News/Research

Alum Grace Gipson Reviews Walking Raddy on Baby Dolls in New Orleans

09 Jun, 2019

Alum Grace Gipson Reviews Walking Raddy on Baby Dolls in New Orleans

Recent alum Grace Gipson recently published "The ‘Baby Dolls’ of New Orleans: Gender, Race, and Self-Creation," a review on Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans (University Press of Mississippi) in Black perspectives.

From the article:

“Is the unruly woman masker still relevant?” This question posed by Xavier University dean and professor Kim Vaz-Deville speaks to the determined nature of Black women who have always created unique performative avenues of expression that rewrite conventional narratives. Thus, it is no surprise that a community of women exists who “created a collective identity and [when residents] put on a costume that reflected their sense of themselves.” Known as “Baby Dolls” due to their personality and child-like attire of short dresses, bloomers, and bonnets, along with their pacifiers and bottles, this group emerged in the early 1900s, during the height of Jim Crow. Dissatisfied with the dismissive treatment they encountered based on their race and gender, the Baby Dolls became formidable voices in their community.

Read the review here!