The discipline considers in what ways historical events and periodization impact women differently from men.
These social constructions of gender throughout time are also represented as changes in the expected norms of behavior for those labeled male or female.
Those who study gender history note these changes in norms and those performing them over time and interpret what those changes say about the larger social/cultural/political climate.
Kathleen Brown has stated that there is a level of difficulty in determining a distinction between women's and gender studies as there is no singular and overarching definition of what it means to be a woman.
Since the 1960s, when the initially small field first achieved a measure of acceptance, it has gone through a number of different phases, each with its own challenges and outcomes, but always making an impact of some kind on the historical discipline.
Finally, the advent of gender theory once again challenged commonly held ideas of the discipline, including those scholars studying Women's History.
Women have multiple identities, influenced by any number of factors including race and class, and any examination of history which conflates their experiences, fails to provide an accurate picture.
One builds on twenty years of women's history scholarship, analyzing masculinity as part of larger gender and cultural processes.