In the first six chapters of Julia WoodÆs (2005) Gendered Lives, the author illustrates the main concepts that form the foundation of the book, definitions of gender, culture and communication. Wood (2005) maintains that ôReading this book will enlarge your awareness of genderùhow it is shaped and expressed in contexts ranging from the political arena to intimate relationshipsö (7). Through social institutions like the judicial system and the media, Wood (2005) argues that ôcultural marginalizationö occurs for some groups like women, homosexuals, and minorities (5). Chapter 1 makes the distinction between sex, a biological classification, and gender, a social, symbolic system in order to show how certain associations are connected to gender. Gender is a ôwhole system of social meanings that specify what is associated with men and womenö in a particular society at a particular time (Wood 2005, 34). Different images of masculinity and femininity are influenced by culture and played out through communication.
Chapter 2 discusses theoretical approaches to gender that include biological, psychological, and cultural theories. Such theories on sex and gender do more than provide explanation, they ôaffect our thoughts and behaviorsö according to Wood (2005, 37). Such theories influence how we define the self as well as others. For example, symbolic interactionism argues that it is through communication that ôwe learn who we are and what that means in the culture into which we have been bornö (Wood 2005, 51). Wood (2005) supports the cultural perspective and uses it to frame the rest of the book, reflecting the view that gender is ôculturally constructedö and the meanings associated with femininity and masculinity are ôexpressed and sustainedö through communication (55).
Chapter 3 provides an overview of womenÆs movements in the U.S. Such movements are an effort by women to ôdefine womenÆs nature and rights...