Preface

In reading this book, different people will find different implications in it for what could or should be done. I do not recommend specific courses of action. My task is to describe some connections that run so deep they go unnoticed in our everyday lives. Now, as the male-headed nuclear family is losing ground, perhaps this understanding can help us plan for a more egalitarian future.

Although I am addressing feminists, I hope the book will be read by many who do not consider themselves feminists but who are interested in the issues feminists address. The changes that are occurring affect everybody, and dialogues between groups need to be substituted for name-calling. I hope that the book will be used in classes on gender and can add to the understanding of how gender inequality is reproduced and how it might be changed.