SECTION 1. THE GENDER PERSPECTIVE: AN INTRODUCTION 1. Differences between gender and sex 2. Feminist concepts: gender, patriarchy, and power SECTION 2. GENDER THEORIES 3. Functionalist perspective 4. Conflict perspective 5. Feminist perspective SECTION 3. GENDER AND HISTORY 6. The woman in Greece and Rome. 7. Christianity and Women in the Middle Ages 8. Assessments and Presence of Women in the Modern Age 9. Women in the Contemporary Age: contributions and fundamental changes SECTION 4. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE FAMILY 10. The patriarchal family 11. Detraditionalization of family 12. Fertility and contraception: the demographic transition 13. The social functions of the family 14. Inequality in the family 15. The feminist perspective SECTION 5. WELFARE, GENDER, FAMILY AND POLITICS 16. Different models 17. Criticism from a gender perspective SECTION 6. GENDER REGIMES 18. Gender, ideology and social policies 19. Domestic gender regimes vs. public gender regimes