When Sex Became GenderRoutledge, 2006 - 285 pages When Sex Became Gender is a study of post-World War II feminist theory from the viewpoint of intellectual history. The key theme is that ideas about the social construction of gender have its origins in the feminist theorists of the postwar period, and that these early ideas about gender became a key foundational paradigm for both second and third wave feminist thought. These conceptual foundations were created by a cohort of extraordinarily imaginative and bold academic women. While discussing the famous feminist scholars--Simone de Beauvoir, Margaret Mead--the book also hinges on the work of scholars who are lesser known to American audiences--Mirra Komarovsky, Viola Klein, and Ruth Herschberger, The postwar years have been an overlooked period in the development of feminist theory and philosophy and Tarrant makes a compelling case for this era being the turning point in the study of gender. |
Contents
TENDING THE EMBERS | 1 |
FEMINIST THEORY IN THE COLD WAR YEARS | 11 |
POSTWAR POLITICS IN BRITAIN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES | 35 |
MARGARET MEAD SOCIALIZATION AND SEX ROLE IDEOLOGY | 73 |
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND THE POIGNANT SIGNS OF DISCONTENT | 107 |
SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE SOCALLED FEMININE CHARACTER | 133 |
CHAPTER 6 SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR AND THE SECOND SEX | 165 |
RUTH HERSCHBERGER AND POSTWAR POLLINATION | 195 |
CHAPTER 8 WHEN SEX BECAME GENDER | 213 |
ENDNOTES | 229 |
253 | |
269 | |