The Kaleidoscope of Gender

Book excerpt: An accessible, timely, and stimulating introduction to the sociology of gender, The Kaleidoscope of Gender: Prisms, Patterns, and Possibilities, Third Edition, provides a comprehensive analysis of key ideas, theories, and applications in this field as viewed through the metaphor of a kaleidoscope. This collection of creative articles by top scholars explains how the complex, evolving pattern of gender is constructed interpersonally, institutionally, and culturally and challenges students to question how gender shapes their daily lives. Like the prior edition, the Third Edition maintains a focus on contemporary contributions to the field while incorporating classical and theoretical arguments to provide a broad framework. Integrating a cross-cultural focus and intersectional inquiry, this unique text/reader vividly illustrates that gender is a malleable continuum of prisms, patterns, and possibilities.