Paradoxes of gender /

Lorber's book is a tour de force. Founding editor of the leading journal on gender issues in sociology and the other social sciences, Gender & Society (v.1: 1987- ), Lorber has a vast knowledge of cutting edge research being done in a wide variety of social sciences. In this study she summarizes that enormous body of knowledge and organizes it into a coherent theoretical framework, one that is radically different from the conventional understanding of "sex roles" and is coming to be known in social science circles as the "gender perspective." The book's organizational skeleton (three main sections entitled "Producing Gender," "Gender in Practice," and "The Politics of Gender") reflects the strongly social constructionist view of this perspective. For example, "Producing Gender" is not about socialization but about ideology, culture, and sexuality as they shape a largely illusory view of gender as dichotomous biological categories. Lorber has constructed as coherent, well-written, and persuasive an account of this perspective as one could hope to find. The book will be helpful to specialists; its clear prose and well-chosen examples will also make it accessible to students. M. M. Ferree; University of Connecticut