CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGGRESSION IN WOMEN AND GIRLS - AN INTRODUCTION

In this introduction to the papers in the special issue of Sex Roles o n female aggression, I emphasize the range and variety of our subject and the need for a multiplicity of perspectives. In the work of the el even authors contained in this volume we can see the utility of both r elativist and universalists frameworks. I discuss the problems with id entifying aggression and violence cross-culturally and underline the i mportance of incorporating other perspectives into our theories. I als o discuss the potential advantages and shortcomings of phrasing our qu estions about women's and girls's aggression in terms of sexual differ ence.