Book cover of Women of Discriminating Taste: White Sororities and the Making of American Ladyhood

Book description

Women of Discriminating Taste examines the role of historically white sororities in the shaping of white womanhood in the twentieth century. As national women’s organizations, sororities have long held power on college campuses and in American life. Yet the groups also have always been conservative in nature and inherently discriminatory,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Women of Discriminating Taste as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I’m a self-professed history junkie, and this recent contribution to the history of white Greek life picks up more or less where Turk left off.

The most fascinating and important argument that this book makes is that white southern sororities fundamentally influenced the definition of femininity in the South in the mid-twentieth century.

Understanding how and why southern sororities constructed womanhood before the advent of social media goes a long way in explaining why sorority women at universities in Oregon and Minnesota look and act eerily like sorority women at Ole Miss and the University of Alabama.

If you love Women of Discriminating Taste...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like Women of Discriminating Taste?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Women of Discriminating Taste.

Browse books like Women of Discriminating Taste

Book cover of American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus
Book cover of Bound By a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870-1920
Book cover of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,343

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Women of Discriminating Taste, you might also like...

Book cover of Let Evening Come

Let Evening Come by Yvonne Osborne,

After her mother is killed in a rare Northern Michigan tornado, Sadie Wixom is left with only her father and grandfather to guide her through young adulthood. Miles away in western Saskatchewan, Stefan Montegrand and his Indigenous family are displaced from their land by multinational energy companies. They are taken…

Book cover of The Sarcophagus Scroll

The Sarcophagus Scroll by Kat Miller,

A dark academia mystery thriller set in contemporary St Andrews, with snappy dialogue and a strong sense of place.

When Ellie Meikle moves to the picturesque seaside town of St Andrews to study for her PhD in Ancient History, she soon feels as if she has made a mistake. She…

5 book lists we think you will like!