Books like Paradoxes of gender by Judith Lorber

Judith Lorber, a leading feminist sociologist and founding editor of Gender & Society, argues that gender is not innate but a socially constructed institution comparable to the economy, family, and religion. Drawing on feminist scholarship, anthropology, history, sociology, social psychology, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies, she explores a range of paradoxes: the persistence of a binary gender framework despite diverse sexual behaviors; the limited impact of transvestites, transsexuals, and hermaphrodites on the cultural notion of two genders; the male-centered depiction of women in cultural imagery; the expectation that all women bear children and primary caregiving responsibilities; the disproportionate domestic labor placed on wives even when they earn a sizable share of household income; the underrepresentation of women in positions of authority despite their presence in many occupations; and the failure of women to fully benefit from major social revolutions.

First publish date: 1994