Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T20:16:10.826Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Congressional Enactments of Race–Gender: Toward a Theory of Raced–Gendered Institutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2003

MARY HAWKESWORTH
Affiliation:
Rutgers University

Abstract

Investigating reports of marginalization from Congresswomen of color, I examine legislative practices in the 103rd and 104th Congresses to illuminate dynamics that structure hierarchies on the basis of race and gender. I advance an account of racing–gendering as a political process that silences, stereotypes, enforces invisibility, excludes, and challenges the epistemic authority of Congresswomen of color. Racing–gendering constitutes a form of interested bias operating in Congress, which has important implications for understandings of the internal operations of political institutions, the policy priorities of Congresswomen of color, the substantive representation of historically underrepresented groups, and the practice of democracy in the United States.

Type
ARTICLES
Copyright
© 2003 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aberbach Joel and Jack Walker. 1973 Race in the City. Boston: Little, Brown.
Acker Joan. 1989 Hierarchies, Job Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations. Gender and Society 4 (June): 139–58.Google Scholar
Acker Joan. 1992 Gendered Institutions: From Sex Roles to Gendered Institutions. Contemporary Sociology 21 (September): 565–69.Google Scholar
Aldrich John H. 1995 A Model of Legislature with Two Parties and a Committee System. Positive Theories of Congressional Institutions, ed. Kenneth Shepsle and Barry Weingast Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Armey Dick. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3444, March 22.
Arnold R. Douglas. 1990 The Logic of Congressional Action. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Asher Herbert. 1973 The Learning of Legislative Norms. American Political Science Review 67 (June): 499 513.Google Scholar
Bratton Kathleen and Kerry Haynie. 1999 Agenda Setting and Legislative Success in State Legislatures: The Effects of Race and Gender. Journal of Politics 61 (August): 658–79.Google Scholar
Brown Corrinne. 1998 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, March 12.
Brown J. Larry. 1995 Key Welfare Reform Issues: The Empirical Evidence. Center on Hunger, Poverty, and Nutritional Policy, Tufts University.
Bryce Herringoton and Alan Warrick. 1977 Black Women in Electoral Politics. A Portrait of Marginality, ed. Marianne Githens and Jewell Prestage. New York: David McKay, 395 400.
Canon David. 1999 Race, Redistricting, and Representation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Center for American women and Politics. 2002 Fact Sheet: Women of Color in Elective Office, 2002, New Brunswick, NJ.
Chenowith Helen. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3720, March 23.
Clapp Charles. 1963 The Congressman: His Work as He Sees It. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
Clayton Eva. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H1684, February 13.
Clayton Eva. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3445, March 22.
Clayton Eva. 1995c Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3511, March 22.
Clayton Eva. 1997 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, November 4.
Cockburn Cynthia. 1991 In the Way of Women: Men's Resistance to Sex Equality in Institutions. New York: ILR Press.
Collins Barbara Rose. 1998 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, February 18.
Collins Cardiss. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3348, March 21.
Collins Cardiss. 2000 Interview, April 14.
Cox Gary and Mathew McCubbins. 1993 Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the House. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cramer Walsh Katherine. 2002 Enlarging Representation: Women Bringing Marginalized Perspectives to Floor Debate in the House of Representatives. Women Transforming Congress ed. C. S. Rosenthal. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Crenshaw Kimberle. 1989 Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum 1989: 139–67.Google Scholar
Crenshaw Kimberle. 1997 Beyond Racism and Misogyny. Women Transforming Politics, ed. Cathy Cohen, Kathy Jones and Joan Tronto. New York: New York University Press.
Connell Robert. 1987 Gender and Power. Stanford, CA.: Stanford University Press.
Cunningham Randy. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3446, March 21.
Darling Marsha. 1998 African American Women in State Elective Office in the South.Women and Elective Office, ed. Sue Thomas and Clyde Wilcox. New York: Oxford University Press.
Deering Christopher and Steven Smith. 1997 Committees in Congress. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
Dodson Debra and Susan Carroll. 1991 Reshaping the Agenda: Women in State Legislatures. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for American Women and Politics.
Dodson Debra et al. 1995 Voices, Views, and Votes: The Impact of Women in the 103rd Congress. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for American Women and Politics.
Dred Scott v. Sanford, 19 How. (1857) 393.
Duerst Lahti Georgia and Rita Mae Kelly. 1995 Gender Power, Leadership and Governance. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Fanon Frantz. [1952] 1968 Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press.
Fenno Richard F. Jr. 1962 The House Appropriations Committee as a Political System. American Political Science Review 56 (June): 310–24.Google Scholar
Fenno Richard F. Jr. 1966 The Power of the Purse. Boston: Little, Brown.
Fenno Richard F. Jr. 1973 Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown.
Fenno Richard F. Jr. 1978 Home Style. Boston: Little, Brown.
