Skillfully synthesizing the disciplines of sociology and women's studies, this intriguing text presents major theoretical frameworks on sex and gender stratification and takes a feminist sociological approach to the study of women in society to analyze women's positions within the institutions of work, education, and the law. Incorporating theory, methodology and applications, it carries readers from the era of Enlightenment through postmodernism and includes a section on Women and Aging that illustrates the compounded effects of the interconnections among class, race, and gender issues on women as they progress through the course of life.