Gender

Harriet Bradley is emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Bristol.

‘This new edition of Gender provides a highly accessible overview of the changing understanding of this powerful social construct. Using a narrative story-telling approach, Harriet Bradley shifts seamlessly between analyses of how gender shapes everyday life and discussions of how it is deployed in various institutions. By weaving together her own experience of gendered processes with the structural practices of consumption, production, and reproduction in local and international contexts, Bradley gives new meaning to “the personal is political”.’Nancy Naples, University of Connecticut‘Harriet Bradley has succeeded in producing a unique and extremely engaging introduction to the complex concept of “gender” which will invigorate scholars at all levels. Dispelling any notion that either feminist theory or gender analysis are passé, she deftly interweaves theoretical exegesis, analysis of contemporary social and political issues, and vignettes which illustrate gender as a lived experience.’Barbara L. Marshall, Trent University, Canada‘The first edition of Gender has become an indispensable guide to sociological debates in the field. This revised edition is even better. Harriet Bradley turns her clear analytical gaze on the changing nature of gender relations in an era of austerity, seeing both optimistic and pessimistic trends in the emergence of a new politics of gender.’Linda McDowell, University of Oxford

• Preface to Second Edition viiIntroduction: The Concept of Gender 1IN AND OUT OF THE FRAME: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF GENDER 91. What's in a Name? Meanings and Usages of Gender 15GENDERING AND CLASS: GROWING UP GIRL, GROWING UP BOY 292. Gender and Modernity 37'WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?' BEING A MAN IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 543. Gender and Postmodernity 64'SISTERS UNDER THEIR SKINS'? IDENTITIES IN A GLOBAL AGE 874. Gendered Worlds: Production 98HAVING IT ALL: FAMILY AND EMPLOYMENT IN WOMEN'S LIVES 1185. Gendered Worlds: Reproduction 129MEN, MARRIAGE AND EMOTIONS: ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN THE SEXES 1506. Gendered Worlds: Consumption 159IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY: GENDERED UTOPIAS 183Conclusion: What the Future Holds – Gender, Theory and Politics 195Questions for Discussion 221Glossary 223References 227Index 242