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Podcast: New Books in Women's History
Episode: Sarah Hoiland, "Righteous Sisterhood: The Politics and Power of an All-Women's Motorcycle Club" (Temple UP, 2025)
Description: A righteous sister identifies herself as a biker. She might wrench, or maintain, her own bike, and she prefers to ride with other righteous sisters. Righteous Sisterhood: The Politics and Power of an All-Women's Motorcycle Club (Temple UP, 2025) is Dr. Sarah Hoilandâs insightful ethnography about an all-women motorcycle club (MC). She recounts stories of women bikers for whom riding in an MC is âan act of rebellionâ and âliberatingâ even as it constrainsâa reactionary populist version of the American Dream dipped in âgirl power.â
Granted unprecedented access to the MCâs initiation rituals, annual ceremonies, and the extensive soc...