ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the theoretical perspectives that have shaped the study of women and gender. It explores two major categories of theories of gender: theories about why and how gender categories develop, are experienced and enacted, and theories about why and how gender inequalities persist. Psychoanalytic theory is often linked to his controversial idea that "anatomy is destiny." Also controversial are theories about gender that are grounded in evolutionary psychology. There are social-cultural theories that focus on how women's and men's behavior is shaped by the way power is distributed in the broader culture. Feminism, as a social movement, has the goal of removing inequalities between women and men. Some of the earliest attempts to classify feminisms identified what Lorber labels reform theories:liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, and socialist feminism. According to Lorber, gender resistance theories have in common the notion that simply balancing opportunities for women and men is not enough to achieve gender equality.
