ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the transmission of white masculinity from one generation of white men to the next through the rape of enslaved black women as well as the social pressures and familial role in sexual violence. The rape of enslaved black women allowed white men to accomplish expectations of white masculinity, including performing sexual dominance and losing one's virginity, without disrupting white gender norms, like white feminine purity. White masculinity can take many forms, encompassing several dimensions that shift regionally, evolve over time, and vary according to social class. The chapter also explores white men's strategies for carrying out sexual violence against enslaved black women, such as courting practices and fetishizing light-skinned black women, which were required to preserve the intersectional hierarchy. Social expectations surrounding elite white masculinity thus promoted sexual violence against and the exploitation of enslaved black women and other vulnerable women.
