Demography of Gender

Abstract

Examining the research on gender in demography makes clear that we work in a much more hopeful environment than existed just 10 years ago. We have accumulated a rich store of information on gender's connection to processes surrounding fertility and mortality. Perhaps the most positive sign is the sheer volume of work dealing with gender, and the ways that most demographers recognize gender's importance in all social processes. Gaps do remain in our understanding of gender and demographic behavior. It may be that the tools of demography are not geared to understanding the complexities of gender; more data may not necessarily give us more answers. But these gaps, then, are linked to the theoretical and methodological weaknesses in the field generally and the ways that much of the work on gender continues to follow the field instead of "imagining" something different (Dixon-Mueller and Germain 2000; see also Kertzer and Fricke 1997 and McNicoll 1992 on some of demography's other weaknesses). That issue speaks to the ways that demography might expand its tools and outlook generally—by developing new epistemologies and methodologies or at least by borrowing the findings and insights of others who approach these topics from different perspectives. Our knowledge gaps, then, are not about the problem we used to have, when gender was barely recognized as important. It is clear we will continue to move forward in our understanding of gender; if we connect to work beyond demography, we will make even more progress in understanding the powerful role of gender in demographic change.

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