Book Description
RACE, CLASS, AND, GENDER, includes many interdisciplinary readings. The author's selection of very accessible articles show how race, class, and gender shape people's experiences, and help students to see the issues in an analytic, as well as descriptive way. The book also provides conceptual grounding in understanding race, class, and gender; has a strong historical and sociological perspective; and is further strengthened by conceptual introductions by the authors. Students will find the readings engaging and accessible, but may gain the most from the introduction sections that highlight key points and relate the essential concepts. Included in the collection of readings are narratives aimed at building empathy, and articles on important social issues such as prison, affirmative action, poverty, immigration, and racism, among other topics.
Customer Reviews:
An Anthology review.......2007-04-21
I'm not a huge fan of the format. It's a compilation of a whole bunch of different articles. Many are interesting, but some just whine on and on. I thought they could have done a better job for the title, but I guess it did encompass all aspects. It was well written, but just an ok book.
Avoid at all costs!!!!!!.......2005-11-03
This book is chock full of hatred and inaccuracies. I was forced to read this book for a class and was disgusted from page one. How a teacher can assign this horror for a diversity class is beyond me. If you want indoctrination, then by all means read this nonsense.
Race Class and Gender: An Anthology .......2005-09-30
this book had no writting in it if it was not new it was like new
Excellent Reading.......2004-02-20
This book was amazing in its scope and varying perspectives on issues concerning "minority" Americans. Both editors and incredible and I personally am really looking forward to reading Patricia Hill Collins' lastest book, Black Sexual Politics.
a book with historical facts.......2001-06-06
this book covers all the necessary needs for a person to have counseling training to understand people from all different ethnicity background.
Book Description
The Meaning of Difference is a text-reader about the social construction of difference as it operates in American formulations of race, sex and gender, social class, and sexual orientation. The book is based the conviction that similar processes are at work in the construction of differences of color, sex and gender, class, and sexuality and that these processes likely also apply to other master statuses such as disability. Four framework essays provide the conceptual structure for the book. Following each framework essay is a set of readings that illustrate the concepts and processes described in the essays. The readings have been selected for readability, conceptual depth, and applicability to a variety of statuses.
Customer Reviews:
Diversity Explained.......2007-09-26
A good book. Gives all sides to Diversity issues and is coupled with many first hand articles that are very interesting. Definetly worth a read if you're interested in issues of diversity.
Great articles.......2007-09-23
Very interesting book, great perspective from lots of different authors on diverse social issues such a racial inequality, gender, and sexual orientation. The framework essays are also particularly interesting - I highly recommend it for anyone interested in sociological issues!
facinating insights.......2007-07-16
This book is great for anyone who is interested in questions like why do we as Americans' see white people and black people differently. It answers questions like this for gender, race, ethnicity and disability. The first chapter is terribly dry but it sets the stage for the rest of the book which is very insightful.
(There's a bit of good history in here as well).
Great book on diversity in America.......2006-11-10
This book gives a very broad and encompassing look at many of the topics that contribute to and affect diversity and differences in America today.
College Textbook.......2005-03-04
While the text offers important thought provoking articles and essays on Race Gender and Social Issues, it is not Student friendly text. A text with such a wide array of information should offer a section of review at the end of each reading. By having a review "for students", it ensures an understanding of concepts and objectives. Furthermore, it offers students a place to review when studying for exams. I give the text a 5 star rating for the informative articles and essays but 1 star for none existing review material.
Average customer rating:
- Wow... are we not spellchecking or editing books anymore??
- Fair information, edited by a twit.
- Excellent resourse for post-modern media theory.
- Media, stereotypes, white ideologies, marginalization.
- best text reader ever for my communication major
|
Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-Reader
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Similar Items:
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ASIN: 076192261X |
Book Description
Incisive analyses of mass media – including such forms
as talk shows, MTV, the Internet, soap operas, television sitcoms, dramatic series, pornography, and advertising—enable this provocative new edition of
Gender, Race and Class in Media to engage students in critical mass media scholarship. Issues of power related to gender, race, and class are integrated into a wide range of articles examining the economic and cultural implications of mass media as institutions, including the political economy of media production, textual analysis, and media consumption.
Ten new, original essays are included in this text, along with compelling previously published articles and book chapters by both established media scholars and new voices in the field. Together with new section introductions by Gail Dines and Jean Humez, the readings provide a solid yet accessible critical introduction to mass media studies.
