Constructing Gender, Class, and Race: Symbolic Messages in Etiquette Books

• In Event: 324 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. RGC and Identity

Abstract

Sociologists such as Norbert Elias and Erving Goffman have been interested in what etiquette books say about manners and public interactions within a society. In this paper we expand on their insights by examining a sample of contemporary etiquette books and their chapters on appearances and clothing. We examine the books for implicit discussions of gender, class and race using content analysis. Drawing on Goffman’s arguments about deference and demeanor we argue that etiquette books encourage readers to create gendered and classed demeanors that will allegedly gain deference from others. The majority of books emphasize conventional understandings of what it means to be masculine and feminine through the lens of the white middle class experience. Through advice on appearances, specifically grooming practices and clothing style and fashion, men and women are taught to be “gentlemen” and “ladies.” Men should be clean cut, while women need to be modest. We found that in terms of class, the books emphasize the display and consumption of particular symbols associated with the upper and middle classes. A majority of the books assume a white reader, while the books directed towards African Americans reinforced messages about respectability. Overall, we argue that etiquette books spread messages that reinforce hegemonic gender ideologies and class and racial privilege by encouraging readers to craft gendered, classed, and raced demeanors that will allegedly gain deference from others. We discuss the implications of the paper for the study of gender, class, and race in relationship to cultural objects and interpersonal interactions.

Authors

• Matthew Gougherty, Indiana University-Bloomington

• Jennifer Puentes, Indiana University-Bloomington