“European women's "sexual fear" appears to arise in special circumstances of unequal power structures at times of particular political pressure: when the dominant power group perceives itself as threatened and vulnerable. Protecting the virtue of white women was the pretext for instituting draconian measures against indigenous populations [...] the actual level of rape and sexual assault bore no relation to the hysteria that the subject aroused.” HistoryPsychologyFeminismSociologyRace RelationsSocial TheoryGender StudiesHistory Of Ideas Book:Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism, and History Source: Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism, and History
“One of the recurring themes in the history of colonial repression is the way in which the threat of real or imagined violence towards white women became a symbol: European women's "sexual fear" appears to arise in special circumstances of unequal power structures at times of particular political pressure − when the dominant power group perceives itself as threatened and vulnerable. Protecting the virtue of white women was the pretext for instituting draconian measures against indigenous populations [whilst] the actual level of rape and sexual assault bore no relation to the hysteria that the subject aroused. White women provided a symbol of the most vulnerable property known to white man, and it was to be protected from the ever-encroaching black man at all costs.” RaceHistoryPsychologyRacismSociologyRace Relations Book:Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism, and History Source: Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism, and History