Description
Provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how gender is created, reinforced, and challenged across multiple levels of social life
Now in its third edition, The Sociology of Gender provides a clear and thorough introduction to the sociological study of gender, offering an essential foundation for navigating an increasingly complex field. Drawing on the latest developments in gender scholarship, Amy S. Wharton incorporates new research on transgender and non-binary identities, LGBTQ experiences, and racial-ethnic diversity. This textbook's tripartite framework—focusing on individual, interactional, and institutional approaches—encourages students to engage critically with diverse perspectives while identifying key points of overlap, divergence, and debate.
Grounded in intersectional analysis, The Sociology of Gender examines how power, privilege, and inequality shape gendered experiences across work, family, education, and broader societal institutions. Wharton challenges students to question taken-for-granted assumptions, emphasizing that what appears “natural” or “obvious” is often the product of specific social processes. Chapters address topics ranging from gender socialization and workplace segregation to sports, caregiving, and public policy, supported by comparative and cross-national perspectives that enhance the discussion. The text also highlights the influence of feminist thought on sociological theory to demonstrate how critical scholarship can reshape our understanding of core concepts.
Equipping students to both grasp key concepts and to apply them in analyzing real-world issues, The Sociology of Gender:
- Challenges bioessentialist and binary views of gender, offering alternative sociological perspectives
- Explores how socialization, interaction, and institutional practices create and maintain gender distinctions and inequalities.
- Includes critical discussion questions and clear conceptual explanations to support student learning
- Balances theoretical diversity with clarity, making complex scholarship accessible to students
- Draws on global research to expand understanding beyond U.S.-centered perspectives.
The Sociology of Gender, Third Edition, is ideal for undergraduate students at the introductory or intermediate level in courses such as Sociology of Gender, Diversity, Social Problems, and related social science electives. It fits seamlessly into sociology degree programs and majors focusing on gender studies, diversity studies, and social inequality.
Table of Contents
List of Tables xi
About the Companion Website xii
1 Introduction to the Sociology of Gender 1
Sociological Vantage Points 2
Gender, Sex, and the Gender Binary 4
Beyond the binary 5
Expanding the concepts of sex and gender 6
Beliefs About Gender/Sex Differences: Biological Essentialism, Bionormalcy, and Gender Binary 7
Battlegrounds: Bathrooms and bionormalcy 8
Feminism, Intersectionality, and the Building Blocks of Sociological Knowledge About Gender 11
Four waves of the feminist movement 14
Three Frameworks for Understanding Gender 18
Gender Matters 20
Gender inequality: Who’s to blame? 21
Chapter Summary 22
Part I: Conceptual Approaches 23
2 The Gendered Person 25
The Significance of Gender/Sex Differences 26
The size and consistency of a gender/sex difference: Two research examples 28
Biological, Genetic, and Evolutionary Influences on Gender/Sex Differences 29
Biology, hormones, and gender: Challenging the gender binary 30
Making Sense of Gender/Sex Differences: Cognitive Abilities 31
“Girls don’t do math” 32
Spatial- visual skills 34
Reading, writing, and verbal fluency 35
Do gender/sex differences matter? 36
Sociocultural Influences on Gender/Sex Differences and the Gender Binary 37
Becoming gendered 38
Intersectionality and identity 40
Gender Socialization 42
Theories of gender socialization 42
Social learning theory 43
Gender schema theory 45
Summing up: Sociocultural explanations of gender differences 47
Chapter Summary 47
3 Gender in Interaction and Institutions 50
Interactionist Views of Gender 51
Gender frames: The importance of expectations 52
Status characteristics theory 53
Intersectionality and gender frames 55
Racial biases in sex categorization 56
Intersections of gender and sexual orientation 57
Opposites attract, or don’t they? Homophily and gender 58
Homophily in friendship networks 59
Consequences of being similar or different 61
The power of proportions 62
Male tokens, intersectionality, and the glass escalator 65
Summary of interactionist views 69
Gendered Organizations/Gendered Institutions 69
Gendered institutions 70
Gendered Institutions in Everyday Life: The Case of Sports 71
Men doing gender in a hyperfeminized sport 74
