PhD thesis,
Rethinking romance: Cultural construction of female gender identity at a prestigious, private university
State University of New York at Buffalo, PhD Thesis, (1996)
Abstract
This ethnographic study explores gender identity formation in higher education. This project examines the material practices and discursive narratives of white and African-American women engaged in the symbolic labor of identity construction in two student peer cultures at an academically competitive university located in the northern United States. The dissertation analyses the confluence of gender, race, and class as they are co-produced within the peer group, exploring issues of sexuality, racism, feminism, career choice, marriage, and motherhood. The data for this research was collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation. During site visits, the author lived with the participants in a college residence hall. These findings challenge and expand the work conducted by Holland and Eisenhart at two southern universities regarding undergraduate women's immersion in a culture of romance. The data presented in this dissertation reveal that women at this prestigious university do not undermine their future economic success by focusing on heterosexual relationships. The women maintain a feminist-inspired ethic regarding career choice and household labor, but envision more traditional arrangements after children. It is at this juncture of envisioned motherhood that these women thwart their labor force participation because of accommodations to conditions in society and traditional ideologies of motherhood.