Features:
- Authority. Original essays
and important reprinted articles
from renowned scholars comprise this comprehensive and diverse volume
Original essaysand important reprinted articlesfrom renowned scholars comprise this comprehensive and diverse volume
- Accessibility. Work in cultural studies and queer theory is made accessible to undergraduate students
. Work in cultural studies and queer theory is made accessible to undergraduate students
- Activist Philosophy. Extensive bibliography and media resources encourage conscientious activism.
. Extensive bibliography and media resources encourage conscientious activism.
- Integrated analysis. Race is examined throughout the text rather than treated in a separate chapter.
Race is examined throughout the text rather than treated in a separate chapter.
Original essaysand important reprinted articlesfrom renowned scholars comprise this comprehensive and diverse volume . Work in cultural studies and queer theory is made accessible to undergraduate students . Extensive bibliography and media resources encourage conscientious activism. Race is examined throughout the text rather than treated in a separate chapter.
New to the Second Edition:
- Expanded coverage of "queer" representations in mass media
- New section introductions provide readers with a guide for each section
- New section on the violence debates and a new section on the Internet
- Two sections devoted to consumerism, marketing, and advertising
Recommended for courses in mass media, feminist theory, race, class, and gender, and social theory in the Sociology, Communication, and Women’s Studies disciplines. Also recommended as a general reference title for scholars and anyone interested in the representation of race, class, and gender in the media.
Customer Reviews:
Wow... are we not spellchecking or editing books anymore??.......2007-06-21
First, let me say that the premise of each article was great for a 400- or 500-level college course and prompted many heated discussions.
But, along the lines of the other reviewer... how are we to take it seriously when we come across dozens of grammatical errors, missing words (the most prevalent error) and punctuation disasters? It read as though the articles were submitted, read by a third-grader and then stuffed hurriedly into the book for publication. A quick read by the "editors" would have found the vast majority of errors.
This is not something isolated, for 3 out of the 4 textbooks I have been assigned this summer session have dozens (yes, "dozens") of grammatical, typographical and punctuation disasters -- books well into their 2nd, 4th and 7th editions. No wonder kids graduating college habitually spell "too" as "to."
Fix the errors before you print the third edition!
Fair information, edited by a twit........2004-02-15
I could not finish reading the book, because I could not take the authors seriously. The many misspellings and mechanical errors were far to distracting. This text is a worthy example of how NOT to write a book.
Excellent resourse for post-modern media theory........1999-09-14
As the media becomes one of the most dominant means by which we frame our social reality, it becomes crucial for each of us to understand how media can become a mean to someone's own end. An excellent treatment of hegemony and dominant/ prefered readings. This should be a required text in all communication/ social science programs. But it ain't bad readin' for anyone else who consumes media either, namely you!
Media, stereotypes, white ideologies, marginalization........1999-01-11
An excellent reader explaining the media's role in perpetrating common stereotypes of historically marginalized people. Includes analysis of advertising, sexual representation, TV and music. An excellent textbook for cultural studies.
best text reader ever for my communication major.......1998-12-06
broad and complete view point on the issues that face college critics in media fields. Most comprehensive text I have been required to buy with my major. Would highly recommend to other prof.s
Book Description
Why, Ann Laura Stoler asks, was the management of sexual arrangements and affective attachments so critical to the making of colonial categories and to what distinguished ruler from ruled? Contending that social classification is not a benign cultural act but a potent political one, Stoler shows that matters of the intimate were absolutely central to imperial politics. It was, after all, in the intimate sphere of home and servants that European children learned what they were required to learn of place and race. Gender-specific sexual sanctions, too, were squarely at the heart of imperial rule, and European supremacy was asserted in terms of national and racial virility.
Stoler looks discerningly at the way cultural competencies and sensibilities entered into the construction of race in the colonial context and proposes that "cultural racism" in fact predates its postmodern discovery. Her acute analysis of colonial Indonesian society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries yields insights that translate to a global, comparative perspective.
Book Description
Imperial Leather chronicles the dangerous liaisons between gender, race and class that shaped British imperialism and its bloody dismantling. Spanning the century between Victorian Britain and the current struggle for power in South Africa, the book takes up the complex relationships between race and sexuality, fetishism and money, gender and violence, domesticity and the imperial market, and the gendering of nationalism within the zones of imperial and anti-imperial power.
