Disciplining Women

In Disciplining Women, Deborah Elizabeth Whaley offers a fair and even treatment of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) history. Notably, Whaley begins her history of the black sorority with her personal connection to the organization. Although she is not a member, her sister pledged AKA in college and she has other family connections to black Greek organizations. Whaley argues that these connections to AKA critically position her as both an insider and an outsider (p. 6). Indeed, Whaley's insider/outsider status provided access to a wide array of impressive sources, including oral history interviews, chapter meetings, pledge diaries, and even rare, firsthand observations of initiation rituals. While never shying away from controversies, including hazing as well as color and class prejudice within African American fraternal organizations, Whaley treats her subjects with respect throughout. Whaley follows the sorority from its founding in 1908 to the present with an engaging interdisciplinary methodology. The benefits of this focus are most notable in Whaley's treatment of popular culture, including her reading of AKA step shows, the 2007 film Stomp the Yard, as well as Michelle Obama's induction as an honorary AKA member in 2008

AKA · Insider · Library science · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Race, History, and American Society · Religious studies · Religious Studies