The Gendered Society provides an overview to current thinking about genderin the social and behavioral sciences. Through an examination of existingliterature in biology, anthropology, psychology, and sociology (in Part I) andan original analysis of the gendered worlds of family, education, and work (inPart II) and the gendered interactions of friendship and love, sexuality, andviolence (in Part III), Kimmel makes three claims about gender: First he arguesthat the differences between men and women are not as great as we often imagine,and that, in fact, women and men have far more in common with one another thanthey are different. Secondly, He challenges the notions of many poppsychologists who suggest that gender difference is the cause of the dramaticobservable inequality between the sexes. Actually, the reverse is true: genderinequality is the cause of the differences between women and men. Third, Kimmelargues that gender is not simply the property of people but that gender is alsoan institutional phenomenon, embedded in the organizations and institutions inwhich we interact daily. Additionally, Kimmel's brief Epilogue looks ahead togender relations in the next century and in the next millennium.The Gendered Society is a well-written, well-reasoned, and authoritativestatement about gender relations today. It is appropriate for scholars, students- who wil find that Kimmel's companion book, The Gendered Society: Readings,provides a perfect compliment for classroom use -- and the generalreader.