Bribery framing absolved slaveowners while making female submission appear consensual

Evidence

White male slaveowners usually tried to bribe black women as preparation for sexual overtures so as to place them in the role of prostitute. As long as the white slaveowner “paid” for the sexual services of his black female slave, he felt absolved of responsibility for such acts. Given the harsh conditions of slave life, any suggestion that enslaved black women had a choice as to their sexual partner is ludicrous. Since the white male could rape the black female who did not willingly respond to his demands, passive submission on the part of the enslaved black women cannot be seen as complicity. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 73

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Under hegemony, organized consent displaces direct coercion as the main instrument; Devaluation of black womanhood licensed exploitation and prostitution — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 195; Calling enslaved Black women prostitutes misdescribed their coerced sexual exploitation — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 99 (+7 more)

Related

• Devaluation of black womanhood licensed exploitation and prostitution (similarity 0.89)
• Calling enslaved Black women prostitutes misdescribed their coerced sexual exploitation (similarity 0.86)
• Rape of black women was ignored because they were seen as sexually permissive (similarity 0.83)
• The cult of true womanhood demoralized enslaved women and enabled manipulation (similarity 0.83)
• Slave girls were sexually assaulted from age thirteen through bribes or force (similarity 0.82)
• Female criminals are seen as moral transgressors, not contract violators (similarity 0.81)
• Historians have normalized and minimized the rape of enslaved black women. (similarity 0.81)
• Sexual exploitation dehumanized black women more than labor exploitation did (similarity 0.80)
• White mistresses often punished rather than protected sexually exploited slave women (similarity 0.80)
• Slave sexual violence was punishment, with the master’s deviance transferred to the woman (similarity 0.80)
• Enslaved black women withheld the respect they granted white men from white mistresses (similarity 0.80)
• Nineteenth-century sexual morality taught mistresses to blame enslaved women for rape (similarity 0.80)
• White mistresses usually sided with their husbands against enslaved women (similarity 0.79)
• Abolitionists who condemned rape still blamed enslaved women as accomplices. (similarity 0.79)
• Labeling black women as sexual savages enabled their rapes by denying their humanity. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Devaluation of black womanhood licensed exploitation and prostitution #expands (0.60) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 195
• Calling enslaved Black women prostitutes misdescribed their coerced sexual exploitation #expands (0.55) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 99
• Black women under slavery were doubly enslaved by race and sex #expands (0.50) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 26
• Victims’ aggression gets reframed as the victim’s own deviance #expands (0.50)
• Female criminals are seen as moral transgressors, not contract violators #expands (0.45)
• The cult of true womanhood demoralized enslaved women and enabled manipulation #qualifies (0.40) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 157
• White mistresses often punished rather than protected sexually exploited slave women #complicates (0.30)