International Handbook on Gender Roles
International Handbook on Gender Roles
Edited by Leonore Loeb Adler
Published by Greenwood Press, 1993.
This is a 6" X 9" clothbound book of 525 pages, including the bibliography, index and contributors' bios.
The book is divided by country. For each country there is a substantial discussion of gender roles from a feminist anthropological perspective.
As an example, the entry for Nigeria, written by Nigerian scholars, is fifteen pages in length with references. It has an introduction, a three page overview that touches on the history and culture of Nigeria, a long section with the heading "Comparisons between men's and women's gender roles during the life cycle" that is divided by stage of life, and a page-long summary. The section on the comparison of men's and women's gender roles goes into social institutions and contemporary trends in interesting detail.
Not every country is represented, but for every country a country with a similar culture is there (e.g. Finland is the only Scandinavian country represented). There are articles on 31 countries total.
It is interesting to see The United States of America given the same treatment as other countries in the book, which is what really makes it an "international handbook." The section on the United States begins by locating it geographically and telling us that it is bordered by Canada on the North and Mexico on the South, with oceans to the East and West. Much information in the chapter, presented this objectively, is, however, new to Americans who take it for granted, living amidst it.
The arrangement by country allows for research on individual countries, of course, but it also facilitates cross-cultural comparison, which is often what is needed when researching or talking about aspects of culture that people commonly take for granted or view as universal and eternal (which is not to say, of course, that nothing in the world can or should be new).
A nice, substantial book.
Edited by Leonore Loeb Adler
Published by Greenwood Press, 1993.
This is a 6" X 9" clothbound book of 525 pages, including the bibliography, index and contributors' bios.
The book is divided by country. For each country there is a substantial discussion of gender roles from a feminist anthropological perspective.
As an example, the entry for Nigeria, written by Nigerian scholars, is fifteen pages in length with references. It has an introduction, a three page overview that touches on the history and culture of Nigeria, a long section with the heading "Comparisons between men's and women's gender roles during the life cycle" that is divided by stage of life, and a page-long summary. The section on the comparison of men's and women's gender roles goes into social institutions and contemporary trends in interesting detail.
Not every country is represented, but for every country a country with a similar culture is there (e.g. Finland is the only Scandinavian country represented). There are articles on 31 countries total.
It is interesting to see The United States of America given the same treatment as other countries in the book, which is what really makes it an "international handbook." The section on the United States begins by locating it geographically and telling us that it is bordered by Canada on the North and Mexico on the South, with oceans to the East and West. Much information in the chapter, presented this objectively, is, however, new to Americans who take it for granted, living amidst it.
The arrangement by country allows for research on individual countries, of course, but it also facilitates cross-cultural comparison, which is often what is needed when researching or talking about aspects of culture that people commonly take for granted or view as universal and eternal (which is not to say, of course, that nothing in the world can or should be new).
A nice, substantial book.