Gays, lesbians, transgender, and nonbinary athletes in sports 75
The experiences of transgender and nonbinary athletes 76
“Unstoppable!,” “monster jam!,” “boom!”: Gender and sports media 78
Sport as a gendered institution: Summing up 79
Toward a Multilayered Conception of Gender 81
Chapter Summary 81
Part II: Gender in Context 83
4 Work and Family as Gendered Institutions 85
The Division of Labor 86
Work, Family, and Gender in the Industrial Age 88
Work and family transformed 89
Industrialization and the ideal worker 91
A Half Century of Gender Change: Work, Education, and Gender Egalitarian Beliefs 93
Gender, work, and parenthood 98
The rise of gender egalitarian beliefs 98
An intersectional look at people’s views of racial and gender inequality 101
Changes in Gender, Families, and Caregiving 103
Changes in marriage and family life 105
Sexual- and gender- minority families 106
Changes in childbearing and caregiving 107
Gender, work, and family 108
The motherhood wage penalty 110
Employers’ views of mothers as prospective employees 113
The Roles of Social Policy and the State 115
A cross- national look at gender, work, and family 116
The United States as a work–family policy outlier 117
The lessons of comparative research 118
Gender, Work, and Family: Looking Ahead 120
Tracing change in gender, work, and family through lives of college- educated women 120
The unevenness of change and the persistence of gender 123
The persistence of gender 124
Chapter Summary 124
5 Gender, Childhood, and Family Life 126
Parents’ Preferences for Children’s Gender 127
“Is it a Boy or a Girl?”: Gender Construction in Families 128
Do parents treat girls and boys differently? 130
Mothers and fathers 131
Intersectionality, Parenthood, and Gender Socialization 133
The experiences of black parents 133
Socialization in lesbian and gay families 135
Lesbian and gay parents doing gender 137
Transgender parents and parenting transgender children 138
Parenting transgender children 140
Intentional LGBTQ families 142
Turning the Focus to Children: Learning Gender 143
Childhood and the Importance of Same- Gender Peers 147
Crossing gender boundaries 149
Are these differences universal? 150
Gender socialization in childhood reconsidered 152
The Household Division of Labor and the Family 153
Time spent on housework and childcare 153
Gender differences in time use cross- nationally 155
The household division of labor: Caring and repairing 156
Explaining the Effects of Gender on Women’s and Men’s Involvement in Household Work and Childcare 159
The household division of labor among lesbian, gay, transgender, and nonbinary couples and parents 161
Transgender and nonbinary families and couples 163
The meanings of housework: An interactionist perspective on the household division of labor 164
Cross- national perspectives on variation and change in the household division of labor 165
Chapter Summary 167
6 Gendered Jobs and Gendered Workers 169
Gender Segregation and the Division of Labor in Paid Work 170
Types and amounts of gender segregation 172
Measuring gender segregation 172
Change and stability in gender segregation over time 173
Intersectionality and gender segregation 176
Explaining Gender Segregation 179
Socialization and the choices of gendered workers: The individual- level view 179
The Opportunity Structure: Interactionist and Institutional Perspectives 183
Employers and the gendered opportunity structure 183
Statistical discrimination 183
Social networks, job search, and the importance of social capital 185
Academic success, high- achieving women, and gender bias in hiring 186
Discrimination by algorithm 191
Internal labor markets 192
Gendered Institutions: Hierarchies and Informal Work Relations 193
The glass ceiling and the glass cliff 194
The “concrete wall” and intersectional invisibility 199
Being an outsider 200
Gender Typing of Jobs, Hierarchies, and the Informal Relations of Work 202
Gender and emotional Labor 203
Informal hierarchies in the workplace 206
Sexual harassment, #MeToo, and male dominance 207
Threats to masculinity and men’s resistance to women in male- dominated jobs 209
The Wages of Gender 211
The gender pay gap: An overview 211
Transgender earnings gaps 219
The Devaluation of Predominantly Female Jobs 220
Determining the worth of jobs 221
An example: Links between gender segregation and the gender pay gap in medicine 223
Chapter Summary 224
Part III: Epilogue 227
7 Deconstructing Gender Differences and Inequalities 229
Gender Distinctions and Gender Inequalities 231
The Reproduction of Gender Inequality 233
Institutionalizing gender inequality 233
Challenging Gender Inequality: What Has Changed and What Hasn’t? 238
Making Gender Matter Less 241
Chapter Summary 242
References 244
Index 282
