Gendering Women: Identity and Mental Wellbeing through the Lifecourse

Engaging and accessible, Gendering Women explores the constructions of femininity and how they fundamentally affect women’s mental well being through the lifecourse. Drawing on accounts from women of growing up and growing older in the north of England, the book shows how experiences of becoming and being a woman—in family life, education, employment, motherhood, and in the presence of violence—both enable and erode self-confidence and self-esteem. The volume draws a critical link between contemporary gender theory and the lived experiences of women today and will appeal to students and scholars in sociology and the broader social sciences.