Anne McClintock explores the sexualizing of the terra incognita, the imperial myth of the empty lands, the dirt fetish and the "civilizing mission", sexuality and labor, advertising and commodity racism, the Victorian invention of the idle woman, feminism and racial difference, and anti-apartheid culture in the current transformation of national power.
Using feminist, post-colonial, psychoanalytic and socialist theories, Imperial Leather argues that the categories of gender, race and class do not exist inisolation, but emerge in intimate relation to one another. Drawing on diverse cultural forms--novels, advertising, diaries, poetry oral history, and mass commodity spectacle--the book examines imperialism not only as a poetics of ambivalence, but as a politics of violence. Rejecting traditional binaries of self/other, man/woman, colonizer/colonized, Anne McClintock calls instead for a more informed and complex understanding of catgories of social power and identity.
Customer Reviews:
It was fascinating!.......2003-08-20
I don't agree with the reviewer for Library Journal because I found McClintock's book thorough and solid. She situates the book in a very clever way in the myriad of "isms" and scholarly debates on post-colonialism. She argues that one cannot talk about colonialism without at the same time investigate how gender,race, sexuality, class etc, has shaped the colonial discourse and discussion.
I would recommend this book to people interested in feminist, gender, postcolonial studies but also to anyone who wants a more indepth and creative analysis of the current debate on postcolonialism and gender.
Book Description
People who are single are changing the face of America. Did you know that:
* More than 40 percent of the nation’s adults---over 87 million people---are divorced, widowed, or have always been single.
* There are more households comprised of single people living alone than of married parents and their children.
* Americans now spend more of their adult years single than married.
Many of today’s single people have engaging jobs, homes that they own, and a network of friends. This is not the 1950s---singles can have sex without marrying, and they can raise smart, successful, and happy children. It should be a great time to be single. Yet too often single people are still asked to defend their single status by an onslaught of judgmental peers and fretful relatives.
Prominent people in politics, the popular press, and the intelligentsia have all taken turns peddling myths about marriage and singlehood. Marry, they promise, and you will live a long, happy, and healthy life, and you will never be lonely again.
Drawing from decades of scientific research and stacks of stories from the front lines of singlehood, Bella DePaulo debunks the myths of singledom---and shows that just about everything you’ve heard about the benefits of getting married and the perils of staying single are grossly exaggerated or just plain wrong. Although singles are singled out for unfair treatment by the workplace, the marketplace, and the federal tax structure, they are not simply victims of this singlism. Single people really are living happily ever after.
Filled with bracing bursts of truth and dazzling dashes of humor, Singled Out is a spirited and provocative read for the single, the married, and everyone in between.
You will never think about singlehood or marriage the same way again.
Singled Out debunks the Ten Myths of Singlehood, including:
Myth #1: The Wonder of Couples: Marrieds know best.
Myth #3: The Dark Aura of Singlehood: You are miserable and lonely and your life is tragic.
Myth #5: Attention, Single Women: Your work won’t love you back and your eggs will dry up. Also, you don’t get any and you’re promiscuous.
Myth #6: Attention, Single Men: You are horny, slovenly, and irresponsible, and you are the scary criminals. Or you are sexy, fastidious, frivolous, and gay.
Myth #7: Attention, Single Parents: Your kids are doomed.
Myth #9: Poor Soul: You will grow old alone and you will die in a room by yourself where no one will find you for weeks.
Myth #10: Family Values: Let’s give all of the perks, benefits, gifts, and cash to couples and call it family values.
“With elegant analysis, wonderfully detailed examples, and clear and witty prose, DePaulo lays out the many, often subtle denigrations and discriminations faced by single adults in the U.S. She addresses, too, the resilience of single women and men in the face of such singlism. A must-read for all single adults, their friends and families, as well as social scientists and policy advocates.”
---E. Kay Trimberger, author of The New Single Woman
Customer Reviews:
Somewhat disappointing.......2007-08-01
A friend sent me DePaulo's chapter headings and they are hilarious! I looked forward to reading her book as an interesting exploration of the devaluation of singlehood. The book's concept is thought provoking. The writing, however, is sarcastic (to the detriment of DePaulo's message), at times embittered, and sometimes tedious (e.g., she'll describe at length another writer's work and then pick it apart bit by bit; she could have instead made her point more clearly and persuasively if she wasn't just reacting to other material). All in all, I was disappointed.
