Magnolias and microchips: Regional subcultural constructions of femininity

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Abstract
This article describes the results of recent anthropological field research and represents one of the first empirical efforts to delineate regional or subcultural differences in contemporary gender role ideology. The research described here is part of a larger, ongoing project on contemporary American gender roles. The data permit comparison of the gender role ideology of blue‐collar and “pink‐collar” white women in the South with that of comparable women in a demographically similar region of the West. Such comparison enables us to begin to del ineate what is or is not distinctive about women of the South. Using data gathered through participant observation and open‐ended interview schedules, the author shows how the women view their own lives, work, and relationships. This article presents their own emic perspectives, compares the perspectives of women in the two regional subsets—the South and the West—and concludes that differences in regional gender role ideology, while present, are less revolutionary than ardent feminists might hope and less pervasive than the moral majority might fear.

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