Gender Norms And Intersectionality

There have been few, if any, attempts to translate the immense library of academic studies on gender norms for a lay audience, or to illustrate practical ways in which their insights could (and should) be applied. Similarly, there have been few attempts to build the case for gender in diverse fields like health, education, and economic security within a single book, one which also uses an intersectional lens to address issues of race and class. This book not only looks at the impact of rigid gender norms on young people who internalize them, but also shows how the health, educational, and criminal justice systems with which young people interact are also highly gendered systems that relentlessly police and sustain very narrow ideas of masculinity and femininity, particularly among youth. Current treatments of a “gender lens” or “gender analysis” both at home and abroad usually conflate gender with women and/or trans. Gender Norms and Intersectionality shows conclusively how this is both inadequate and wrong-headed. It documents why gender norms must be moved to the center of the discourses aimed at improving life outcomes for at-risk communities. And it does so while acknowledging the insights of queer theorists about bodies, power, and difference. This book provides a starting point for a long overdue movement to elevate “applied gender studies,” providing both a reference and guide for researchers, students, policymakers, funders, non-profit leaders, and grassroots advocates. It aims to transform readers’ view of a broad array of familiar social problems, such as basic wellness and reproductive health; education; economic security; and partner, male-on-male, and school violence—showing how gender norms are an integral if overlooked key to understanding each.

Originally conceived by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 as a tool for the analysis of the ways in which different forms of social inequality, oppression and discrimination interact and overlap in multidimensional ways, the concept of 'intersectionality' has attracted much attention in international feminist debates over the last decade. Framing Intersectionality brings together proponents and critics of the concept, to discuss the 'state of the art' with those that have been influential in the debates that surround it. Engaging with the historical roots of intersectionality in the US-based 'race-class-gender' debate, this book also considers the European adoption of this concept in different national contexts, to explore issues such as migration, identity, media coverage of sexual violence against men and transnational livelihoods of high and low skilled migrants. Thematically arranged around the themes of the transatlantic migration of intersectionality, the development of intersectionality as a theory, men's studies and masculinities, and the body and embodiment, this book draws on empirical case studies as well as theoretical deliberations to investigate the capacity and the sustainability of the concept and shed light on the current state of intersectionality research. Presenting the latest work from a team of leading feminist scholars from the US and Europe, Framing Intersectionality will be of interest to all those with interests in gender, women's studies, masculinity, inequalities and feminist thought.

Gender Relations: Intersectionality and Beyond focuses on how gender differences and inequalities play out in the social lives of men and women throughout the life course. Theory is linked with practice through a series of case studies that highlight current research from Canada, the United States, Britain, and Australia. Through a range of theories and with attention to distinct, yet overlapping, stages of the human life course, the book illuminates how gender differences and inequalities are expressed at critical junctures of the gendered lives of women and men.

Recent years have witnessed growing scholarly interest in efforts to advance women’s work and in exploring the implicit obstacles to gender equity – such as the “glass floor,” “glass ceiling,” and “glass walls” – that have persisted in most career fields. This interdisciplinary collection contributes to this new field of knowledge by curating scholarly essays and current research on gendered work environments and all the nuanced meanings of “work” in the context of feminism and gender equality. The chapters represent some of the most outstanding papers presented at the Women and Gender Conference held at the University of South Dakota on April 9–10, 2015. The unifying focus of this collection is on the work-related intersections of gender, race, and class, which are investigated through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. Some of the essays provide historical and literary contexts for contemporary issues. Others use social-scientific approaches to identify strategies for making the contemporary Western workplace more humane and inclusive to women and other disadvantaged members of society. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students in women’s studies, sociology, history, and communication could use this book in courses that address the gendered workplace from an interdisciplinary perspective. Scholars from various disciplines interested in gender and work could also use the book as a reference and a guidepost for future research. Finally, this collection will be of interest to human resource professionals and other readers seeking to expand their perspectives on the gendered workplace.

A major publishing event, the collected writings of the groundbreaking scholar who "first coined intersectionality as a political framework" (Salon) For more than twenty years, scholars, activists, educators, and lawyers--inside and outside of the United States--have employed the concept of intersectionality both to describe problems of inequality and to fashion concrete solutions. In particular, as the Washington Post reported recently, "the term has been used by social activists as both a rallying cry for more expansive progressive movements and a chastisement for their limitations." Drawing on black feminist and critical legal theory, Kimberlé Crenshaw developed the concept of intersectionality, a term she coined to speak to the multiple social forces, social identities, and ideological instruments through which power and disadvantage are expressed and legitimized. In this comprehensive and accessible introduction to Crenshaw's work, readers will find key essays and articles that have defined the concept of intersectionality, collected together for the first time. The book includes a sweeping new introduction by Crenshaw as well as prefaces that contextualize each of the chapters. For anyone interested in movement politics and advocacy, or in racial justice and gender equity, On Intersectionality will be compulsory reading from one of the most brilliant theorists of our time.

This collection highlights and extends contemporary women's and gender studies by presenting theoretical analyses and innovative research conceptualizations, applications and methodologies via a diverse variety of popular-in-the-classroom topics, such as changing masculinities; comedic/dramatic portrayals of ethnicity and discrimination; stigma and differences within mainstream media gender stereotypes; intersections of gendered and sexual identities in social media and fundamental institutions. These topics emphasize relevant issues and nuances within popular culture, identities and perceptions and social problems and illustrate the breadth of gender studies and its applications, while the diverse methodologies like historical comparisons; ethnographic, demographic and statistical analyses, demonstrate its epistemology. Each chapter remains solidly founded in gender theory while making significant innovative contributions to the overall field.

Theorizing gender is more urgent and highly political than ever before. These are times, in many countries, of increased visibility of women in public life and high-profile campaigns against sexual violence and harassment. Challenges to fixed, traditional gender norms have paved the way for the recognition of gay marriage and gender recognition acts allowing people to change the gender assigned to them at birth. Yet these are also times of religious and political backlash by the alt right, the demonization of the very term ‘gender’ and a renewed embrace of the ‘naturalness’ of gendered difference as ordained by God or Science. A follow-up to the authors’ 2002 text, Theorizing Gender, this timely and necessary intervention revisits gender theory for contemporary times. Refusing a singular ‘truth about gender’, the authors explore the multiple strands which go into making our gendered identities, in the context of materialist and intersectional perspectives interwoven with phenomenological and performative ones. The resulting critical overview will be a welcome and invaluable guide for students and scholars of gender across the social sciences and humanities.

Includes papers presented at the conference "Gender and Social Transformation: Global, Transnational, and Local Realities and Perspectives", Beijing, China in 2009. This title addresses topics such as: divisions of labor, migration, war and peace-building.