"Don't worry, honey, your turn to divorce will come....".......2007-06-23
DePaulo's book is brilliant, but it made me so angry. Angry at how many couples (from here on, "marrieds") stereotype, stigmatize, and ignore singles, of course! I already knew that marrieds feel sorry for singles because they're "incomplete," "lonely," and "unfulfilled." But not everyone wants the same thing, not everyone wants the conventional, predictable married life. I enjoy solitute tremendously, and marriage has never been my life goal. I'd rather focus on my career, which is more fulfilling than any relationship I've had. I also enjoy traveling on the weekends whenever I want, spending my money how I want, hanging out with single friends (fortunately I still have several of them). Most marrieds don't plan a weekend to go visit a good college friend (well, maybe they will if it's a couple and not merely a single person) and spend money "selfishly" on food, entertainment, and going to take photographs of old nuclear power plants or other unique trips. Does this mean I'm not grown up? no! It means I know what I like to do, so I do it. It's that simple. I feel like I have to put so much energy into defending my contented state, while marrieds are assumed to be content (although I know that isn't always the case, especially since marriage ends in divorce half the time).
I am almost 26 so it's still "acceptable" for me to be single, but people still ask why I don't have a boyfriend. "Don't you want to get married one day?" "Are you dating anyone?" "Don't you want to have children?" "You're attractive, why aren't you with anyone?" (there must be something wrong with you!) I used to feel inferior when asked those kinds of questions, especially in college when people were frantically getting engaged, much like a Baskin Robbins gets raided on the day they sell ice cream for 31 cents per scoop. Better get some before it runs out, ya know. But gradually, I became confident in my singleness by my junior year. This book really reinforced my feelings and it was as if DePaulo was reading my mind for most of it. Especially the chapter about why anybody should CARE if we're single of not? Get a life, marrieds..perhaps you should worry about decreasing your divorce rate instead.
I also liked the part criticizing how society gives a hard time to singles who still live with their parents. I still live with mine but am not "mooching" off them. I pay rent, my car payments, my car insurance, my phone bill, my college loans, and other expenses. I am saving up for my own condo (not because it screams "Single person!" but because it's the only thing I can afford in my area). I have a good relationship with my parents and I give a lot back to the economy, much like the Japanese women. I know that I go out and have a social life more than a lot of marrieds I know. And I'm not going out just to look for a husband either, grrrrr!
I have a good male friend in his late 30s. Some people have asked me if he's ever been married. When I answer No, one of them remarked, "There must be something wrong with him." Actually, there isn't. He just doesn't believe that marriage would improve his life. It's overrated and not a "fix-all" solution. He likes being single! He's happy being single. Is that so difficult to understand? Apparently, it is.
Sure, sometimes I think it would be nice to be married, to have that one person who is supposed to be your best friend, lover, etc. But I'm not going to go around actively looking for it because it's not worth it. If it happens, it happens, but I know I wouldn't mind being single for the rest of my life. I don't need another person to make me feel complete. I'm not going to waste time obsessively searching for the right person (dating is much more of a waste than being contentedly single). Ooh, I must be bitter with this attitude! Sometimes I am, but usually I just think, why try to change my life when I love how it is right now? And marriage could also make my life much worse - you never know if it will work out or not, and you could end up devastated by infidelity, abuse, etc (also true in serious unmarried relationships, i know, but people generally have higher expectations of a fairytale perfect marriage, especially with all that commitment). I know a few married men at work who are cheating on their spouses. Obviously, not all marrieds even respect marriage. How then, can this type of person look down on singles as inferior?
I was especially disgusted with Chris Matthews' treatment of Nader. How dare he imply that because Nader did not consume as much as the marrieds (such as no house, no car), that he was less of a person, less responsible? He is really a thousand more times responsible than Newt Gingrich or Bill Clinton, who have made a mess of their marital relationships. Nader is responsible enough to never embarrass a wife (or any other woman, for that matter) on international television. HE never made a mockery of the all-important marriage as others have done. And he is environmentally responsible for not owning a car because, wow!, he doesn't need one, which makes perfect sense (although not to Matthews). Singles rarely get credit for their accomplishments. I admire him and politicians like Condi Rice all the more because of their singleness.
How are people more "grown up" just because they're married? Nineteen year olds get married and are no more grown up than 19 year old singles. In fact, I argue that 19 years old marrieds are much more stupid and insecure than singles their age.
