The Gender Trap: Parents and the Pitfalls of Raising Boys and Girls
“With insight and compassion, Kane shows how today's parents--even those with egalitarian intentions--too often still nudge their children toward narrow binary conceptions of gender.  But Kane's is not simply a story of social reproduction; she shows how parents variously understand, navigate, and even sometimes resist the gender trap, pointing the way to a more humane world for all of our children.”-Michael A. Messner,author ofIt's All for the Kids: Gender, Families and Youth Sports“Emily Kane shows clearly that most parents understand children’s personality to be some combination of nature and nurture, and many wish they could help nurture their children to escape gender traps. Yet these parents are themselves trapped by the gender structure itself, especially the accountability they feel to other people’s expectations, and the fear that if their boys are free to explore activities usually associated with girls they will be punished by the world around them. The author shows clearly that to help parents navigate childrearing, we have to change the world around them.  A good read, perfect for the undergraduate classroom, and clear enough even to give to those new parents in your family or the neighborhood.”-Barbara J. Risman,editor ofFamilies as They Really Are“A fascinating and important exploration and analysis of how parents navigate the gender trap." -Cordelia Fine,author ofDelusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference"Kane writes in a manner that is easily understood yet expressive [...] the book is essential to areas in Sociology that focus on family, gender, inequality, as well as theory (social constructionism). At the same time,The Gender Trapcan be used in Gender studies, Queer studies, Psychology, and in Women's studies as Kane touches on the subjects of class, race, sexual orientation and more when discussions notions of gender."-Metapsychology,