Chapter 3 provides a definition of gender equality useful in empirical research across time and countries. The conclusion reached is that there are good reasons to employ a multifaceted view on gender equality, but what is particularly underdeveloped in current research is a focus on self-determination for women in their everyday lives rather than in, for example, elite positions of society. In short, this chapter argues: (i) that gendered aspects of education are important to consider, since levels of education affect individuals’ opportunities to reflect on their own lives and to be aware of alternative life courses, which concern cognitive aspects of self-determination; (ii) that gendered aspects of a paid job are important to consider, since a stable connection to the labor market provides individuals with an income of their own and is thus, in most of contemporary Europe, an economic foundation for self-determination; and, (iii) that domestic violence severely undermines individuals’ opportunities for self-determination, since it threatens personal security and bodily integrity in the home, where attachments to the place and to others are particularly multifaceted and strong. Previous attempts to measure gender equality by organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the EU are discussed.