A balanced approach to the gender course — providing research related to both men and women's issues and encouraging critical thinking about topics that are relevant to all people.

This book examines the topic of gender — the behaviors and attitudes that relate (but are not entirely congruent with) biological sex. Research and scholarship form the basis of this book, providing the material for a critical review and an attempt at an overall picture of gender from a psychological perspective. To accent the relevance of research findings in vivid detail, Brannon supplements the review of scholarly research with personal, narrative accounts of gender-relevant aspects of people's lives as well as highlights from a cross-cultural perspective of gender. The personal narrative and diversity highlights help to balance the research-based scholarship with the personal experience of gender.