This book is concerned with explaining variation in the status of women. The author, after measuring over 50 aspects of status, first concludes that status is not a unitary concept. Therefore the author looks at 10 different domains of status. Many traditional explanations are not supported; most support is found for the influence of social complexity which generally lowers female status.

This chapter is concerned with the conditions under which task allocation between males and females changes in a way that alters the imbalance of power favoring males. The author finds that when female contribution to subsistence is high or low, female status is low, but when female and male contribution to subsistence is more balanced, there is greater equality between male and female status.

This article presents a review of the scholarly work relating to marital quality. Cross-cultural testing of various predictors of marital qualtiy are presented singlely as well as multiple regression analyses.

This paper investigates ritual related to the female reproductive cycle. The author examines two types of ritual female pollution-avoidance ritual. meant to differentiate sex roles in a society, and male ritual (including couvade) associated with the female reproductive cycle, meant to minimize sex differentiation. Empirical analysis reveals several societal characteristics associated with each of these two types of ritual, suggesting that ritual can be used to encourage sex role rigidity or flexibility.

This book explores the factors that affect sexual inequality. The author first focuses on the symbolic representations of a culture's "sex-role plan," or how male and female power is scripted in different societies. The author then tests the relationships bewteen sexual inequality and variables like subsistence strategy, division of labor, and menstrual and sex taboos. The bases of female power and the rise of male dominance are also discussed.

This article builds upon gender inequality theory to examine childhood gender inequality in preindustrial societies. Multivariate and cluster analysis are used.

This book discusses the role of women cross-culturally. The authors use a cross-cultural sample to examine the differences between men and women in contribution to subsistence as well as the social juxtaposition of the sexes in foraging, horticultural, agricultural, pastoral, and industrial societies.

This study examines Parsons' and Bales' proposition that a universal feature of social structure is gender sex role specialization of tasks. Results suggest that women contribute substantially to the subsistence economy across many domains, casting doubt on such universality.

The second and third parts of this book classify the economic systems of foraging and agricultural societies in the SCCS based on correlations between their institutions of property an distribution. These economic types are then examined for relationships with other social, political, demographic, and environmental factors in order to draw tentative conclusions regarding the origins of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. The fourth part of the book uses cross-national data to examine similar associations in industrial/service economies, and is not included here.

This article focuses on ecological correlates of sexual division in the control of resources. The author tests several ecological theories put forth by others. Sex coalitions are examined in humans, and sexual dimorphism in resource acquisition and control is discussed.