Questioning Gender

Questioning Gender: A Sociological Exploration aims to spark productive conversations and questions about gender and serve as a resource for exploring answers to many of those questions. Rather than providing definitive answers, this book aims to challenge students’ preconceptions about gender and demonstrate how gender as a system creates and reinforces inequality. Taking a global approach, author Robyn Ryle uses both historical and cross-cultural approaches to help students understand the socially constructed nature of gender. Through examining contemporary topics, including the #MeToo movement, sexual harassment in the workplace, and the gender wage gap, students will be prompted to think critically about past, present, and future gender-related issues.

The Fifth Edition has been updated with expanded coverage of disability as it relates to gender, discussion of issues related to transgender and nonbinary people, and examination of the COVID-19 pandemic′s gender-related effects, as well as updated data throughout.

Robyn Ryle is a full professor of sociology and gender studies at Hanover College in Hanover,

Indiana, where she has been teaching sociology of gender and other courses for 19 years. She

is the author of two nonfiction books. She/He/They/Me: For the Sisters, Misters, and Binary

Resisters is a book about gender told in the style of a choose your own adventure. Throw Like a

Girl, Cheer Like a Boy: The Evolution of Gender, Identity, and Race in Sports is an exploration of

inequality and social justice in the world of sports. Ryle went to Millsaps College in Jackson,

Mississippi, for her undergraduate degree in sociology and English with a concentration in

women’s studies. She received her PhD in sociology from Indiana University. She is a member

of the American Sociological Association and Sociologists for Women in Society and has

served on the editorial board of the journal Teaching Sociology. She grew up in a small town

in northern Kentucky and now lives in another small town just down the Ohio River. When

she’s not teaching classes, she writes, gardens, and watches lots of sports. She currently lives in

a 170-year-old house in scenic Madison, Indiana, with her husband, stepdaughter, and two

peculiar cats. You can find her on Instagram (@robynrryle) and Twitter (@robynryle) or read

her Substack newsletter, You Think Too Much.