KATHRYN BACKETT-MILBURN is Senior Research Fellow at the Research Unit in Health and Behavioural Change, at the University of Edinburgh. She is a medical sociologist, specialising in qualitative research, who has also worked in health promotion. She has published widely on health and parenting issues in families. - LINDA MCKIE is Research Professor in Sociology at Glasgow Caledonian University. Recent publications include Gender Power and Household.

"...a useful introduction to contemporary sociological examinations of gender and sexuality..." --Gender and Society

• Preface and Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors Introduction PART I: SEX, GENDER AND PERFORMING BODIES Putting the Body's Feet in the Ground: Towards a Sociological Reconceptualization of Gendered and Sexual Embodiment; S.Jackson & S.Scott Flight Attendants and the Management of Gendered 'Organizational Bodies'; M.Tyler & P.Hancock Sex, Talk and Making Bodies in the Science Lab; T.Delph-Janiurek Paradoxical Stories of Prostitution; J.Phoenix PART II: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDERED BODIES: SIGNS AND SYMBOLS The Working Body as a Sign: Historical Snapshots; C.Wolkowitz Walking on the Beaches Looking at the...Bodies; P.Black The Fabric of Love: A Semiotic Analysis of the Suspender Belt; D.Wilson-Kovacs PART III: THE MORAL AND MEDICAL REGULATION OF SEX, SEXUALITIES AND GENDER From 'Peter Andre's Six Pack' to 'I Do Knees', the Body in Young People's Moral Discourse; R.Thomson, S.McGrellis, J.Holland, S.Henderson & S.Sharpe The Intersexual Body and the Medical Regulation of Gender; M.Hird & J.Germon Telling Body Transgendering Stories; R.Ekin & D.King Double Damnation: Gay Disabled Men and the Negotiations of Masculinity; T.O'Neill & M.Hird A Break from the Norm: Exploring the Experiences of Queer Crips; R.Butler Bibliography Index