Have to mention one more thing. Once I was invited on a weekend trip where I would be set up with some guy. But I immediately turned it down because I was buying my new car that weekend. An organizer of the trip then asked me, "Which would you rather have, a new boyfriend or a new car?"
"A new car." Of course. I needed a car, but I didn't need a boyfriend...and still don't.
Singe Edition.......2007-06-13
I had been anticipating the arrival of Bella DePaulo's book for months and read it within a day upon receiving it. Ms. Depaulo could not have said it better when she indicates that not all singles are desperately waiting to be rescued by a mate. In fact many are completely satisfied in their solo state while those who are married may not necessarily be fulfilled. Increasingly individuals are choosing to remain single and Ms. Depaulo helps shatter the stereotypical portrait that has been painted. Bookstores today are replete with kitschy chic lit tales, dating propaganda or stories that glorify mommies but Singled Out is a power piece that raises the individual to the positive and realistic rank they merit. I am thankful for the contribution Ms. Depaulo has made and applaud the sincere and courageous stance she has made in putting forth her writings.
Sherri Langburt
The Last Socially Accepted Prejudice.......2007-06-11
This book is about one of the last forms of prejudice that is still socially acceptable, the stigmatization of people who are single. Contrary to some of the comments made, the author makes it clear from the start that this is not a book about putting down people who are married. The criticism is of married people and others who portray marriage as the only valid lifestyle choice for a mature adult and stereotype single people in such a way that they are portrayed as lesser human beings. I have observed that often, pioneers in exposing stigma of an out group get personally attacked for their "tone", especially if they present compelling arguments that are difficult to reasonably refute.
This is not a book about victims, but rather, a book about the resiliency of single people who have managed to prosper in spite of the negative stereotypes and discrimmination. In each chapter, DePaulo exposes and systematically refutes myths about singles that many in our culture have taken for granted. One of the most prevalent myths is that singles don't "have anybody" when research shows that always single people, especially women have the strongest social support networks. She illustrates how our culture has belittled any relationships other than marriage as unimportant when in fact, friendships and relationships with siblings are just as important and often longer lasting.
The book also exposes how legitimate research can be misinterpreted in the popular media, especially when the data violate cherished beliefs and assumptions. The truth is that singles comprise a higher percentage of households than the traditional married couple with children. While the traditional household is a fulfulling choice for some people, when it comes to marriage, given the high divorce rate and the growing percentage of people who choose to be single and remain happy, clearly one size does not fit all. It is time to stop blaming and pathologizing people for failure to conform to the expectations of society that we all must marry and begin to recognize that differences in civil status are often due to normal, healthy differences in personality and temperament. I have written a lengthier review of this book on my blog:
[...]
A truly eye-opening book .......2007-04-23
Bella DePaulo's book is a must read for single and coupled people alike. It is a truly eye-opening book that challenges the reader to rethink many basic assumptions people hold about singlehood and marriage. In fact, after reading the book, you will most likely find yourself noticing singlism all around you, perhaps for the first time.
DePaulo uses her background as a social scientist to reveal ways in which many commonly held beliefs are either exaggerated or are downright wrong. Moreover, she does it in a way that is a pleasure to read. The book seamlessly incorporates research based evidence, memorable anecdotes, and humorous commentary to shed light on many of our unquestioned assumptions.
Not only will this book change the way you think about singles, it will also change the way you think about marriage. DePaulo shows that the cultural conception of marriage as a key to leading a full and happy life not only devalues singles but also ignores the many important relationships adults have with people other than spouses.
"Singled Out" busts myths about singles just as "The Feminine Mystique" and "Backlash" busted myths about women. It is one of those books that you want to tell people about and even buy for them.
Book Description
The third edition of Gender Through the Prism of Difference adopts a global, transnational perspective on how race, class, and sexual diversity are central to the study of sex and gender. In contrast with other books in this area--which tend to focus on U.S. or European viewpoints--this book features many articles based on research done elsewhere throughout the world. The editors introduce this wide-ranging collection with a provocative analytical introduction that sets the stage for understanding gender as a socially constructed experience. Featuring mostly new readings, the book covers timely subjects--such as gender and popular culture, Islam, and men and war--to help students make a connection between the issues raised in the book and current events. It also addresses a number of compelling topics, including the effects of globalization on notions of masculinity, the difficulties faced by Muslim women living in post-9/11 America, and the perceptions of "blackness" worldwide. Guiding students through the complex realities of early twenty-first century gender relationships, Gender Through the Prism of Difference is ideal for undergraduate or graduate courses in the sociology of gender; women's studies; gender roles; the sociology of women; women in society; race, class, and gender; feminist theory; and social inequality.
