The word ‘theory’ can immediately strike fear into the heart, but a theory is really just an explanation, and the theories presented here are attempts to explain gender. We all theorize to some extent, trying to explain the world around us. Theorists do this too, but more systematically. There are various good books (for example, Beasley, 2005; see Jackson, 1998b) which provide in-depth discussion of gender theories. What I offer is a large-scale map of this theoretical territory, as an aid to exploration. To help you in making sense of and comparing different theoretical approaches I use tables outlining key aspects of different theories. This, in addition to reading the introductory chapter, should make you aware that a major aim of this book is to chart how the linguistic turn has affected understandings of gender.
Explanations of gender have taken a linguistic or cultural turn, shifting emphasis from the material or economic to the symbolic, or the sphere of meaning. As outlined in Chapter 1, ‘material’ can mean a number of things, which complicates any simple story of a shift away from it. Within traditional sociology ‘material’ has conventionally described Marxist approaches which are based on historical materialism. These approaches argue that social organization is centred around the production of material goods, as this is crucial to meeting human needs. More recently, for example, the concept has been central in trying to consider the flesh and blood reality of bodies as ‘material’ in relation to social meanings (Rahman and Witz, 2003). However, it can still be said that there is a traceable shift away from an emphasis on how material (usually meaning economic) conditions shape gender towards an emphasis on meanings. But a cultural turn is only part of the story.
This chapter has two major parts. The first part deals with the broad context of ideas about gender and is subdivided into one section discussing structuralist and post-structuralist theories and another outlining the categorization of approaches and debates within feminism, major
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Table 4.1 Theoretical traditions on which feminists draw
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theoretical shifts within sociology, and theoretical approaches within feminism as they deal with gender. The second part of the chapter focuses on the turn to culture — the cultural/linguistic turn. Table 4.1 outlines the theoretical approaches covered in this chapter in terms of the broader intellectual traditions on which they draw. This and the following tables will help you see how the different approaches relate, but the tables do not contain all the important information and will not make sense unless you read the whole chapter. For instance, one of the most important things I do is discuss the strengths and limitations of the theories in their efforts to explain gender differences. Appreciating the advantages and disadvantages of using a particular theory is crucial in developing the critical approach central to sociological and feminist understandings of gender. But simply listing the strengths and limitations as points on a table would not encourage you as readers to think about
how convincing you find a specific perspective, and why you find it convincing. The first shift in perspectives covered is from structuralism to poststructuralism.