Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology

by Estelle Disch (Editor)

This United States-focused anthology on gender focuses on women and men and the multiple identities that comprise the lives of individuals across gender. Drawing from a wide range of sources including research articles, essays, and personal narratives, Disch has chosen accessible, engaging, and provocative readings that represent a plurality of perspectives and experiences. Eleven part introductions briefly identify important issues in the general eld of study, describe the readings, identify the central themes emerging throughout the book, and raise questions for students to consider.



Part It's not just about Gender
1. The Puerto Rican Dummy and the Merciful Son, Marti;n Espada
2. From Nothing, A Consciousness, Helen Zia
3. The Past is Ever Recognizing the New Racism, Patricia Hill Collins
4. Angry Women Are Issues and Struggles Facing American Indian Women Today, Paula Gunn Allen
5. “J.A.P.”- The Politics of Scapegoating, Ruth Atkin and Adrienne Rich
6. White Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh
7. Controlled or Identity and the Experience of the Network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws, Farida Shaheed
8. Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism, Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill
9. Patriarchy, Allan Johnson
10. Reflections on Global Governance and Transnational Feminist Movements in an Era of Infinite War, Rosalind Petchesky

Part Gender Socialization
11. The Social Construction of Gender, Judith Lorber
12. Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities, Michael A. Messner
13. Who's the Fairest of Them All?, Jill Nelson
14. The Myth of the Latin I Just Met a Girl Named Mari;a, Judith Ortiz Cofer
15. He Defies You The Memoirs of a Sissy, Tommi Avicolli
16. Growing Up Hidden, Linnea Due

Part Embodiment
17. Beauty Is the Psychological Effects of the Pursuit of the Perfect Female Body, Elayne A. Saltzberg and Joan C. Chrisler
18. Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, Leslie Marmon Silko
19. “A Way Outa No Way”: Eating Problems among African-American, Latina, and White Women, Becky W. Thompson
20. Just Walk on A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space, Brent Staples
21. Taking It, Leonard Kriegel
22. Do You Remember Me?, Barbara Macdonald
23. I’m Not Fat, I’m Latina, Christy Haubegger
24. The Tyranny of the Surgery’s Most Intimate Violation, Martha A. Coventry

Part Communication
25. For the White Person Who Wants to Know How to Be My Friend, Pat Parker
26. You Just Don’t Women and Men in Conversation, Deborah Tannen
27. Real Men Don’t Cry . . . and Other “Uncool” Myths, Phil W. Petrie
28. The New Momism, Susan J. Douglas and Meredith W. Michaels
29. Claiming Black Female Subjectivity and Sexual Expressions in Hip-Hop, Ayana Byrd
30. Virtual Organizing, Global Activism, Shireen Lee
31. Where are the women? The strange case of the missing feminists. When was the last time you saw one on TV?, Laura Zimmerman

Part Sexuality
32. How Men Have (a) Sex, Jon Stoltenberg
33. The Myth of the Sexual Athlete, Don Sabo
34. Reproductive A Disability Rights Issue, Marsha Saxton
35. The Impact of Multiple Marginalization, Paula C. Rust
36. Uses of the The Erotic as Power, Audre Lorde

Part Families
37. The Transformation of Family Life, Lillian B. Rubin
38. Bloodmothers, Othermothers, and Women-Centered Networks, Patricia Hill Collins
39. Dilemmas of Involved Fatherhood, Kathleen Gerson
40. Man A Black Lesbian Feminist’s Response, Audre Lorde
41. I Am a Man, Raul E. Ybarra
42. What is marriage for?, E.J. Graff

Part Education
43. Missing in Interaction, Myra and David Sadker
44. "What About the Boys?" What the Current Debates Tell Us--and Don't Tell Us--About Boys in Schools, Michael S. Kimmel
45. Conflict within the Ivory Tower, Ruth Sidel
46. Black and Reflections on Graduate School, bell hooks

Part Paid Work and Unemployment
47. The "Success" of Welfare Reform, Sharon Hays
48. Sixty Cents to a Man’s Dollar, Ann Crittenden
49. Why Are There No Male Asian Anchormen on TV?, Ben Fong-Torres
50. The Effects of Affirmative Action on Other Stakeholders, Barbara Reskin
51. "Global Woman" by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild
52. America's Dirty Migrant Maids and Modern-Day Slavery, Joy M. Zarembka
53. The Globetrotting Sneaker, Cynthia Enloe

Part Violence
54. Women, Violence, and Resistance, Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
55. The Ultimate Growth Trafficking in Women and Girls, Jan Goodwin
56. Where Race and Gender Racism, Hate Crimes, and Pornography, Helen Zia
57. Homophobia in Straight Men, Terry A. Kupers
58. Stopping Sexual A Challenge for Community Education, Robert L. Allen
59. How Safe Is America?, Desiree Taylor
60. Wielding Masculinity inside Abu Ghraib...

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Gender, Sociology, Textbooks, Psychology, Anthologies

688 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 1996

Reviews

[Buzzkill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This had a great collection of stories and essays. It really broke down all facets of gender. The cultural and social impacts on gender identity and expression, body image, health and sexuality, home school and work life, violence. Everything is brought to this book. Highly recommend as a gender studies book.

[Shannon Wyss · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent anthology of essays about gender. Unlike so many similar anthologies, though, Disch has constructed her book by putting race and ethnicity -- and their intersection with gender -- at the center of the analysis. Almost every piece in the anthology deals with race, ethnicity, racism, and xenophobia. Very unique and very critical.

[Norigrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading for Sociology of Gender, but I think this book could be beneficial to anyone. There is a really great variety of perspectives including not only different genders, but different social classes, different sexualities, and people of color. It's a bit expensive because it's a college text, but I would still highly recommend it. :)

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best anthology I've every read. Usually anthologies have equal numbers of really good and really poor essays, but nearly every one in this book was worth reading, and some were outstanding.

[Kelsey Byers · Rating 4 out of 5]

great collection of essays and articles

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Sociological resources!

[Jim Swike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book while taking a Gender Studies class but I recommend it as a great read that stands on its own, not as just a text book.

[Megan Egbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of stories changed my life.