Customer Reviews:
informative anthology.......2000-02-03
The 2nd edition to this books introduces readers to the complex narratives on gender in modern society. The numerous articles included in this volume represent some of the leading scholarship on gender in society, and introduces readers to the theoretical and methodological works of numerous researchers.This anthology is important and essential to scholars, feminists, and teachers. This is an excellent book for graduate student and undergraduate students alike.
Average customer rating:
- tedious...
- Putting gender on center stage
- Good in parts, but more often just an absurd sexual reinterpretation
- too much jargon, too far beyond the evidence
- Ambitious...but...
|
Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia
Kathleen M. Brown
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
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ASIN: 0807846236
Release Date: 1996-11-06 |
Book Description
Kathleen Brown examines the origins of racism and slavery in British North America from the perspective of gender. Both a basic social relationship and a model for other social hierarchies, gender helped determine the construction of racial categories and the institution of slavery in Virginia. But the rise of racial slavery also transformed gender relations, including ideals of masculinity.
In response to the presence of Indians, the shortage of labor, and the insecurity of social rank, Virginia's colonial government tried to reinforce its authority by regulating the labor and sexuality of English servants and by making legal distinctions between English and African women. This practice, along with making slavery hereditary through the mother, contributed to the cultural shift whereby women of African descent assumed from lower-class English women both the burden of fieldwork and the stigma of moral corruption.
Brown's analysis extends through Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, an important juncture in consolidating the colony's white male public culture, and into the eighteenth century. She demonstrates that, despite elite planters' dominance, wives, children, free people of color, and enslaved men and women continued to influence the meaning of race and class in colonial Virginia.
Customer Reviews:
tedious..........2007-09-07
And schizophrenic. Parts of the book are interesting. Parts of the book that should be interesting are wound up in high-falutin' academical type jargon. A popular history this isn't.
Putting gender on center stage.......2007-03-05
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Anglo-American discourses of gender, race and power underwent major historical transformations; authority was no longer the "natural" expression of divine providence, and in the New World beliefs in fundamental sex differences acquired new meanings. As Kathleen M. Brown makes clear in her work, this was no simple transition; rather, the language of gender "became part of English efforts to define differences, communicate their own authority, and anchor their identities in Christianity and civility" in a land of unfamiliar land and peoples. Brown aims at nothing less than a revisioning of colonial Virginian society during this crucial early modern period by placing gender at the center of historical analysis of that "virgin" colony, Virginia, from the arrival of the earliest colonial settlers to the mid-eighteenth century, when the gentry elite reached the apex of their power. This work's novelty lies in Brown's insistence on gender as crucial in the demarcation of the sexual, racial, and class boundaries. However, Brown is not writing a "women's history" in the traditional sense; one of the strengths of her text is her insistence on the interconnectedness of gender, race, sex, and class. Thus some of her most provocative arguments examine the construction of white masculinity, notably during and after Bacon's rebellion. Brown ultimately succeeds in her goal to "complicate" our understanding of the initial setbacks in patriarchal social hierarchies, the "subsequent rise of the planter class and its authority,"and the ways in which race, class and gender shaped colonial society in this formidable work.
Good in parts, but more often just an absurd sexual reinterpretation.......2006-05-11
In her book, Kathleen Brown offers a revision of colonial Virginia history. Relying almost entirely upon previously known and explored primary materials, she constructs an argument that gender heavily influenced colonial development.
Breaking her book up chronologically into three parts, Brown focuses first on England and the Virginia colony's early days. In discussing the former, she establishes the role of women who adhere to social behavioral norms as that of good wives, and those who do not adhere to those norms as nasty wenches. In the case of Virginia, she explores the role of women in English society vis a vis Powhatan's Algonquian society. When Powhatan offered women to English settlers, whether for marriage or a night's enjoyment, he did so for political reasons; the settlers, however, thought Indians valued women less, and differently, than they did. Settlers further grappled with the fact that women farmed while men, they thought, took it easy, hunting and fishing.
The second part focuses on the change in roles of women, and the corresponding change in how men though of them. As Virginia became more permanent, and as slaves became more prevalent, "good wives" came to mean the elite women, whereas "nasty wenches" meant servant or non-elite women. Following Bacon's Rebellion, this labeling shifted somewhat as elite men attempted to break the unofficial alliance between black slaves and white servants. Principally, the violations of white women that formerly would have made them nasty wenches now were less serious, while those same violations of black women were more so.
