The original papers collected here examine the role of women in seventeen different countries and cultures in many different areas of the world. Each essay is written by a contributor who offers an insider's point of view of women's experience in that culture and provides both a brief historical background sketch and a detailed life-span exposition of women's experiences from infancy through old age. The profiles range from detailed descriptions of women in traditional societies through in-depth examinations of women's rapidly evolving roles in the advanced industrial societies.