$('.sub-menu ul li:first') to affect several sub-menus ?

$('.sub-menu ul li:first') to affect several sub-menus ?

I have 3 divs submenus
<div class="sub-menu">
......
</div>

and this code:
$('.sub-menu ul li:first').addClass('act').siblings().addClass('inact');

It affects only my first first-menu
Why so , and how can it affect all 3 submenus ?