Same Difference

Are women the same as or different from men? Should women seek equality with men or admit their difference? First published in 1990, Same Difference explores these highly-charged political questions by examining how the womens movement has engaged with them over time and in three countriesAustralia, Britain, and America. Case studies include disputes about maternity leave, protective legislation, affirmative action, custody, pornography, rape, and womens supposed metaphysical differences from mentheir greater nurturing and caring capacity. Challenging a common view of the womens movement as perpetually riven into sameness and difference camps, Same Difference highlights the political conditions which impel some feminists to argue in these terms. The implication of the analysis is that debates about sexual difference divert attention from important social issues such as how society is to reproduce itself and what kind of society we wish to create. This book will be a beneficial read for students and researchers of feminist theory, womens studies, and sociology.