Strong Mothers, Weak Wives

States that inequality is not inherent or inevitable in heterosexual relations. This title examines how gender differences get translated into gender inequalities and how this process relates to the structure of the nuclear family and to the social organization of modern societies. "For years I have been impressed by the originality and insight of Johnson's articles on gender, sexuality, and male dominance. This book continues and expands the excellent quality of the earlier work. . . [It] provides an original argument about the central structural locus of gender inequality, and makes a major advance in its insightful and insistent focus on the role of the father in gender differentiation and sexual dominance. . . . It will surely be recognized as a major work of feminist theory."—Nancy Chodorow, author of The Reproduction of Mothering "This thoughtful and provocative book greatly deepens the debate over the effects of mothers and fathers on their children."—Arlie Hochschild, author of The Second Shift: Inside the Two-Job Marriage A leading theorist in the sociology of sex and gender, Miriam Johnson establishes as her starting point the belief that inequality is not inherent or inevitable in heterosexual relations. In "Strong Mothers, Weak Wives" she develops this notion by examining how gender differences get translated into gender inequalities and how this process relates to the structure of the nuclear family and to the social organization of modern societies.