This article explores young women's strategies for seeking personal power and resisting
gender-based stereotypes in a wealthy, suburban, White community and a working-class,
urban, community of color. Semi-structured interviews with 27 young women were used to
examine contextual variations in these gender identity negotiation processes. Both groups
of young women were acutely aware of women's subordinate social and cultural position and
this awareness contributed to some negative feelings about being female. However, their
strategies for locating strength in their identities varied by social contexts. Moreover,
the two groups of young women encountered distinct sets of stereotypes in their respective
communities. Forms of resistance to these stereotypes led to significantly different
behavior patterns. These comparisons build a richer theoretical understanding of the
contextual dimensions of young women's gender identity negotiations.
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