Stacy J. Williams, Ph.D. | University of California, San Diego (original) (raw)

Papers by Stacy J. Williams, Ph.D.

The Sociological Quarterly, 2017

The literature on prefigurative politics currently suffers from an organizational bias. To reduce... more The literature on prefigurative politics currently suffers from an organizational bias. To reduce this bias, I demonstrate how the personal sphere can be prefigurative. An analysis of woman’s temperance and woman’s suffrage newspaper articles about cooking reveals that these activists advocated cooking in ways that would prefigure their visions of social change within individual families. Therefore, this article broadens the concept of prefigurative politics beyond organizations, expanding it to the home. I demonstrate that the home is a site of social movement action, where women in particular may campaign for social change.

Fathers in Work Organizations: Inequalities and Capabilities, Rationalities and Politics, eds. Mechtild Oechsle and Brigitte Liebig. Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publishers., 2017

Work-Family Dynamics: Competing Logics of Regulation, Economy and Morals, eds. Berit Brandth, Sigtona Halrynjo and Elin Kvande. London and New York: Routledge, 2017

Purpose — This study examines liberal second-wave feminists’ writings about cooking. Most scholar... more Purpose — This study examines liberal second-wave feminists’ writings about cooking. Most scholarship of liberal feminism has focused on the attempts to integrate women into previously male-dominated public spaces such as higher education, the professions, and political office. Less attention has been paid to how these feminists politicized feminized spaces such as the home. A long-standing tension between the housewife role and feminist identities has led many to theorize that feminists avoid or resent domestic tasks. However, I argue that some liberal feminists in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s suggested engaging with cooking in subversive ways that challenged patriarchal institutions and supported their political goals.

Methodology/approach — I analyze 148 articles about cooking in Ms. magazine between 1972 and 1985. I also analyze the copy and recipes within four community cookbooks published by liberal feminist organizations.

Findings — I find that liberal feminists suggested utilizing time- and labor-saving cooking methods, encouraged men to cook, and proposed that women make money from cooking. These three techniques challenged the traditional division of domestic labor, supported women’s involvement in the paid workplace, and increased women’s control of economic resources.

Originality/value of chapter — This study turns the opposition between feminism and feminized tasks on its head, showing that rather than avoiding cooking, some liberal feminists proposed ways of cooking that challenged patriarchal institutions. I show how subordinate populations can develop ways of subversively engaging with tasks that are typically seen as oppressive, using them in an attempt to advance their social position.

Keywords: Feminism; gender; cooking; food; cookbooks; feminist methodologies

Social Movement Studies, 2015

Recent studies have examined how the conventions of cultural genres help advance frames. This lin... more Recent studies have examined how the conventions of cultural genres help advance frames. This line of scholarship can be used to study how activists might popularize radical frames that fundamentally challenge widespread beliefs. In this article, I analyze how the gendered character of suffrage community cookbooks aids in frame alignment. I determine how these cookbooks advance ‘femininity frames’ that drew on widespread beliefs about femininity (and thus were more likely to resonate with a broad audience). I also examine how suffrage cookbooks advance ‘republican citizenship frames’ that argued that women should vote because they could embody the masculinized republican ideals of civic virtue and public responsibility. Republican citizenship frames challenged widespread beliefs about femininity (and thus were likely to be viewed as more radical). I find that the embrace of domestic femininity in community cookbooks amplifies femininity frames by intensifying traditional beliefs about women. Furthermore, the gendered character of community cookbooks extends republican citizenship frames to the average housewife by proving that women could incorporate new practices into their lives without abandoning their traditional feminine roles. This study enriches our understanding of the roles of cultural genres in framing, and it demonstrates how activists may try to popularize radical frames.

Contexts, 2014

I examine cookbooks and articles about cooking written by second-wave feminists. I explain how th... more I examine cookbooks and articles about cooking written by second-wave feminists. I explain how these activists brought their political ideas to the kitchen and suggested cooking in ways that could work toward greater gender equality.