This paper explores the theoretical foundations of American sex discrimination law. Traditional legal frameworks have analyzed gender issues in terms of gender difference. Yet, inder this approach, sex-based differences have been both overlooked and overvalued. In some instances, such as occupational restrictions and military service, courts have transformed biological distinctions into cultural imperatives. In other cases, such as those involving pregnancy, sex-based differences have remain unacknowledged and unaddressed. The alternative framework proposed here focuses less on gender difference than on gender disadvantage- on inequalities in the sexes' social status, political power, and economic security. Taking issues surrounding occupational restrictions, protective labor, and maternity policies as representative samples, the paper suggests how a contextual inquiry can usefully shift gender discrimination law from its focus on difference to the consequences that follow from it. For most of this nation...