Theorists have posited that investment in production has a radical impact on women's gender-role attitudes, whereas investment in reproduction exerts a conservative influence. Informed by an interactive approach to understanding the effects of racism and sexism, this article explores the commonalities and differences in Black and White women's gender-role attitudes, and assesses the applicability to Black women of the investment-in-production and investment-in-reproduction hypothesis. The data in part supported the contention that this hypothesis would be more valid for White than Black women. The article concludes that the exclusion of race (and class) from our analyses impedes and distorts the development of feminist theory.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Almquist, Elizabeth.
1979. “Black Women and the Pursuit of Equality.” Pp. 430-50 in Women: A Feminist Perspective, edited by Jo Freeman. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield.
2.
Bond, Jean Carey
and Pat Peery. 1970. “Is the Black Male Castrated?” Pp. 113-118 in The Black Woman: An Anthology, edited by Toni Cade. New York: New American Library.
3.
Cherlin, Andrew
and Pamela Walters.1981. “Trends in United States Men's and Women's Sex-Role Attitudes: 1972-1978.”American Sociological Review46:453-60.
4.
Davis, Angela.
1981. Women, Race and Class.New York: Random House.
5.
Dill, Bonnie Thorton.1979. “The Dialectics of Black Womanhood.”Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society4:535-55.
6.
Dill, Bonnie Thorton.1983. “Race, Class, and Gender: Prospects for an All-Inclusive Sisterhood.”Feminist Studies9:131-49.
7.
Eisenstein, Zillah.
1981. The Radical Future of Liberal Feminism.New York: Longman.
8.
Fulenwider, Claire Knoche.
1980. Feminism in American Politics.New York: Praeger.
9.
Gilkes, Chery Townsend.
1979. “Black Women's Work as Deviance: Social Sources of Racial Antagonism Within Contemporary Feminism.” Working Paper No. 66. Center for Research on Women, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
10.
Gilkes, Chery Townsend.
1986. “Approaches to Social Change: Racial-Ethnic Women's Community Work.” Paper presented at the Summer Research Institute on Race and Gender, Memphis State University, Memphis, TN.
11.
Gordon, Milton.
1964. Assimilation in American Life.New York: Oxford University Press.
12.
Gump, Janice Porter.1975. “Comparative Analysis of Black Women's and White Women's Sex-Role Attitudes.”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology43:858-63.
13.
Gump, Janice Porter.
1980. “Reality and Myth: Employment and Sex-Role Ideology in Black Women.” Pp. 349-80 in The Psychology of Women: Directions in Research, edited by Julia Sherman and Florence L. Denmark. New York: Psychological Dimensions.
14.
Hartmann, Heidi.
1983. “Changes in Women's Economic and Family Roles in Post World War II United States.” Paper presented at the Conference on Women and Structural Transformation: The Crises of Work and Family Life, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
15.
Hermons, Willa Mae.
1980. “The Women's Liberation Movement: Understanding Black Women's Attitudes.” Pp. 285-99 in The Black Woman, edited by La Frances Rogers-Rose. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
16.
Hershey, Marjorie Randon.1978. “Racial Differences in Sex-Role Identities and Sex Stereotyping: Evidence Against a Common Assumption.”Social Science Quarterly58:583-96.
17.
Hooks, Bell.
1981. Ain't I a Woman?Boston: South End Press.
18.
Hooks, Bell.
1984. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center.Boston: South End Press.
19.
Jones, Jacqueline.1982. “My Mother Was Much of a Woman: Black Women, Work, and the Family Under Slavery.”Feminist Studies8:235-69.
20.
Joseph, Gloria.
1981. “Black Mothers and Daughters: Their Roles and Functions in American Society.” Pp. 75-126 in Common Differences, by Gloria Joseph and Jill Lewis. New York: Doubleday Anchor.
21.
King, Mae C.1975. “Oppression and Power: The Unique Status of the Black Woman in the American Political System.”Social Science Quarterly56:116-28.
22.
Ladner, Joyce.
1971. Tomorrow's Tomorrow.Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
23.
Macke, Anne Statham
, Paula Hudis, and Don Larrick. 1977. “Sex-Role Attitudes and Employment Among Women: A Dynamic Model of Change and Continuity.” Paper prepared for the Secretary of Labor's Invitational Conference on the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Women, Washington, DC.
24.
Malson, Michelene Ridley.1983. “Black Women's Sex Roles: The Social Context for a New Ideology.”Journal of Social Issues39:101-13.
25.
Mason, Karen Oppenheim
, John L. Czajka, and Sara Arber.1976. “Change in U.S. Women's Sex-Role Attitudes, 1964-1974.”American Sociological Review81:573-96.
26.
Moynihan, Daniel.
1965. The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. Office of Policy Planning and Research, Department of Labor.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
27.
Palmer, Phyllis Marynick.1983. “White Women/Black Women: The Dualism of Female Identity and Experience in the United States.”Feminist Studies9:152-70.
28.
Petchesky, Rosalind Pollack.
1983. “Reproduction and Class Divisions Among Women.” Pp.221-41 in Class, Race, and Sex: The Dynamics of Control, edited by Amy Swerdlow and Hanna Lessinger. Boston: G. K. Hall.
29.
Ransford, Edward H.
and Jon Miller.1983. “Race, Sex and Feminist Outlooks.”American Journal of Sociology48:46-59.
30.
Smith, Althea
and Abigail J. Stewart.1983. “Approaches to Studying Racism and Sexism in Black Women's Lives.”Journal of Social Issues39:1-15.
31.
Smith, Ralph E.
1979. “The Movement of Women into the Labor Force.” Pp. 1-29 in The Subtle Revolution, edited by Ralph E. Smith. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
32.
Spitze, Glenna D.1978. “Labor Force and Work Attitudes: A Longitudinal Test of the Role Hiatus Hypothesis.”Journal of Marriage and the Family40:471-79.
33.
Stack, Carol B.
1974. All Our Kin.New York: Harper & Row.
34.
Staples, Robert.
1971. “The Myth of Black Matriarchy.” Pp. 149-59 in The Black Family: Essays and Studies, edited by Robert Staples. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
35.
Terrelonge, Pauline.
1984. “Feminist Consciousness and Black Women.” Pp. 557-67 in Women: A Feminist Perspective, edited by Jo Freeman. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield.
36.
Thorton, Arland
, Duane F. Alwin, and Donald Camburn.1983. “Causes and Consequences of Sex-Role Attitudes and Attitude Change.”American Sociological Review48:211-27.
37.
Thorton, Arland
, Duane F. Alwin, Donald Camburn. and Deborah Freedman.1979. “Changes in the Sex-Role Attitudes of Women, 1962-1977: Evidence from a Panel Study.”American Sociological Review44:831-42.
38.
Weitzman, Lenore J.
1984. “Sex-Role Socialization: A Focus on Women.” Pp. 157-237 in Women: A Feminist Perspective, edited by Jo Freeman. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield.
39.
Welter, Barbara.
1978. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” Pp. 313-33 in The American Family in Social-Historical Perspective, edited by Michael Gordon. New York: St. Martin's.
40.
White, Debra Gray.
1985. Ain't I a Woman?New York: W. W. Norton.
41.
White, E. Frances.1984. “Listening to the Voices of Black Feminism.”Radical America18:7-25.
