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Labeling women deviant : gender, stigma, and social control

Author

Schur, Edwin M., author.

Title

Labeling women deviant : gender, stigma, and social control / Edwin M. Schur.

Format

Book

Edition

First edition

Published

New York: Random House, McGraw-Hill, ©1984.

Description

x, 286 pages ; 22 cm

Notes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-274) and index. Heavily marked with pen and highlighter throughout.

Contents

• PART I. Theoretical Framework. 1. Women and deviance : a sociological perspective. Deviance and stigma ; The gender system ; Sociologists and values ; Sociology and feminism
• - 2. The devaluation process. Categorical perception ; Stigma and its consequences ; Underlying perceptions of threat
• PART II. Substantive Applications. 3. Women's deviance through gender norms. Major types of gender norms ; Appearance norms and female deviance ; Stigmatizing sexuality
• 4. Victimization of women : deviance or conformity? . Sexual harassment ; Rape and woman-battering ; Commoditization of female sexuality
• 5. Producing female deviance. The production of deviance outcomes ; Women and mental illness ; Women and crime
• PART III. Implications. 6. Summary and conclusion. Academic implications ; Implications of social change.

Review

Teaching a course in the sociology of deviance with an emphasis on gender norms poses unique problems in textbook selection. The traditional male bias in the deviance literature is only gradually being challenged by the growing numbers of books and articles which treat "women's problems" from a feminist perspective. Within this context, Edwin Schur's most recent book, Labeling Women Deviant, is a welcome addition. During Schur's thirty-year publishing career, his work on deviance has never failed to break new ground. His 1955 article on abortion indicted the system of therapeutic abortions and highlighted the "double standard" of sexual morality in American society. His 1965 book, Crimes Without Victims, introduced the idea of "consensual" crimes that are outlawed more as a consequence of moral entrepreneurship than social harm. The Politics of Deviance (1980) continued to argue in this vein, focussing in part on how women are implicated through "victimless crimes" such as abortion and prostitution. The importance of his work may be measured in part by the degree of controversy that it has raised over the years, and by the fact that Schur seems to be consistently on the cutting edge of important questions in deviance. The latest book carries on this tradition. By systematically claim-ing and demonstrating ways in which through their very existence women are normatively degraded, Schur goes a long way in bringing deviance theory to bear on feminist issues. -- From https://www.jstor.org (Oct. 11, 2016).

Subject headings

Women--Social conditions. Deviant behavior--Labeling theory. Sex discrimination against women. Stigma (Social psychology) Social norms.

Kinsey subjects

Deviant behavior. Status of women. Gender role identification. Women psychology.

ISBN

0075544660 0877223327 (pbk.) 9780877223320 (pbk.) 0394332466 (pbk.)