White mistresses usually sided with their husbands against enslaved women
Evidence
The enslaved black woman could not look to any group of men, white or black, to protect her against sexual exploitation. Often in desperation, slave women attempted to enlist the aid of white mistresses, but these attempts usually failed. Some mistresses responded to the distress of female slaves by persecuting and tormenting them. Others encouraged the use of black women as sex objects because it allowed them respite from unwanted sexual advances. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 112
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: White women, not white men, were slavery’s most direct beneficiaries — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 450; White male sexual power over slaves redirected white women’s anger onto black women — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 451; Enslaved black women withheld the respect they granted white men from white mistresses — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 450 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- White mistresses often punished rather than protected sexually exploited slave women
#corroborates(0.85) - White women allied with white men on shared racism against Black women
#corroborates(0.75) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 119 - White wives sometimes encouraged their husbands to take black mistresses.
#complicates(0.60) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 181