Accomplishing femininity among the girls in the gang

Abstract

Sociologists and criminologists in America have had a longstanding interest in youth gangs dating back to the pioneering work of Frederick Thrasher through to the subcultural theories of the 1960s-1970s to the present. Until recently, the primary focus was on the role of male gang members. In contrast, discussions about young women's involvement in gangs, with a few notable exceptions, have been typically shallow and sexist. In this paper we examine the meanings, expressions and paradoxes of femininity as they are understood and experienced by Latina, African American and Asian-Pacific American female gang members. The analysis, based on in-depth interviews with 141 gang members, is part of a long-term study (1990-present) of youth gangs in the San Francisco Bay Area.