The last part explores the domination of men and the lives of elite women. Men became much more patriarchal, establishing social norms and laws to that effect. They were "anxious" in the sense that they were now required to hold domination over their wives, families, and farms, and maintain strict adherence to those norms and laws. Relying heavily on the writings of William Byrd II and Landon Carter, Brown points out the fears these men had of declining virility, disobedient sons, and the like. Women, meanwhile, came together against their husbands, quietly undermining them on occasions, especially in discipline issues, and generally developing a women's society of tea parties and such.
On the one hand, Brown's revisionist attempt is a worthwhile endeavor; only the foolish would say women had no role or impact whatsoever in colonial development. As historians have largely ignored or downplayed this role, her study is therefore relevant. On the other hand, she delves far too deeply into the sex lives of leading men. Her study was not one solely of the role of gender, but also of sexuality. To a certain and very limited extent that exploration is worthwhile-certainly the colonists were concerned with fornication, bastardy and the like-but do I, the reader, really need to know on which days Byrd gave his wife a "flourish," and whether or not he was "vigorous"? No. Furthermore, certain inherent flaws exist in a reinterpretation that relies heavily on modern and liberal views of sex and sexuality. Consequently, there are certain aspects of the book that are worth reading, but one should select those aspects carefully.
too much jargon, too far beyond the evidence.......2003-10-15
Kathleen Brown's examination of 17th and early 18th century Virginia is a commendable attempt to further our understanding of gender and race relations in early American history. "Gender and race," Brown finds, "became intertwined components of the social order in colonial Virginia." (1) Although this study makes significant strides in unearthing the world of free and bonded men and women in early Virginia, many of Brown's conclusions go far beyond the evidence she can muster.
This story is primarily one of definitions, structured so that one can see clearly the gradual but steady consolidation of power by elite white men. These "anxious patriarchs" delineated social relations among whites, blacks and Indians by associating Indians and Africans with field labor and slavery, and by associating women with dependency. "Good wives" were respectable, chaste and dependent members of a male-dominated society. As time went on, planters engendered field work with race, by disassociating white women from it. As the number of enslaved Africans increased, black women became "nasty wenches" who, because of their condition of servitude, could not avoid the labor and sexual exploitation that defined their status. By the 1680s, she shows, taxation of African (but not white) women became the "cornerstone of a concept of womanhood that became less class-specific and increasingly race specific," which allowed for a "more exclusive definition of English womanhood." (128) This concept was further buttressed when Virginia lawmakers in 1662 decreed that children born of unfree mothers were slaves. "The notion that enslaved women could pass their bound condition on to their children," she writes, "strengthened the appearance that slavery was a natural condition for" Africans." (135)
Brown is persuasive in her discussion of Virginia patriarchs, who by the first half of the 18th century had subordinated women to secondary public and private roles. "Outspoken women" of any race were threats to masculine authority, particularly in the form of slander and public immorality. Male power was based not only on "rights to the labor of slaves and servants," (323) but on domination of their wives and daughters as well. "Control over sexual access to women" (323) and a managerial role in marriage arrangements exemplify their position of power, which Brown points out was solidified by slave ownership.
Brown provides many intriguing glimpses into the lives of men and women, slaves and freemen in colonial Virginia, especially with the numerous vignettes unearthed in court records, newspapers and diaries. In a number of instances she makes excellent use of her evidence, such as the case of William Bass, Sr.'s will (242-3), in which Brown finds that an unusual inheritance provision reveals much about how one family self-identified in terms of race. In another case, she uses a sharp decline in white servant court appearances to suggest the rapid expansion of slave labor in Lancaster County. (251)
Nevertheless, several factors combine to make Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs unsatisfying. Many of Brown's chapter introductions are jargon-filled, lack clarity and should have been used as conclusions instead. Furthermore, she bases her thesis primarily on only three Virginia counties (York, Lancaster and Norfolk) and just two planters (William Byrd II and Landon Carter), which perhaps makes for too few resources from which to make many of her often sweeping generalizations. For example, her suggestion that "skin color had yet to acquire much of its moral and political freight" (215) during the late 16th century is based solely on one councilor's commentary in one county.
