White Femininity

Race, Gender & Power This book contributes to the emerging field of white studies – an examination of the notion that whiteness is not an invisible category, but is itself a category of race. Looking at hegemonic white femininity in particular, the author examines the ways in which white women are coerced and compelled to demonstrate an allegiance to whiteness through their choice of intimate partners, sexual orientation, participation in racial inequality and complicity with white feminine beauty standards. This qualitative and theoretical research points to the fundamental role that white femininity plays in securing and reproducing whiteness as a location of white power and privilege.