ABSTRACT
This book is concerned both with the nature of women in society, and with the nature of women in society. On the one hand it considers the facts of, or more precisely, society’s identification of the inherent biological properties or natural endowments of women, and how these have been used by society. On the other it looks at the structural, or social position of women, and asks how the category ‘women’ is defined, and is related to others in society. It suggests that perceptions of the nature of women affect the shape of the categories assigned to them, which in turn reflect back upon and reinforce or remould perceptions of the nature of women, in a continuing process.
