Author Description

Despite the large number of textbooks dealing with the notion of family, no attempt has been made at presenting a methodological approach to examining family relationships and their role in society. This compelling and insightful text fills that gap by offering articles that together develop a systematic understanding of family. Family Patterns, Gender Relations focuses not only on the dynamics of childcare, sexuality, and daily co-habitation, but also on the way that these patterns are shaped by the larger social culture. While some of the readings examine cross-cultural and historical variations in family patterns so as to highlight the social organization of things that otherwise seem "natural", the bulk of articles focus on the social relations of sexuality and intimacy, reproduction, parenting, and living together. Because these relations are typically gender relations, a concern with gender inequality is constant throughout the book. Gathering under one cover the work of nearly three dozen leading scholars, this work synthesizes a broad range of approaches to this critical issue for courses in the sociology of the family or women's studies.