Gender

by Raewyn W. Connell

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And what is the impact of globalization on gender issues? Raewyn Connell, one of the world's leading scholars in the field, answers these questions and more. In this book she provides a readable introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all parts of the world in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multi-dimensional character of gender relations, Connell shows how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.

The second edition of this influential and accessible book brings the review of research up to date and includes new discussions of gender theory in the global periphery, the legacy of colonialism, the intersection of structures, the impact of deconstructionist theory and politics, and understanding transsexual and transgender lives.

Gender is engaged scholarship that moves from personal experience to global problems and offers a unique perspective on gender issues today.

Visit www.raewynconnell.net

Genres: Sociology, Feminism, Gender, Nonfiction, Academic, Gender Studies, Philosophy

200 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2002

About the author

Raewyn Connell (also known as R.W. Connell and Robert W. Connell) is an Australian sociologist. She gained prominence as an intellectual of the Australian New Left. She is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney and known for the concept of hegemonic masculinity and southern theory.

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

usato per rastrellare info utili alla mia tesi. è perfetto per l'anno in cui è uscito, ma se dovessi informarmi a 360° sicuramente cercherei qualcosa di più recente

[Μαρία Γεωργιάδου · Rating 4 out of 5]

Η επιμέλεια απλώς απαράδεκτη -ή και ανύπαρκτη-.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro da studiare, non da leggere. Mi ha risolto molti dubbi che avevo riguardo al concetto di genere, è quasi (se non proprio) accademico ma comunque si legge velocemente e con facilità.

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just way too basic and jumped all over the place without much direction.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

One good thing about being on strike: I can catch up with background reading that definitely isn't work at all no shhhh

[Sefa Yılmaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Connell's account of gender is most productive when it presents identities as social practices embedded in institutions rather than private traits carried by isolated individuals. Relations among masculinities and femininities involve labor, authority, embodiment, and changing historical expectations. This approach makes it difficult to speak of gender inequality as merely the consequence of individual prejudice. Institutions continually reward some performances and penalize others, often while describing those arrangements as ordinary common sense. For a concise introduction, the difficulty is balancing conceptual clarity with the complexity of lived experience. Some issues necessarily receive less attention than they deserve, and the global variability of gender systems resists a compact synthesis. Still, the framework encourages a more precise criticism: the question is not only how stereotypes are represented but how they are materially reproduced. I value that combination of accessible explanation and insistence on historical change. Connell's relational understanding also prevents the assumption that the social disadvantages of some men cancel the existence of male privilege in other contexts. Status operates through multiple axes, and people can simultaneously experience vulnerability and exercise authority. That complexity makes the book more valuable than accounts that treat gender as an isolated matter of personal identity.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is before Raewyn Connell was Raewyn. I'm not trying to deadname just grapple with complex identities and the author of this book speaks self-consciously as a man in parts of it. This seemed to me to be more of a history of gender than anything else, it's really useful and interesting albeit some bits seem kind of naive in retrospect (but it is almost 20 years old now).

I think people need to read this book or something like this, there is more awareness of the fluidity and multiplicity of gender these days but it seems to me the historical view puts it into perspective as socially constructed (not essential) which both explains why more people are non-binary and trans these days but also takes away the capacity to view this as a crisis.

The stuff about Connell's partner was the most interesting or maybe just how tenderly it was written and with what respect seemed engaging. It's an easy read, not pitched at showing off academic cleverness but more at actually showing and explaining the field of gender studies to anyone who is interested without over-simplifying. Still relevant.

[Ludovica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buon libro per costruirsi una cultura di base non solo sui movimenti femministi e la loro storia, ma anche sulle questioni di genere in generale, come dice il titolo stesso.
Ho apprezzato la prospettiva non occidentalocentrica, ma abile di porre sullo stesso piano episodi, fatti e visioni da tutte le parti del mondo, con un'attenzione particolare alla letteratura post-colonialista in materia.
Connell tocca molti argomenti, forse troppi per entrare nel dettaglio e approfondire adeguatamente. Rimane comunque un'ottima mappa per orientarsi sul tema.

[Stefania Erbetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho letto questo libro per cercare informazioni per la mia tesi. L’ho trovato interessante: fa molti esempi e riporta molti case studies, quindi è facilmente leggibile 😊
È del 2011, quindi un po’ vecchiotto su certi dati, ma come base lo consiglio!

[Lux · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Mariandre · Rating 5 out of 5]

è davvero un bel saggio, ma un po' tecnico. Non lo consiglio a una persona che si approccia per la prima volta al tema, da' per scontata la conoscenza di alcuni termini. Detto questo, bello <3

[Rossella Mastropaolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dovrebbero farlo studiare a scuola

[Franzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Einführung mit Verweis auf viele spannende Texte. Leider sind mir in der deutschen Version immer wieder Rechtschreibfehler aufgefallen.

[Joseph Sverker]

This is a very well written and more importantly, well researched introduction to feminism. Or maybe what it does is to outline the history and view points of feminists. I think it is a book for everyone to read. It is not terribly scholarly, even though it certainly isn't weak in its argumentation. One example is how he shows the problematic situation between neo-liberalism and women's right in society. Connell argues that "the market" will not be able to deleneate the inequality between men and women since "the market" so clearly is a masculine structure "built" by men. It is slightly annoying that Connell wants to "evaluate" more or less every book he introduces with termsn like so and so's enlighteneing book or so and so's clearsighted dissertation. I suppose it is a rather anglo-saxon thing to do though. Anyway, in the end the subject of eguality between men and women is far to important an issue for people to ignore and this book shows why in a way that I find difficult tosee how anyone could object to being called a feminist.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i find this book pretty dry - the writing doesn't compel me - but it's one of the more complicated approaches to understanding gender that i've read, and could be useful for an undergraduate class - introducing all the complexity of gender from the get-go as opposed to, for example, starting off with second-wave binaries and having to complicate them continually as you go.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opening two chapters were some of the most comprehensive, yet clear writing about gender that I have come across. Makes sense, seeing as how Connell is one of the foundational pioneers of the men and masculinity studies field. His review provides convincing evidence for the constructed/socialized nature of gender.

[Vera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a good intro book! If you have read a lot on gender and feminist theory before, this book will probably bore you. However, it could be very, very useful for students who just stepped into the terrain of gender studies.

[Nojood Alsudairi · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is the gender of the writer?

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for school. Exactly what I needed and well presented.

[Karmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and well readable book with a broad global overview on the topic of gender

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently reading this book and love it!

[Ben O'mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Students, I will be requiring this as introductory reading for all of you.