{"title":"“她必须是实验性的、足智多谋的、有同情心的理解”:有毒的白人女性人格与学校社会工作的表现","authors":"S. Guz, Brianna Suslovic","doi":"10.1177/08861099231157337","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we theorize toxic white femininities as a performance and persona in school social work. To develop the theory and analytic tool of “toxic white femininities,” we used critical discourse analysis to analyze school social work professional association materials from 1906 to 1936. Our analysis isolated three performances of toxic white femininities in early 1900s school social work: (1) the exclusionary social and material gains of “her” professionalization, (2) “her” reinforcement of racial-gender-class hierarchies, and (3) “her” strategic use of helper identity to mask social control. We trace how these performances coalesced into a collective professional persona, operating beyond the scope of individual practitioners. This persona institutionalized a racialized-gendered professional identity, presented in the archives as a universal “she”—white, middle class, and feminine. With private funding from white elites in the early 20th century, school social workers—constructed discursively as white women—would become the “right” profession to shape the lives of young people and guard the privileges of whiteness. We close with a discussion of “her” long shadow and contemporary performances, outlying the ways toxic white femininities operate as a form of incremental violence impacting the profession and social services.","PeriodicalId":47277,"journal":{"name":"Affilia-Feminist Inquiry in Social Work","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"“She Must Be Experimental, Resourceful, and Have Sympathetic Understanding”: toxic white femininities as a Persona and Performance in School Social Work\",\"authors\":\"S. Guz, Brianna Suslovic\",\"doi\":\"10.1177/08861099231157337\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"In this paper, we theorize toxic white femininities as a performance and persona in school social work. To develop the theory and analytic tool of “toxic white femininities,” we used critical discourse analysis to analyze school social work professional association materials from 1906 to 1936. Our analysis isolated three performances of toxic white femininities in early 1900s school social work: (1) the exclusionary social and material gains of “her” professionalization, (2) “her” reinforcement of racial-gender-class hierarchies, and (3) “her” strategic use of helper identity to mask social control. We trace how these performances coalesced into a collective professional persona, operating beyond the scope of individual practitioners. This persona institutionalized a racialized-gendered professional identity, presented in the archives as a universal “she”—white, middle class, and feminine. With private funding from white elites in the early 20th century, school social workers—constructed discursively as white women—would become the “right” profession to shape the lives of young people and guard the privileges of whiteness. We close with a discussion of “her” long shadow and contemporary performances, outlying the ways toxic white femininities operate as a form of incremental violence impacting the profession and social services.\",\"PeriodicalId\":47277,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Affilia-Feminist Inquiry in Social Work\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2023-02-19\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Affilia-Feminist Inquiry in Social Work\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"90\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099231157337\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"社会学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"Social Sciences\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Affilia-Feminist Inquiry in Social Work","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099231157337","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
“She Must Be Experimental, Resourceful, and Have Sympathetic Understanding”: toxic white femininities as a Persona and Performance in School Social Work
In this paper, we theorize toxic white femininities as a performance and persona in school social work. To develop the theory and analytic tool of “toxic white femininities,” we used critical discourse analysis to analyze school social work professional association materials from 1906 to 1936. Our analysis isolated three performances of toxic white femininities in early 1900s school social work: (1) the exclusionary social and material gains of “her” professionalization, (2) “her” reinforcement of racial-gender-class hierarchies, and (3) “her” strategic use of helper identity to mask social control. We trace how these performances coalesced into a collective professional persona, operating beyond the scope of individual practitioners. This persona institutionalized a racialized-gendered professional identity, presented in the archives as a universal “she”—white, middle class, and feminine. With private funding from white elites in the early 20th century, school social workers—constructed discursively as white women—would become the “right” profession to shape the lives of young people and guard the privileges of whiteness. We close with a discussion of “her” long shadow and contemporary performances, outlying the ways toxic white femininities operate as a form of incremental violence impacting the profession and social services.
期刊介绍:
Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work is dedicated to the discussion and development of feminist values, theories, and knowledge as they relate to social work and social welfare research, education, and practice. The intent of Affilia is to bring insight and knowledge to the task of eliminating discrimination and oppression, especially with respect to gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, and sexual and affectional preference.