When Sex Became Gender / Edition 1

by Shira Tarrant

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415953474
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/30/2006
Series:	Perspectives on Gender
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Shira Tarrant is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at California State University, Long Beach. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

1. Confronting the Bonds of Ideology: Feminist Theory in the Cold War Years 2. The Setting: Postwar Politics in Britain, France, and the United States 3. On the Path to Gender: Margaret Mead, Socialization, and Sex Role Ideology 4. Mirra Komarovsky: Functional Analysis and the Poignant Signs of Discontent 5. Viola Klein: Sociology of Knowledge and the So-Called Feminine Character 6. Simone de Beauvoir and The Second Sex 7. No Woman Is an Island: Ruth Herschberger and Postwar Pollination 8. When Sex Became Gender

Editorial Reviews

"[Tarrant's] daunting and inspiring project...fills a void in feminist history and feminist scholarship; Tarrant has successfully located the feminist roots of Gender Theory's and Second Wave feminism's understanding of gender as socially constructed in a period believed to be entirely bereft of feminist thought." -- Catherine R. Mintler, Journal of International Women's Studies Vol. 9 #3 May 2008

"Contrary to Conventional wisdom, Shira Tarrant argues that feminism didn't languish between the 1920s and 1960s. Instead the conceptual foundations of second-wave feminism were created by a wave of extraordinarily imaginative and bold academic women in the early postwar years. In this original and indispensable book, Tarrant uncovers a crucial missing chapter in the history of modern feminism."

Steven Seidman, author of Beyond the Closet

"It is an essential addition to second-wave feminist studies in the US."

H.G. Kong, Indiana University, Choice

From the Publisher