for their belief in this project and their sustained and insightful feed-
back on all stages of the manuscript. Anonymous reviewers' comments
on the original manuscript were also key to helping reformulate some of
my findings. Managing editor Alison Anderson and Doris Braendel also
deserve special thanks for their wonderful job of copyediting the manu-
script. I am wholly responsible for any errors or omissions that may have
occurred.

A number of friends and colleagues lent their support along the way.
Carla Freeman from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
Donna Goldstein at the University of Colorado at Boulder provided
their considerable insights from their field of cultural anthropology to
my study; in addition, Abby Scher, Perry Chang, Amy Siskind, and Susan
Pe6a'r'ce from the Graduate Faculty were sharp critics and astute readers
of earlier versions of this manuscript. Laura Cates, Aileen Gribbin, and
Mei Mei Woo were also extremely supportive friends and commenta-
tors. I am also grateful to my colleagues at SUNY/ Empire State College,
including Rhoda Miller and Douglas Johnstone, who gave me the time
and freedom to complete this project.

In addition to friends and colleagues, I would also like to acknowl-
edge my family, including Marjorie and Paul Heide, Wilbur Fried, Lisa
Gordon, and Joan Tally, who, together with Svetiana and Semyon
Elkind, provided crucial baby-sitting while I was rushing to complete
deadlines. This book owes its greatest debt to my life partner and friend,
Bill Tally. He has not only served as an editor and intellectual muse, but
provided a model for thinking critically.

Finally, my daughter Lila, who was born right after I completed the
dissertation, has been an inspiration. Her appropriation of female gen-
der identity at such an early age has served as a sobering note to her
mother on just how powerful gender roles can be. I am in debt to her,
and to my grandmother Therese Bernhard, for giving me the insight
and courage to imagine different lives for women.

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