The Woman Question

This new edition of The Woman Question

brings together the most influential analyses of women′s position in society to have emerged in the past decade. The discussion encompasses both theoretical issues of identity and the economic and political status of women. It demonstrates the impact of gender not only on how the social world is organized but on how we understand and interpret that world. Recognizing the diversity of women′s experiences, it pays particular attention to the interactions of race, class, gender and sexuality.

Leading feminists explore the concept of gender difference, its impact on women and its representation in culture. They discuss the material realities of women′s lives and how these are differentiated by race. They examine women′s relation to powerful institutions, especially the state, and analyze the successes, failures and contradictions of feminist politics.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080398748X
• ISBN13: 9780803987487
• Release Date: June 1994
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Impressive collection

This collection of essays is impressive in its depth and diversity, reflecting the complexity of the questions facing women about ourselves and the world we live in. I found all the essays of interest from discussions of race, sexuality, identity politics, epistemology to Carol Cohn's experience of a year spent with Defense Intellectuals and the deadly serious connections between male sexuality and the arms race. What stood out for me, though, were the essays concerning pornography and womens experiences of sex. Sheila Jeffreys', Carol Smart's and Lynne Segal's explorations of sex and pornography all throw up interesting perspectives and insights into what is perhaps the most problematic area in women's struggle for equality. Here is a genuine search for greater and wider understanding and a willingness to face the facts no matter how uncomfortable. All that is missing are insights from evolutionary biology which could provide some important missing pieces of the puzzle. Unfortunately, feminism tends to fear biology yet understanding evolution and particularly sexual selection can explain the inherent conflict between male and female sexuality, and in the hands of women such as these there would be no danger of biology being hijacked by male bias. Understanding and including facts about female sexuality - such as concealed ovulation, the cyclic nature of female fertility, females able to 'mate up' while males cannot, the high rate of male sexual rejection - can only help in this problem. It can at least explain to both sexes why our sexuality is so mismatched, why males want to control female sexuality and why, therefore, men truly have oppressed women. And this takes nothing away from the reality of women's perspective nor, as Lynne Segal suggests as possibly the best solution - creating a world where women have the power, confidence and resources to reject ANY unwanted sexual activity. Feminism may be becoming more complex but it is also coming closer to seeing a clearer reality.