The Heart of Whiteness ：Normal Sexuality and Race in America, 1880–1940

Publication subTitle ：Normal Sexuality and Race in America, 1880–1940

Author： Julian B Carter  

Publisher： Duke University Press‎

Publication year： 2007

E-ISBN: 9780822389583

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780822339489

P-ISBN(Hardback):  9780822339373

Subject： B82 Ethics ( Moral Philosophy )

Keyword： Heterosexuality -- United States -- History., Sexual ethics -- United States -- History., Race awareness -- United States -- History., Whites -- Race identity -- United States -- History., Social norms., Marriage -- United States -- History., United States -- Social conditions -- 1918-1932., United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945., United States -- Social conditions -- 1865-1918.

Language： ENG

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Description

In this groundbreaking study, Julian Carter demonstrates that between 1880 and 1940, cultural discourses of whiteness and heterosexuality fused to form a new concept of the “normal” American. Gilded Age elites defined white civilization as the triumphant achievement of exceptional people hewing to a relational ethic of strict self-discipline for the common good. During the early twentieth century, that racial and relational ideal was reconceived in more inclusive terms as “normality,” something toward which everyone should strive. The appearance of inclusiveness helped make “normality” appear consistent with the self-image of a racially diverse republic; nonetheless, “normality” was gauged largely in terms of adherence to erotic and emotional conventions that gained cultural significance through their association with arguments for the legitimacy of white political and social dominance. At the same time, the affectionate, reproductive heterosexuality of “normal” married couples became increasingly central to legitimate membership in the nation.

Carter builds her intricate argument from detailed readings of an array of popular texts, focusing on how sex education for children and marital advice for adults provided significant venues for the dissemination of the new ideal of normality. She concludes that because its overt concerns were love, marriage, and babies, normality discourse facilitated white evasive

Chapter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Search for Norma

1. ‘‘Barbarians Are Not Nervous’’

2. The Marriage Crisis

3. Birds, Bees, and the Future of the Race: Making Whiteness Normal

Epilogue: Regarding Racial/Erotic Politics

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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