracking down other writing that had something interesting to say about gender. The other thing I noticed is that the book seems dated. Many of Lorber's points are no longer controversial, have become commonplaces. Perhaps it took her so long to assemble the sources that the argument lost the timeliness it had when she began the project? Or perhaps I'm just in the choir she is preaching too. I doubt that those that might be influenced by a book such as this would even read it, and if they did they certainly would be turned off by the cobbled together prose of others. Even her beginning and concluding chapters are laced with quotes and bibliographic attributions. Where was her editor? Still, as a compendium of the arguments that gender is a social construction that is shot through our society in ways not always obvious, this is a comprehensive and indispensable book.

[The Angry Ambisextress · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Night to His Day"

[Lauren Bugg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulously insightful.

[Savana Capp · Rating 4 out of 5]

“gender is at present a system of power and dominance mostly favoring men.” such a good book to breakdown, understand and reframe our ideas about (the social construction of) gender.

[slumpeer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t like this one as much, but still intriguing

[Randi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's very thorough and can be a bit redundant but it's a good intro into gender studies or a refresher for those already aware.