Women In The Contemporary Society

Reproduction of the original: Woman in Modern Society by Earl Barnes

This edited collection provides interdisciplinary, global, and multi-religious perspectives on the relationship between women’s identities, religion, and social change in the contemporary world. The book discusses the experiences and positions of women, and particular groups of women, to understand patterns of religiosity and religious change. It also addresses the current and future challenges posed by women’s changes to religion in different parts of the world and among different religious traditions and practices. The contributors address a diverse range of themes and issues including the attitudes of different religions to gender equality; how women construct their identity through religious activity; whether women have opportunity to influence religious doctrine; and the impact of migration on the religious lives of both women and men.

"Our data show that although some 10 to 15 per cent of the women in the kibbutz express dissatisfaction with their sociosexual roles, the overwhelming majority not only accept their situations but have sought them. They have acted against the principles of their socialization and ideology, against the wishes of the men of their communities, against the economic interest of the kibbutzim, in order to be able to devote more time and energy to private maternal activities rather than to economic and political public ones. Obviously these women have minds of their own; despite obstacles, they are trying to accomplish what women elsewhere have been periodically urged to reject by critics of traditional female roles." -- from the book

The status of women has become an important parameter to gauge the level of development and sensitivity in any society. This book penetrates the silence that surrounds the lives of India's women. It offers a perceptive understanding of the trials faced by women from the country's state of Rajasthan, in all segments of its society - tribal, rural, and urban - and provides a comparative viewpoint of the status of women in all three segments. It is a comprehensive and holistic examination of questions relating to the rights and status of women in India. There have been infinite variations of the status, according to the cultural milieu, family structure, caste, class, property rights, etc. All these distinctions are significant determinants of variations.

Essential reading for our times, as women are pulling together to demand their rights— A landmark portrait of women, men, and power in a transformed world. “Anchored by data and aromatized by anecdotes, [Rosin] concludes that women are gaining the upper hand." –The Washington Post Men have been the dominant sex since, well, the dawn of mankind. But Hanna Rosin was the first to notice that this long-held truth is, astonishingly, no longer true. Today, by almost every measure, women are no longer gaining on men: They have pulled decisively ahead. And “the end of men”—the title of Rosin’s Atlantic cover story on the subject—has entered the lexicon as dramatically as Betty Friedan’s “feminine mystique,” Simone de Beauvoir’s “second sex,” Susan Faludi’s “backlash,” and Naomi Wolf’s “beauty myth” once did. In this landmark book, Rosin reveals how our current state of affairs is radically shifting the power dynamics between men and women at every level of society, with profound implications for marriage, sex, children, work, and more. With wide-ranging curiosity and insight unhampered by assumptions or ideology, Rosin shows how the radically different ways men and women today earn, learn, spend, couple up—even kill—has turned the big picture upside down. And in The End of Men she helps us see how, regardless of gender, we can adapt to the new reality and channel it for a better future.

Defining Women is a major in-depth analysis of the social, economic and political position of women in contemporary societies. It explores the ways in which social institutions, practices and discourse define women and their position in present-day societies. The book examines the essential debates about the social construction of gender divisions in and by the key institutions of the labour market and the state. Focussing on notions of power, dependence and equality, it addresses questions of the differences between women and men, and between women themselves, in the economy and civil society. Women's political struggles to challenge their subordinate position are also assessed. The recognition of the diverse interests of women currently poses a real challenge to the central project of feminism, but Defining Women confidently argues for it's future. This book will be widely used as a text book in feminism and women's studies and will have a broad interdisciplinary appeal.

In this introductory text for A level students and undergraduates, Jane Pilcher covers the main issues debated about women in Britain today. Subjects covered include: * women and gender: sociological perspectives * education and training * women and paid work * household work and caring * love and sexuality * crime and punishment * politics and participation. Providing a clear sociological analysis of central debates and an introduction to the main theoretical arguments as well as including discussions of further areas of interest, such as women and the media, and the body, this text will provide an invaluable resource for all students in sociology and womens studies and will be of interest to all those wishing to know more about contemporary society in Britain.