Fenno Richard F. Jr. 1997 Learning to Govern. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
Flammang Janet. 1997 Women's Political Voice. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Foner Eric. 1988 Reconstruction, 1863–1877. New York: Harper and Row
Franks Gary. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H15521, December 21.
Fraser Nancy. 1989 Women, Welfare, and the Politics of Need Interpretation. Unruly Practices, ed. Nancy Fraser. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Gertzog Irwin. 2002 Women's Changing Pathways to the U.S. House of Representatives: Widows, Elites, and Strategic Politicians. Women Transforming Congress, ed. C. S. Rosenthal. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Gilens Martin. 1995 Racial Attitudes and the Opposition to Welfare. Journal of Politics 57 (November): 994 1014.Google Scholar
Gilens Martin. 1996 Race Coding and White Opposition to Welfare. American Political Science Review 90 (September): 593 604.Google Scholar
Gilligan Carol. 1982 In A Different Voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Githens Marianne and Jewell Prestage. 1977 A Minority within a Minority. Portraits of Marginality: The Political Behavior of the American Woman, ed. Marianne Githens and Jewell Prestage. New York: David McKay, 339–45.
Griffiths Martha. 1996 Women of Congress, ed. Marcy Kaptur. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
Haley Alex. 1964 The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books.
Hall Richard. 1996 Participation in Congress. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Hamilton Charles. 1977 De-racialization: Examination of a Political Strategy. First World (March–April): 3 5.Google Scholar
Hammonds Evelynn. 1997 Toward a Genealogy of Black Female Sexuality: The Problematic of Silence. Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures, ed. M. Jaqui Alexander and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. New York: Routledge.
Haney Lopez Ian. 1996 White by Law. New York: New York University Press.
Hawkesworth Mary, Debra Dodson, Katherine Kleeman, Kathleen Casey and Krista Jenkins. 2001 Legislating by Women and for Women: A Comparison of the 103rd and 104th Congresses. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for American Women and Politics.
Hedge David, James Button and Mary Spear. 1996 Accounting for the Quality of Black Legislative Life: The View from the States. American Journal of Political Science 40 (February): 82 98.Google Scholar
Herzog Donald. 1989 Happy Slaves: A Critique of Consent Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hill Collins Patricia. 1990 Black Feminist Thought. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
Holmes Norton Eleanor. 1997 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, November 4.
Hosansky David. 1996 Shuster: A Veteran Road Warrior. Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, December 14: 3395.Google Scholar
Hurtado Aida. 1996 The Color of Privilege: Three Blasphemies on Race and Feminism. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Jackson Lee Sheila. 1995a Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3554, March 22.
Jackson Lee Sheila. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3872, March 28.
Jackson Lee Sheila. 1998 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, July 19.
Jewell Malcolm E. and Whicker Marcia Lynn. 1994 Legislative Leadership in the American States. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Jeydel Alana and Andrew Taylor. 2003 Are Women Legislators Less Effective? Evidence from the U.S. House in the 103rd–105th Congress. Political Research Quarterly 56 (March): 19 27.Google Scholar
Johnson Eddie Bernice. 1997 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, October 31.
Kathlene Lyn. 1989 Uncovering the Political Impacts of Gender: An Exploratory Study. Western Political Quarterly 42 (November): 397 421.Google Scholar
Kathlene Kyn. 1994 Power and Influence in State Legislative Policymaking: The Interaction of Gender and Position in Committee Hearing Debates. American Political Science Review 88 (September): 560 76.Google Scholar
Kelly Rita Mae and Lahti Georgia Duerst. 1995 Gender Power, Leadership and Governance. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Kenney Sally. 1996 New Research on Gendered Political Institutions, Political Research Quarterly 49 (June): 445–66.Google Scholar
Lieberman Robert C. 1995 Race and the Organization of Welfare Policy. In Paul E. Peterson, ed., Classifying by Race. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 157–87.
King Mae. 1977 The Politics of Sexual Stereotypes. A Portrait of Marginality, ed. Marianne Githens and Jewell Prestage. New York. David McKay 346–65.
Kingdon John. 1984 Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. Boston Little, Brown
Kingston Jack. 1996 Congressional Record 104th Cong., 2d sess., p. H7749, July 17.
Locke Mamie. 1997 From 3/5ths to Zero: Implications of the Constitution for African American Women, 1787–1870. Women Transforming Politics, ed. Cathy Cohen, Kathy Jones and Joan Tronto. New York: New York University Press.
Lorde. Audre. 1984 Sister Outsider. New York: Crossing Press.
Lublin David. 1997 The Paradox of Representation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
March James G. and Olsen John P. 1989 Rediscovering Institutions. New York: Free Press, 1989.
