Sherry Beth Ortner (born September 19, 1941) is an American cultural anthropologist and has been a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at UCLA since 2004.
Ortner grew up in a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, and attended Weequahic High School, as did Philip Roth and Richie Roberts.
Her most recent book concerns the relationship between Hollywood films and American culture.
She is currently married to Timothy D. Taylor, a Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology at UCLA.
She does not focus on societal reproduction but centers on the idea of "serious games", on resistance and transformation within a society.