Ladies First: Race, Class, and the Contradictions of a Powerful Femininity

Abstract

This article helps to fill a gap in the literature on the role of femininities in reproducing inequality. In particular, this research examines one version of femininity—ladyhood—and the ways that it is shaped by racism, classism, heterosexism, and sexism. Women may enact ladyhood in pursuit of a “powerful femininity.” Data come from an ethnography on an interracial, elite women's social change organization, which made ladyhood part of its meanings and practices. Specifically, by enforcing ladyhood, the women effectively reproduced their own subordination. Their “power” was an illusion. I explain their allegiance to ladyhood by placing the organization in the historical context of racism and class struggle.