Gendered Bodies ─ Feminist Perspectives

"Gendered Bodies provides an accessible introduction to feminist perspectives on gender and the body and a wealth of resources for exploring this domain of inquiry. The authors are clearly committed to intersectional analyses, and make every effort to consider these issues vis-a-vis gender and the body. The book's unique format provides students with a combination of primary and secondary materials. I think the approach is excellent, [and] on the whole, this book is enormously compelling and accessible."-Sara Shostak, Brandeis University

"This book is perfect for my course on Feminist Social and Political Thought. Students have given me positive feedback on the book and we have had very lively and productive class discussions based on its readings. I look forward to assigning this terrific book in the future."-Barbara Sutton, University at Albany, State University of New York

"The text is foremost in the field. I could not imagine teaching my course without it!"-Simona J. Hill, Susquehanna University

Designed for undergraduate students, Gendered Bodies: Feminist Perspectives, Second Edition, is a concise textbook/reader that provides a critical and multifaceted approach to the study of gendered bodies. Acclaimed scholars Judith Lorber and Lisa Jean Moore analyze the construction of gendered bodies in different contexts. Exploring a broad range of both long-established and more cutting-edge topics in feminist studies, Lorber and Moore present scholarly research, offer information on relevant laws and political events, and point to directions for social change.

Gendered Bodies, Second Edition, focuses on key themes that reveal how gendered relations, ideologies, and practices shape human bodies. At the same time, it shows how human bodies are linked to other significant axes of inequality based on racial ethnic group, disability, sexuality, class, culture, religion, age, and nation. Thoroughly updated throughout, the second edition incorporates sixteen new selectionsuincluding non-Western perspectivesuon such fascinating topics as evolution and motherhood; breastfeeding; breast cancer; the effects of height on men: job discrimination and transgendered people; world champion runner Caster Semenya and sex verification; disability, gender, and embodiment, and Palestinian female suicide bombers. It also adds new references and a concluding chapter. "Social Bodies in an Interconnected World."

Gendered Bodies, Second Edition, is ideal for courses on the body, feminist theory, women and health, and the sociology of gender. Each chapter includes a list of key concepts, three readings, and suggested readings. The book also includes an appendix of class exercises and a list of relevant films.

Judith Lorber is Professor Emerita of Sociology and Women's Studies at The Graduate Center and Brooklyn College of The City University of New York.

Lisa Jean Moore is Coordinator of Gender Studies and Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Purchase College, State University of New York.