Introduction to Gender Studies (Analysis of Social Mechanisms of Gender Inequality)

Author: Tong Xinze
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: This book is an interdisciplinary undergraduate textbook that analyzes the social mechanisms affecting gender inequality from a gender perspective. The book is divided into four parts. Part I examines cultural factors such as social psychology, sociocultural aspects, and historical processes that construct the gendered stereotypes of men being strong and women being weak. Part II analyzes how society establishes unequal gender relations through the control of male and female bodies, and how patriarchy operates more subtly in intimate relationships. Through this mechanism, on the one hand, the experience of male dominance is continuously enriched; on the other hand, it conceals the experience of female subjugation, making unequal gender relations a "invisible" black hole. Part III explores how gendered division of labor serves as a crucial mechanism for producing and reproducing gender inequality, as well as the impact of economic factors on the social development of both genders. Part IV introduces the theories and methods of gender studies.