This book integrates the role of gender in girls' and women's development across the life span, looking specifically at internal and external vulnerabilities and risks, and the protective or supportive factors that facilitate effective coping, positive growth, strength and resilience. The interaction between physical, psychological, and cultural factors is integrated within each period of development. The book emphasizes how gender socialization of female development and behavior impacts self-evaluation and identity processes within various cultural groups. The authors also discusses the social roles that girls and women reflectively adopt and describe how externally induced risks such as poverty, interpersonal abuse, and violence influence a healthy development.
A Companion to Gender Studies presents a comprehensive vision of its field, and its new directions. It is designed to demonstrate in action the rich interplay between gender and other markers of social position and (dis)privilege, such as race, class, ethnicity, and nationality. The book is organized thematically and each chapter gives insightful consideration to the differing views on its topic, and also clarifies each contributor's own position.