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 life course. 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.