Gender (Key Concepts) [Paperback]

R. W. Connell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0745627161 | ISBN-13: 978-0745627168 | Publication Date: April 15, 2002 | Edition: 1

How can we understand the gender patterns of modern society? Are gender identities unstable? How do masculinities and femininities develop? Do gender patterns change under globalization? In this book R. W. Connell, one of the world's leading scholars in the field, answers these questions, and more. He provides a readable introduction to modern gender studies, gender theories, and gender politics. He presents contemporary classics of research, traces the history of Western intellectuals' ideas, and discusses current findings on gender differences, inequalities and patterns in the state and corporations.


However, the book is more than an introduction. It provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender studies, based on a synthesis of structural and post-structural analysis. Connell demonstrates the multidimensional and dynamic character of gender relations. He shows how to link individual life with large-scale social patterns, and how to locate gendered bodies in the historical process that constantly transforms gender relations. He also shows, in a deeply personal way, how gender politics arises in personal life and why we need to address injustice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In his earlier works ... Connell showed himself to be more in tune with the feminist concerns of gendered power relations than many in the field ... His new research aims to consolidate and expand the research vision for masculinity theory ... (an) important book."

-- Feminist Theory

"An impressive attempt at introducing readers to the question of gender from a broad interdisciplinary and international scope ... An engaging text covering a vast amount of scholarship that is at once intellectually challenging and personal. It is timely, meticulously documented and succinct. As an instructor I know the power of a brief introduction ... I am eager to use this text."

-- Contemporary Sociology

"[Gender] is an exemplary work for its interdisciplinarity, and for the creative ways in which Connell theorises and applies gendered categories to a complex range of cultural practices. ....Connell's rigorous examination of gender takes us through an enriching and enlightening intellectual journey."

-- Overland

"Bob Connell has established himself as a leading theorist and analyst of gender. In Gender, he draws on a breathtakingly wide range of scholarship to offer a comprehensive and accessible sociological introduction to the study of gender in a multicultural, global world. A stunning, thought-provoking, wonderfully engaging volume to learn from and argue with."

-- Steven Seidman, State University of New York at Albany

"Once again Bob Connell brings wonderful clarity and insight to the field of gender. His theoretical scope and the range of his knowledge are impressive. A terrific book!"

-- Barrie Thorne, University of California at Berkeley

"Connell manages to convey some key trajectories in the sociological analysis of gender succintly, yet without oversimplifying the sociological approach. I particularly welcome the way Connell resists all forms of sociological shorthand, found in too many introductory texts, such as implying that there is a straightforward distinction betwen 'sex' and 'gender', and that sociologists are simply intersted in the cultural icing on the anotomical cake, the recipe for which remains taken-for-granted and unproblematised. So the way in which Connell incorporates his own sophisticated analyses of the body into a sociological text on gender is excellent. In addition, Connell provides accessible summaries of other aspects of his work, which look at the different levels of the social and how these are gendered.

I shall certainly be using the book on my Body and Society course, as I deal with both Connell's work and with the topic of gendered embodiment. "

-- Anne Witz, University of Leicester

Review

"In his earlier works ... Connell showed himself to be more in tune with the feminist concerns of gendered power relations than many in the field ... His new research aims to consolidate and expand the research vision for masculinity theory ... (an) important book."

-- Feminist Theory

"An impressive attempt at introducing readers to the question of gender from a broad interdisciplinary and international scope ... An engaging text covering a vast amount of scholarship that is at once intellectually challenging and personal. It is timely, meticulously documented and succinct. As an instructor I know the power of a brief introduction ... I am eager to use this text."

-- Contemporary Sociology

"[Gender] is an exemplary work for its interdisciplinarity, and for the creative ways in which Connell theorises and applies gendered categories to a complex range of cultural practices. ....Connell's rigorous examination of gender takes us through an enriching and enlightening intellectual journey."

-- Overland

"Bob Connell has established himself as a leading theorist and analyst of gender. In Gender, he draws on a breathtakingly wide range of scholarship to offer a comprehensive and accessible sociological introduction to the study of gender in a multicultural, global world. A stunning, thought-provoking, wonderfully engaging volume to learn from and argue with."

-- Steven Seidman, State University of New York at Albany

"Once again Bob Connell brings wonderful clarity and insight to the field of gender. His theoretical scope and the range of his knowledge are impressive. A terrific book!"

-- Barrie Thorne, University of California at Berkeley

"Connell manages to convey some key trajectories in the sociological analysis of gender succintly, yet without oversimplifying the sociological approach. I particularly welcome the way Connell resists all forms of sociological shorthand, found in too many introductory texts, such as implying that there is a straightforward distinction betwen 'sex' and 'gender', and that sociologists are simply intersted in the cultural icing on the anotomical cake, the recipe for which remains taken-for-granted and unproblematised. So the way in which Connell incorporates his own sophisticated analyses of the body into a sociological text on gender is excellent. In addition, Connell provides accessible summaries of other aspects of his work, which look at the different levels of the social and how these are gendered.

