When Sex Became Gender is a study of post-World War II feminist theory from the viewpoint of intellectual history. The key theme is that ideas about the social construction of gender have its origins in the feminist theorists of the postwar period, and that these early ideas about gender became a key foundational paradigm for both second and third wave feminist thought. These conceptual foundations were created by a cohort of extraordinarily imaginative and bold academic women. While discussing the famous feminist scholars—Simone de Beauvoir, Margaret Mead—the book also hinges on the work of scholars who are lesser known to American audiences—Mirra Komarovsky, Viola Klein, and Ruth Herschberger, The postwar years have been an overlooked period in the development of feminist theory and philosophy and Tarrant makes a compelling case for this era being the turning point in the study of gender.
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"[Tarrant's] daunting and inspiring project...fills a void in feminist history and feminist scholarship; Tarrant has successfully located the feminist roots of Gender Theory’s and Second Wave feminism’s understanding of gender as socially constructed in a period believed to be entirely bereft of feminist thought." -- Catherine R. Mintler, Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 9 #3 May 2008
About the Author
Shira Tarrant, PhD is Associate Professor with the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at California State University, Long Beach. Her books include Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex and Power (Routledge), When Sex Became Gender (Routledge), Men and Feminism (Seal Press), and Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of Style (SUNY Press).
Shira Tarrant, PhD is a nationally recognized expert on sexual politics. Her books include Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex and Power (Routledge), When Sex Became Gender (Routledge), Men and Feminism (Seal Press), and Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of Style (SUNY Press).
Shira Tarrant's writing also appears with AlterNet, Jezebel, the Ms. Magazine Blog, Bitch, BUST Magazine, Huffington Post, and other publications. She is currently working on New Views on Pornography (Praeger).
Dr. Tarrant received her PhD in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is an associate professor with the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at California State University, Long Beach. Read more at http://shiratarrant.com.
Overall, a really interesting read on an often ignored subject -- the time period between the designated "first" and "second" waves. Her research on the lives and historical works of these feminist figures shows excellent academic research, yet the language of the book also proves accessible to a broad audience. Her meticulous attention to the details of these five women's activist biographies and works shows that some of the same political issues which continue to influence twenty-first century feminists -- including motherhood, the social constructions of sex roles and gender, education, and historical reasons for women's oppression-- were just as prominent in the minds of earlier female scholars.
