Women, Men, and Society (6th Edition)

Overview of gender and gender inequality

The authors assist students in connecting a central element of their own lives – their personal gender experiences – with the social and political world in which they live.

This popular book looks at the ways in which gender is socially constructed, how sexism and gender inequality affect men and women, and how other variables compound the problem of gender inequality.

Learning Goals

Upon completing this book, readers should be able to:

• Connect a central element of their personal lives – their gendered experiences – with the social and political world in which they live
• Look beyond the boundaries of their own lives so they can understand the complexity and diversity of gendered experiences in terms of race and ethnicity, cultural context, social class, sexual orientation, age, and physical ability/disability
• Understand how the constraints imposed on women and men by specific social constructions of gender may be tightened when combined with a devalued racial/ethnic status, sexual orientation, age, economic status, or physical trait or challenge
• Understand the diversity that makes up contemporary feminism, turning the analytic lens so that they see an issue from various feminist perspectives

Claire M. Renzetti is the Judi Conway Patton Endowed Chair in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Kentucky. She is editor of the international, interdisciplinary journal, Violence Against Women; co-editor with Jeffrey Edleson of the Interpersonal Violence book series for Oxford University Press; and editor of the Gender, Crime and Law book series for Northeastern University Press. She has authored or edited 16 books as well as numerous book chapters and articles in professional journals. Much of her research has focused on the violent victimization experiences of socially and economically marginalized women. Her current research includes an ethnography of a faith-based organization involved in anti-trafficking work; a pilot study of NGOs that provide services to sex trafficking victims; a national web-based survey examining the effects of religiosity on intimate relationship quality and conflict; and an empowerment education project with the Women’s Justice Program, in the Cook County (Chicago), IL Sheriff’s Office. Dr. Renzetti has held elected and appointed positions on the governing bodies of several national professional organizations, including the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Eastern Sociological Society, and Alpha Kappa Delta, the sociological honors society. In 2009, the Women and Crime Division of the American Society of Criminology honored her with the Saltzman Award for Contributions to Practice, an award that recognizes a criminologist whose professional accomplishments have increased the quality of justice and the level of safety for women.

Shana L. Maier,Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Criminal Justice Department at Widener University.  She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Saint Joseph’s University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Delaware.  Her research interests include intimate partner violence, the treatment of rape victims by the criminal justice, medical and legal systems, the transformation of rape crisis centers, and the experiences and struggles of rape victim advocates and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners.  Her research on rape victim advocates has been published in Violence Against Women, Feminist Criminology, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, and Women & Criminal.   Manuscripts on the experiences of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners have been accepted for publication by the Journal of Interpersonal Violence and the Journal of Forensic Nursing.  She also co-authored of articles appearing in Deviant Behavior, Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, International Review of Victimology and Women’s Health and Urban Life.  Her current research focuses on police officers’ experiences responding to rape victims and investigating rape allegations.