Matthews Donald. 1959 The Folkways of the United States Senate: Conformity to Group Norms and Legislative Effectiveness. American Political Science Review 53 (December): 1064–89.Google Scholar
Matthews Donald. 1960 U.S. Senators and Their World. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Mayhew David. 1974 Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
McInnis Scott. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3349, March 21.
McKinney Cynthia. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3741, March 24.
McKinney Cynthia. 1997 Center for American Women and Politics Interview. October 29.
Meek Carrie. 1995a Center for American Women and Politics Interview, June 27.
Meek Carrie. 1995b Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H15524, December 21.
Meek Carrie. 1997 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, October 31.
Mettler Suzanne. 2000 States Rights, Women's Obligations: Contemporary Welfare Reform in Historical Perspective. Women and Politics 21 (1): 1 34.Google Scholar
Meyers Jan. 1993 Congressional Record, 103rd Cong., 1st sess., p. H1084, March 10.
Mink Gwendolyn. 1995 The Wages of Motherhood: Inequality in the Welfare State. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Mink Patsy. 1995 Congressional Record. 104th Cong., 1st sess., pp. H1685–1686, February 13.
Mink Patsy. 1997 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, November 4.
Mosely-Braun Carol. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. S19095, December 21.
National League of Cities. 2002 Women of Color in Local Elective Offices [includes all cities with populations greater than 10,000]
Nelson Candace and Marta Tienda. 1997 The Structuring of Hispanic Ethnicity: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Challenging Fronteras, ed. Mary Romero, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Vilma Ortiz. New York: Routledge, 7 29.
Oleszek Walter. 2001 Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process. 5th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Ornstein Norman, Mann Thomas E. and Michael Malbin. 1996 Vital Statistics on Congress, 1995–1996. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 218.
Payne James. 1980 Show Horses and Work Horses in the U.S. House of Representatives. Polity 12: 428–56.Google Scholar
plessy v. Fergusan, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
Quadagno Jill. 1994 The Color of Welfare: How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rohde David. 1991 Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rosenthal Cindy Simon. 2002 Women Transforming Congress. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Roybal-Allard Louise. 1996 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 2d sess., H7508, July 12.
Siltanen Janet. 1994 Locating Gender: Occupational Segregation, Wages and Domestic Responsibilities. London: UCL Press.
Simon Rosenthal Cindy. 2000 Gender Styles in State Legislative Committees: Raising Their Voices and Resolving Conflict. Women and Politics 21 (2): 21 45.Google Scholar
Smooth Wendy. 2001a African American Women State Legislators: The Impact of Gender and Race on Legislative Influence. Ph.D. diss. University of Maryland
Smooth Wendy. 2001b African American Women State Legislators and the Politics of Legislative Incorporation. Prepared for the Center for the Center for American Women and Politics Forum for Women State Legislators, November 15–8
Sparks Holloway. 1997 Dissident Citizenship: Democratic Theory, Political Courage, and Activist Women. Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 12 (December): 74 109.Google Scholar
Spellman Elizabeth. 1988 Inessential Woman: Problems of Exclusion in Feminist Thought. Boston: Beacon Press.
Spivak Gayatri. 1988 Can the Subaltern Speak? Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, ed. Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg. Champaign–Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Steinberg Ronnie. 1992 Gender on the Agenda: Male Advantage in Organizations. Contemporary Sociology 21 (September): 576–81.Google Scholar
Swain Carol. 1993 Black Faces, Black Interests. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Swain Carol. 2000 Minorities in the House: What Can We Expect in the Next Century? The U.S. House of Representatives: Reform or Rebuild ed. Joseph Zimmerman and Wilma Rule. Westport, CT: Praeger, 36 50.
Swers Michele. 2002 The Difference Women Make: The Policy Impact of Women in Congress. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Tamerius Karin. 1995 Sex, Gender, and Leadership in the Representation of Women. Gender Power, Leadership and Governance, ed. Georgia Duerst-Lahti and Rita Mae Kelly. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Taylor Rupert. 1996 Political Science Encounters ‘Race' and ‘Ethnicity. Racial and Ethnic Studies 19 (October): 884–95.Google Scholar
Thomas Sue. 1994 How Women Legislate. New York: Oxford University Press.
Velazquez Nydia. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H15520, December 21.
Vucanovich Barbara. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H2587, March 3.
Waters Maxine. 1995 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 1st sess., p. H3578, March 23.
Waters Maxine. 1996 Congressional Record, 104th Cong., 2d sess., p. H7749, July 17.
Wilson William J. 1980 The Declining Significance of Race. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Woolsey Lynn. 1998 Center for American Women and Politics Interview, February 12.
Yanow Dvora. 2003 Constructing “Race” and “Ethnicity” in America: Category-Making in Public Policy and Administration. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
Zuckerman Diana. 2000 Welfare Reform in America. Journal of Social Issues Winter 587–99.
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.