Premium
“proper women” and city pleasures: gender, class, and contested meanings in La Paz
Author(s) -
GILL LESLEY
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1993.20.1.02a00040
Subject(s) - hegemony , femininity , gender studies , sociology , ideal (ethics) , context (archaeology) , ethnic group , class (philosophy) , cultural hegemony , social class , political science , politics , epistemology , anthropology , law , history , philosophy , archaeology
This article explores the manner in which changing class relationships sustain, alter, and recreate the social, cultural, and economic distinctions between women in La Paz. It examines female fashion as a cultural practice that is increasingly contested by women of various class and ethnic backgrounds as they struggle to impose, defend, and define class‐based notions of femininity. The article relates their struggles to the selective manipulation of “tradition” by social actors in the context of their experiences in the present. It is argued that hegemonic notions of the ideal woman are not inclusive of all women and are constantly contested in the process of class, gender, and ethnic formation. Hegemony is a historically specific creative process that encompasses domination as well as incorporation and marginalization and that must be constantly defended against oppositional beliefs and practices. [gender, class, Bolivia, hegemony]