Learning, performing, and embodying respectability in an all girls African American Catholic school

This paper explores the concept of respectability and how it is learned and embodied in an all girls African American Catholic School, Xavier University Preparatory, from the perspective of the students. It seeks to understand how their attitudes and actions about respectability and what it means to be ladylike are not only influenced by the institution, but also other schools, students, their home, and community environments as well. My research is based on focus group discussions and an in-depth interview with eleven women, ages 16 to 19 years old who are all juniors and seniors at Xavier Prep. My methodological choices as well as my theoretical framework include a variety of theories and concepts, but are mainly based on Afro-Centric Feminist Epistemology and Presentation of Self Theory. More specifically, my work grounds itself in the ideas of these women as sources of unique knowledge given the intersectionality of their race, class and gender, and as active agents they can choose to present themselves in ways to reflect standards of respectability and the image of the educated woman. Existing research generally focuses on the history of African American women and sexual propriety, and their use of education and respectability as a means to upward mobility. Through using participant narratives, this paper seeks to add to the discourse, by intertwining the ideas of African American womens history, education in Catholic schooling and the modern importance of respectability