Description
Book SynopsisGilded 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. This title demonstrates that between 1880 and 1940, cultural discourses of whiteness and heterosexuality fused to form a new concept of the 'normal' American.
Trade Review“
The Heart of Whiteness is brilliant; it has the capacity to transform what we thought we knew about both race and sexuality in the twentieth century. Furthermore, in Julian Carter’s hands ‘normal’ takes on a meaning that is so specific, clear, and historically on-target that nobody will be able to see twentieth-century normality in the same way after reading her book.”—Gail Bederman, author of
Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880–1917“In this smart and provocative book, Julian B. Carter argues that the concept of ‘the normal’ in America results from an interlocking though disavowed set of relationships between whiteness and heterosexuality. . . . Carter’s source materials are well chosen and consistently interesting. . . . This is a brilliant book, certain to invigorate our understanding of whiteness and heterosexuality as they presided at the birth of American normality.” -- Mason Stokes * American Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
Introduction. The Search for Norma 1
1. Barbarians Are Not Nervous 42
2. The Marriage Crisis 75
3. Birds, Bees, and the Future of the Race: Making Whiteness Normal 118
Epilogue. Regarding Racial/Erotic Politics 153
Notes 161
Bibliography 195
Index 211
