Background Sources
Gathering background information on your topic is a great way to start any research assignment. By looking through encyclopedias, handbooks, and other reference materials, you can usually find the following information very quickly:
- Brief overview of your topic
- Key concepts, people, dates, and events
- Lists of sources for further reading and bibliographies that may lead you to additional sources
Below are a few electronic encyclopedias to get you started. If you're not finding your topic, please feel free to contact me (at heather.stalter@oneonta.edu) as it may be in a more specialized encyclopedia.
Reference Books
Print Reference Books
There are a number of excellent books in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor of the library that provide general and expanded information on sexes and genders. While Reference Books cannot be checked out, they can be used in the library. You can request photocopies at the Reference Desk, and you are also welcome to make scans; there is a scanner located across from the Reference Desk.
Encyclopedia of Gender and Society by Call Number: Reference Collection, 1st floor ; REF HQ1115 .E54 2009ISBN: 9781412909167Publication Date: 2008Given both the interdisciplinarity of the field of gender scholarship and the immense significance of gender to both individuals and societies, it is probably impossible to produce such a compendium. For decades, scholars of gender have been documenting and analyzing the various ways in which gender shapes individual lives, cultural beliefs and practices, and social and economic organization. This resource covers the major theories, research, people, and issues in contemporary gender studies.
A Cultural History of Women by Call Number: Reference Collection, 1st floor ; REF HQ1121 .C83 2013ISBN: 9781847884756Publication Date: 2013-02-28A Cultural History of Women presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. With six volumes covering 2500 years, this is the most authoritative history available of women in Western cultures. Readers can either have a broad overview of a period by reading a volume or follow a theme through history by reading the relevant chapter in each volume. Superbly illustrated, the full six volume set combines to present the most authoritative and comprehensive survey available on women through history.
Dangerous Curves by Call Number: Reference Collection, 1st floor ; REF PN1995.9.W6 B76 2011ISBN: 9781604737141Publication Date: 2011-01-30This book addresses the conflicted meanings associated with the figure of the action heroine as she has evolved in various media forms since the late 1980s. Jeffrey A. Brown discusses this immensely popular character type as an example of, and challenge to, existing theories about gender as a performance identity. Her assumption of heroic masculine traits combined with her sexualized physical depiction demonstrates the ambiguous nature of traditional gender expectations and indicates a growing awareness of more aggressive and violent roles for women.
Electronic Reference Books
Below are a few reference books available to you online. To access them, you will be asked to sign on with you SUNY Oneonta user ID and password.
Gender Roles & Equality by ISBN: 9781429842976Publication Date: 2017Table of Contents:
The Kinsey Report -- Gender differences : biology & culture -- Language, gender & reality -- Language and gender -- Gender roles -- Gender socialization -- Deviance & gender -- Sex differences in crime -- Family gender roles -- Gender & domestic responsibilities -- The women's rights movement -- Feminist theories of gender inequality -- Gender & morality -- Structural functionalist theories of gender inequality -- Gender issues in physical education -- Gender in the classroom -- Gender and economic inequality -- Gender & stratification : the effects of social marginalization -- Political inequality -- Cross-cultural perspectives on gender.
Encyclopedia of Sexuality and GenderISBN: 3319595318Publication Date: 2020Sections four and five of this book may be especially pertinent: Section four, Gender, reviews topics such as what is gender and gender identity, cross-cultural aspects of gender and gender identity, and sex reassignment. Lastly, section five, Sexuality and Gender Science, reviews the history of sexuality and gender science (including its major contributors), typical research methodologies, and research societies and journals whose focus is related to sexuality and/or gender research. .
Gender: Roles & Rights by ISBN: 3319595318Publication Date: 2018This series offers in-depth, single volumes that follow the debate, or path, to a decision on a controversial topic as it evolved throughout history. Each volume offers a wide range of opinion essays and editorials, speeches, and journal articles and expert analysis.