More troubling is Brown's frequent willingness to make conclusions beyond what the evidence will bear. Her regular use of "may have" in her prose warns of this problem. African females' field work "possibly may have" affected a slave woman's chances for marriage, Brown claims with little support. (126) She bases part of her discussion of 17th century bastardy court cases on "a few shards of evidence." (191) When describing free women and their families, she points to "West African matrifocal residence patterns" in explaining the absence of black males from households-yet fails to elaborate or provide evidence of this alleged trend. (229) Did enslaved women resent serving tea to "young white ladies" in fine homes? (286) Possibly, but Brown produces no documentary evidence to make such a suggestion. Finally, that "English women appear to have managed their sexual activities carefully with an eye toward the future," is unfortunately an all-too-typical speculation. (100)
In addition to making a number of questionable assertions based on limited evidence, Brown also includes enough overly-speculative claims to weaken the book's overall credibility. The contention that women appearing alone in public "threatened to disturb the scripting of male hierarchies" (281) is of debatable veracity, as is the assertion that only when gentlewomen could no longer bear children could they "be granted the freedom to leave the house" as they wished." (282) Her assertion that a newspaper report of a giant cucumber constitutes "implicit phallic imagery" of "colonial masculinity" (329) is not only absurd but is a lapse of historical professionalism as well.
Brown's inventive effort to study colonial Virginia in terms of gender and race is a valuable attempt to look at social constructions in an innovative light and raises as many questions as it answers.
Ambitious...but..........1999-12-31
Covering an impressive range of materials, Brown offers an ambitious treatment of later 17th- and 18th- century colonial Virginia from the point of view of the marxist-feminist tetrad: race, gender, sexuality, class. As the book's title tends to suggest, the work is strongest when dealing with the connections between discourses of gender and race (and to a lesser extent, sexuality). The wide scope of the book means, however, that some of the nuances and complexities of these discourses and their connections (and this is particularly true in terms of 'class') remain untraced. A second weakness is that the text lacks wider direction. Perhaps we can excuse the absence of explicit discussion of the study's theoretical assumptions. Less so the failure to engage directly with previous historiography and to 'signpost' clearly the argument being made over 375-odd pp. Subheadings help but only when descriptive; those drawn from primary sources are of little value in guiding the reader.
Customer Reviews:
Itll do.......2007-07-31
I read this book for my Human Diversity and Societal Oppression class in graduate school. I found it to be an easy read with some very well written pieces. I enjoyed the format of the book which broke up the sub sections into manageable pieces (which was nice considering this book is pretty stout in size). All in all... an interesting read that will open your eyes to the struggles of others.
If you must..........2007-02-17
I had to read this book for a womens studies class. While I found there to be some interesting and enlightening parts, I found that it lacks objectivity. It often incorrectly blends broad brush strokes of authors opinion with fact. Often, I found references to an issue(s) with absolutely no way to determine its validity. This book more often than not gives vent rather than instruct.
great book on divsersity.......2006-11-10
I enjoyed this book and found it very informative concerning ethnicity and racism issues
Avoid this one........2006-10-07
If you are Caucasian, a man, and have money, this book is not for you. Page after page is minorities and woman crying, sobbing etc etc about how bad they have it and whose fault it is. If women and minorities hate Caucasian men with money, why is there one voted in every 4 years. Quit crying and vote.
Great read into people's understandings of their identies.......2005-10-21
I had to get this book for my Identity class for graduate school for Intercultural Relations. It's the best text book out of 6 that I have, it gives you first hand accounts of peoples' lives in essays as chapters. It's a great read and I highly recommend it to people when trying to understand who you are and what your identity is.
Book Description
This anthology of contemporary articles (and court cases provides a philosophical analysis of race, sex and gender concepts and issues. Divided into three relatively independent yet thematically linked sections, the anthology first addresses identity issues, then injustices and inequalities, and then specific social and legal issues relevant to race, sex and gender. By exposing readers to both theoretical foundations, opposing views, and "real life" applications, the anthology prepares them to make critically reasoned decisions concerning today's race, gender and sex social issues. Sex and Gender Identity. Sexuality and Sexual Orientation. Race and Ethnicity. Racism. Sexism. Heterosexism and Homophobia. Equality and Preferential Treatment. Discriminatory Harassment. Identity Speech and Political Speech. Sexual Speech. Sexual Assault. For anyone interested in the philosophical underpinnings of today's Race, Sex, and Gender issues.
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