SOAN 212 | Sociology of Gender

Gender surrounds us, but ideas about gender in popular culture often oversimplify its workings. This course provides an overview of a sociological perspective on gender, with close attention to the relational construction of gender difference through analyzing both femininities and masculinities, as well as how gender intersects with other differences such as race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality. The first half of the course examines gender inequality from several classic and contemporary theoretical perspectives. The second half foregrounds empirical research on gender and how gender works and changes over time in institutions that affect our daily lives such as schools, families, and workplaces. Readings focus on the United States as well as other countries within our increasingly globalized world.