When Rape was Legal: The Untold History of Sexual Violence During Slavery by Feinstein Rachel A

Author:Feinstein, Rachel A.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

This bribery likely served the interests of white men in upholding their image as virtuous white “gentlemen,” and is described by bell hooks as an attempt by masters to transform the relationship into one of prostitution.48 In this sense, white men performed courtship rituals in order to overshadow their immoral sexual behaviors. The response of a woman to these gifts and offerings was not of significance to the men, but rather was necessary for preserving the positive images associated with white masculinity. The guise of “courting” reframes sexual coercion, forcing the power dynamics between white men and enslaved black women into the background and making the sexual encounter appear consensual.

Harriet Jacobs highlights the coercion underlying these acts of courtship, significantly undermining any sense that gifts and privileges offered in exchange for sex are representative of actual choice for enslaved black women.49 Instead, her accounts demonstrate the clearly coercive nature of her master’s gestures. Referring to enslaved black women in general, she explains, “When she is fourteen or fifteen, her owner, or his sons, or the overseer, or perhaps all of them, begin to bribe her with presents. If these fail to accomplish their purpose, she is whipped or starved into submission to their will.”50

If enslaved women refuse to submit to the “courting” practices, they are ultimately forced into sex through physical punishments. “Courting” is merely a tool for exerting power and coercing women under the mask of “gentleman-like” behavior. In many cases reported from slavery, masters would force themselves on women regardless of their “decision,” to accept or deny their gifts. This courting practice was not about attracting an enslaved black woman into “choosing” the white man as a mate, but rather about demonstrating white masculinity through symbolic acts of chivalry.

Madison Jefferson, a former slave, reported the physical violence brought upon enslaved black women who rejected the sexual advances of their white masters, reflecting the extremely limited options black women had under slavery to resist sexual exploitation. Even when physical violence, like whipping, or threats against one’s family were “chosen” in place of sexual violence, often the women ultimately were raped as well. An excerpt of Jefferson’s account is summarized here,

Women who refuse to submit themselves to the brutal desires of their owners, are repeatedly whipt to subdue their virtuous repugnance, and in most instances this hellish practice is but too successful—when it fails, the women are frequently sold off to the south. Madison’s young master, albeit a member of the Methodist church, punished a young woman on the estate repeatedly on this account, and at length accomplished his purpose, while she was in a state of insensibility from the effects of a felon blow inflicted by this monster.51

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