ABSTRACT
A central argument of this book has been that sociology has tended to ignore, distort or marginalise women and femininity. We have also suggested that this is a result of the systematic biases and inadequacies in malestream theories, not just an omission of women from empirical research. Sociology has tended not to ask questions or do research in areas of concern to women, and frequently women have been excluded from samples; when they have been included they have tended to be viewed from a position that sees men and masculinity as the norm. As we pointed out in Chapter 1, malestream sociological theories such as Marxism and functionalism have often taken for granted, rather than challenged, the view that the biological differences between men and women are sufficient to explain and justify social divisions and inequalities. This explains, for instance, the startled response of one feminist writer when told by a young Sudanese student that she had written a structural functionalist dissertation on clitoridectomy (Spivak, 1987).
