Gender is a social position occupied by men and women and an attribute of social structures including the sexual division of labor, normative heterosexuality, and war and militarism. This paper focuses on the initiatives and responses that states take with regard to gender, race, and ethnicity. In particular, it explores 20th century efforts to improve the political presence of groups constituted by gender, culture, caste, and race in such countries as India, the United States, France, Brazil, and Rwanda. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]