Through the Prism of Difference Readings on Sex and Gender

The editors have gone beyond simply assembling a collection of readings by the leading scholars of sex and gender; they introduce a new way to conceptualize the interrelationships between gender relations and other systems of inequality and difference. The editors invoke the image of a prism, through which different groups are seen not as distinct, but in "a continuous spectrum". The prism approach illustrates the varied ways that gender is constructed relationally, and thus experienced differently. Toward this end, the editors draw from the most recent studies of women and men -- especially studies of gender relations in the context of different sexual, racial/ethnic, social class, physical abilities, age, and national citizenship contexts. Though the majority of articles in the book focus on issues in U.S. gender relations, the editors have included numerous articles that focus on international and transnational factors. Together, the articles in this book shed critical, yet at times optimistic, light on the possibilities for change.