Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks is a Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the author of more than twenty books which have appeared in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Chinese.

Chronological Table of Contents vii
Acknowledgments viii
1 Introduction 1
Sex and Gender 2
Gender History and Theory 6
Structure of the Book 11
The Origins of Patriarchy 13
2 The Family 25
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (4000 BCE-600 BCE) 27
The Classical Cultures of China, India, and the Mediterranean (600 BCE-500 CE) 29
Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia in the Premodern Era (600 BCE-1600 CE) 33
Medieval and Early Modern Europe and the Mediterranean (500 CE-1600 CE) 36
The Colonial World (1500-1900) 39
The Industrial and Postindustrial World (1800-2010) 45
3 Economic Life 55
Foraging, Horticultural, and Herding Societies (20,000 BCE-1800 CE) 56
Agricultural Societies (7000 BCE-1800 CE) 60
Slavery (7000 BCE-1900 CE) 63
Capitalism and Industrialism (1500-2000) 65
Corporations, the State, and the Service Economy (1900-2010) 72
4 Ideas, Ideals, Norms, and Laws 83
The Nature and Roles of Men and Women 86
Binaries 91
Motherhood and Fatherhood 95
Ideologies, Norms, and Laws Prescribing Gender Inequity 98
Ideologies of Egalitarianism 100
5 Religion 109
Animism, Shamanism, and Paganism (from 40,000 BCE) 110
Written Religions in the Ancient Near East (from 3000 BCE) 113
Confucianism and Taoism (from 600 BCE) 115
Hinduism and Buddhism (from 600 BCE) 117
Christianity (from 30 CE) 121
Islam (from 600 CE) 126
6 Political Life 137
Kin Groups, Tribes, and Villages (from 10,000 BCE) 139
Hereditary Aristocracies (from 3000 BCE) 141
Warfare 147
Citizenship (500 BCE-1800 CE) 151
Women's Rights Movements (1800-2010) 155
Colonialism, Anticolonialism, and Postcolonialism (1500-2010) 158
7 Education and Culture 170
Classical and Postclassical Cultures (600 BCE-1450 CE) 174
The Renaissance (1400-1600) 178
Democracy, Modernity, and Literacy (1750-2010) 182
8 Sexuality 195
Classical Eurasia (600 BCE-600 CE) 199
The Americas (500 CE-1500 CE) 202
Third Genders 204
The Colonial World: Sex and Race (1500-1900) 206
Modern Sexuality in the West (1750-1950) 209
The Globalized World (1950-2010) 214
Afterword 224
Index 228

GENDER IN HISTORY
Praise for the first edition:
"Wiesner-Hanks ... accomplishes a near-impossible feat - a review of what is known about the construction of gender and the character of women's lives in all known cultures over the course of human history .... Theoretically sophisticated and doing justice to the historical and cross-cultural record, yet assimilable by students."
Choice
"Gender in History brilliantly explores the influence of gender constructs in political, social, economic, and cultural affairs. The remarkable cultural, geographical, and chronological range of Wiesner-Hanks' research is matched only by the sophistication, nuance, and clarity of her analysis. This book offers a rare and valuable global perspective on gender roles in human history."Jerry H. Bentley, University of Hawaii
Over the past two decades, considerations of gender have revolutionized the study of history. Yet most books on the subject remain narrowly focused on a specific time period or particular region of the world. Gender in History: Global Perspectives, Second Edition, continues to redress this inequity by providing a concise overview of the construction of gender in many world cultures over a period stretching from the Paleolithic era to modern times.
Thoroughly updated to reflect current developments in the field, the new edition features entirely new sections which address primates, slavery, colonialism, masculinity, transgender issues, and other relevant topics. As in the well-received first edition, material is presented thematically to reveal the connections between gender and structures such as the family, economy, law, religion, sexuality, and the state. Wiesner-Hanks also investigates precisely what it meant to be a man or woman throughout history; how these roles were shaped by various institutions; and how they in turn were influenced by gender. The author presents material within each chapter chronologically to highlight the ways in which gender structures have varied over time.
The new edition of Gender in History: Global Perspectives offers rich insights into all that is currently known about gender roles throughout world history.
A companion website is available at www.wiley.com/go/wiesnerhanks