Evolutions of Cultural Contractual Understanding: Exploring Biracial Women's Communicative Experiences

Abstract

Building off of the limited research on multiracial communicative experiences, this research explores how social-cultural norms situated within macrolevel societal structures (e.g., one-drop rule) are negotiated in the everyday lives of 20 college-aged multiracial women. In an effort to obtain an understanding the nature of the participant's lived experience as a multiracial woman, a semistructured interview protocol was used and data analysis was consistent with phenomenological methodology as outlined by McCracken (1988) and the work of Owen (1984). Using cultural contracts theory as our theoretical frame, the results of the thematic analysis provided valuable insight into the lived experiences of women as they negotiate their identities via different cultural contracts over time. The authors conclude with a discussion of research and theoretical implications.

KEYTERMS:

• cultural contracts theory
• identity
• multiracial
• women

Notes

¹Previous research has revealed how identity projects differ greatly by gender identity (Archer, 1989; Archer & Waterman, 1988; Cramer, 2000). In an effort to not conflate the distinctive socialization practices of differing gender orientations, we focused on the experience of multiracial women.

²To prepare for data collection, the multiracial woman conducting the interviews was interviewed by another member of the research team utilizing the established interview protocol. This was done to familiarize the interviewer with the process and also increase the awareness of how her own lived experiences might influence the information gained through the different interview sessions.

³This point of communicative lived experience illustrates the complex ways in which women's standpoints are informed by cultural identities beyond gender and dualistic conceptualizations of racial identity (Collins, 1998).