this market, and have the most women participants. The upper levels of the hierarchy have only men participants. In this study, Maher and Daly refute the idea that the emergence of the crack economy has afforded emancipation and opportunity for women; gender inequality has continued to be a presence even in the informal economy. The only change Maher and Daly found brought by women's liberation appears to be a decrease in the number of women relying on male boyfriends or husbands to sell drugs. Lisa Maher continues her research on the Bushwick drug economy in her 1997 book Sexed Work. She reiterates her findings with Daly on the low-income, low-power participation of women in the drug market, but she also focuses on the sex work women more commonly perform to generate income. Since the influx of cheap crack into the market, Maher finds out that more women have been induced to participate in street-level prostitution, driving up competition and driving down prices, further disadvantaging the women, especially low-income women of color who typically do not attract high-paying clients anyway. Furthermore, while the influx of crack lowered prices significantly, Maher's book does not support the idea that women frequently exchange sex directly for drugs. Women's strategies for coping with inequalities Although women can be disadvantaged in the drug economy, they find ways to cope with these inequalities. In Sexed Work, Lisa Maher states that some women adopt a “badass” or a “crazy” persona in order to survive amongst violent male counterparts. Maher and Susan L. Hudson, in a literature review of the women in the drug economy, explain that women are able to use their image as “feminine”, “vulnerable”, or "innocent" to hide from police suspicions and sell drugs successfully. They also may be able to use their “feminine” social and communication skills to defuse potentially violent situations. Maher and Hudson also find that many women can cope with limited opportunities for generating income in the drug economy by “diversifying”: they make money through a flexible mix of sex work, welfare, formal sector jobs, and drug selling. References Drugs in the United States drug economy in the United States