Based on case studies of four organizations that were sued for pay
discrimination, Legalizing Gender Inequality challenges existing theories of
gender inequality within economic, sociological, and legal contexts. The book
argues that male-female earnings differentials cannot be explained adequately by
market forces, principles of efficiency, or society-wide sexism. Rather it
suggests that employing organizations tend to disadvantage holders of
predominantly female jobs by denying them power in organizational politics and
reproducing male cultural advantages. The book argues that the courts have, by
uncritically accepting the market explanation for wage disparity, tended to
legitimate and to legalize a crucial dimension of gender inequality.