I shall certainly be using the book on my Body and Society course, as I deal with both Connell's work and with the topic of gendered embodiment. "

-- Anne Witz, University of Leicester --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Polity; 1 edition (April 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745627161
• ISBN-13: 978-0745627168
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #745,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars challenge your assumptions about gender, November 6, 2006

By 

T. Sargent (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gender (Key Concepts) (Paperback)

This book provides an excellent review of the different ways that gender relations are thought about in society. Connell also takes a global approach, looking at gender in different contexts around the world reviewing work conducted by scholars looking at the construction of gender relations occurring in contexts from schools in the U.S. to the construction of manhood in mines in South Africa. Whether or not you agree entirely with his perspectives and his absolute refutation of biological and psychological determinants of gender difference the book is an important one for developing a more sophisticated understanding of the construction of gender performance and gender relations in different social and historical contexts.

In the book, Connell reveals the "gender arrangements" or gender order of contemporary society:
* Men are the world leaders, killers, policemen, military, private security.
* Women are the housekeepers, child care givers, they are low paid and work as repairers of the consequences of violence, nurses, psychologists and social workers.

Connell challenges us to overturn our assumptions that gender distinction is `natural', unchanging and fixed. Connell presents arguments for the ways in which gender differences are socially constructed. Performances of masculinity and femininity are displayed and disseminated and these ideas work to construct and perpetuate ideas about gender difference. Connell also refutes the notion of gender dichotomy pointing to the prevalence of gender ambiguity in society: masculine women, feminine men, homosexuality, women who are heads of households, men who bring up children, women soldiers, male nurses. He argues that sustaining the gender categories also sustains the inequalities e.g. income inequalities; wealth and power in hands of men; higher rates of illiteracy among women; unequal respect (cheerleaders vs. football players, pornography, marketing of women's bodies, women seen as source of defilement and contamination in various religious traditions.) Men also suffer--subject to derision if not manly enough, higher death rates, sporting injuries, alcohol abuse.

In chapter 3 Connell presents three different views of gender:
1. Body as a machine--biology produces social differences (men are stronger and faster, have more powerful sexual urges, love sport, are aggressive, are rational--women are good at fiddly work, they gossip, they are more nurturing, they have more intuition etc.) Connell believes there is no scientific evidence for this theory! Even testosterone and estrogen are present in both males and females, fluctuating levels as we pass through the life cycle.
2. Two separate realms of sex and gender: sex=biological facts; gender=social fact. We can choose our sex role expectations, behavior and socialization. Problems: why is one side more valued than the other, does not capture the importance of bodies in sexual relations and in issues such as sexual violence against women.
3. Body as a canvas: Gender as a symbolic system (bodies as a canvas on which society paints e.g. the shifting definitions of female beauty, and gendered approaches to disciplining the body--gyms in LA).

Connell proposes his own theory of social embodiment: "Bodies have agency AND are socially constructed." Bodies are subjected to so many different circumstances and conditions around the world and "yet the tremendous multiplicity of bodies is in no sense a random assortment. The bodies are interconnected through social practices, the things people do in daily life." The practices in which bodies are involved form social structures and personal trajectories which in turn provide the conditions of new practices in which bodies are addressed and involved. The social world is never simply reproduced, it is reconstituted by practice. Gender as a structure of relations is constituted in this historical process, and accordingly can never be fixed, nor exactly reproduced. The strategic question is not "can gender change?" but "in what direction is gender changing." (p. 51)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New ideas, May 15, 2004

By 

Carlie (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gender (Key Concepts) (Paperback)

Connell brought up some interesting ways of thinking about gender. Connell talks of gender how it is in a complex world. The book got better and more interesting as I got into it. The chapters are:
1. The Question of Gender
2. Schools, Mines, Sex and War
3. Differences and Bodies
4. Gender Relations
5. Gender in Personal Life
6. Gender on the Large Scale
7. Gender and the Intellectuals
8. Gender Politics.

This book is a must for anyone studing gender subjects at uni, as well as anyone who is interested in gender. I thought his way of thinking was very much taking into account how complex people's lives are as well as how complex society is.

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, July 8, 2010

By 

chitown - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gender (Key Concepts) (Paperback)

this is one of the best written books I have ever read. as someone who had no studies in sociology, especially gender, this was a great, challenging, and ingenious introduction. i really enjoyed it.

as one of the other raters said, it doesn't quite address the causes, but I don't think it was intended to, i think it was geared more towards the operations of gender