Gender and anthropology

This concise treatment clearly traces how anthropologists have used different theoretical orientations to examine the nature and determinants of gender roles and gender inequalities. [The authors] analyze important works, from the nineteenth century through the late twentieth century, to explain how theoretical perspectives have shifted over time in relation to changing social and political conditions. Their presentation of evolutionary, psychological, materialist, Foucauldian, structuralist, sociolinguistic, and reflexive approaches to understanding gender behavior and gender stratification is lucid and cogent. It is evident from this well-organized text that anthropological data from around the world are crucial for questioning unproven but widely held assumptions about men and women in contemporary societies.