Imperial Leather - Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia

Imperial Leather examines how British colonial power shaped ideas of race, gender, and sexuality from the nineteenth through the twentieth century. The book traces imperial ideology through metropolitan culture, domesticity, advertising, psychoanalysis, and colonial discourse, showing how cross-dressing, fetishism, and hybrid identities complicate patriarchal control. Using postcolonial frameworks, it analyzes Black women’s resistance, nationalist debates, and the limits of colonial feminism while mapping how the “Angel of Progress” underwrites colonial contestation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages462

Reading Time11 h 51 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Empire of the Home

"Massa" and Maids

Imperial Leather

Psychoanalysis, Race and Female Fetishism

Double Crossings

Soft-Soaping Empire

The White Family of Man

Olivesche Reiner

Dismantling the Master’s House

The Seandal of Hybridity

“Azikwelwa" (We Will Not Ride)

No Longer in a Future Heaven

Postscript

Notes

List of Illustrations

Index

IMPERIAL LEATHER IMPERIAL LEATHER RACE, GENDER AND SEXUALITY I N TH E COL0 N IALe ON T EST Anne McClintock ROUTLEDGE Ne w Y o rk Lo n do n Published in 1995 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001 Published in Great Britain by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE Copyright © 1995 by Routledge, Inc. Printed in the United States of America on acid free paper All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now knovvn or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McClintock, Anne. Imperial leather : race, gender and sexuality in the colonial contest / by Anne IVlcClintock. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-415-90889-2--ISBN 0-415-90890-6 (pbk.) 1. Great Britain--Colonies--History--19th century. 2. Man-woman relationships-Great Britain--Colonies History. 3. Great Britain--Colonies-History--20th century. 4. Imperialism 􀁖 Great Britain--Colonies--History. 5. Sex role--Great Britain--Colonies--History. 6. Great Britain . Colonies--Race relations. 7. Sex--Great Britain--Colonies-- History. 8. Commonwealth of Nations--History. I. Title. DA16.M37 1994 305.3 '0941--dc20 94-7593 elr British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data also available for Rob and Valerie I CONTENTS Acknowledgments IX INTRODUCTION 1 Postcolonialism and the Angel of Progress EM P I R E OF THE HOM E I 8 I T HE LAY OF THE LAND 21 Genealogies of Imperialism 2 􀀴'MASSA" AND MAIDS 75 Power and Desire in the Imperial Metropolis 3 IMPERIAL LEATHER 132 Race, Cross-dressing and the Cult of Domesticity 4 PSYCHOANALYSIS, RACE AND FEMALE FETISHISM 181 DOUBLE CROSSINGS 204 5 SOFT-SOAPINGEMPIRE 207 Commodity Racism and Imperial Advertising 6 THE WHIT E FAMILY 0 F MAN 232 Colonial Discourse and the Reinvention of Patriarchy 7 0 L IVESCH REINER 258 The Limits of Colonial Feminism DISMANTLIN G THE MASTE R'S HOUSE 296 8 THE seAN DAL 0 F HYBRI D IT Y 299 Black Women's Resistance and Narrative Ambiguit.Y 9 􀅰, AZ I KW E L WA" ( WE WI LL NOT RI D E ) 329 Cultural Resistance in the Desperate Decades Io N 0 LO NG ER I N A FUTURE HEAVE N 352 Nationalism, Gender and Race POSTS CR I PT 391 The Angel of Progress Notes 397 List of Illustrations 434 Index 440 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In writing this book I have garnered many debts. I wish first thank my friends for their unfailing love and inspirational support. They are too many to name here, but they know who the,Y are, and I thank them all. Many people gave generously of their time in reading, editing or discussing parts of this manuscript in its various forms: Kwame Anthony Appiah, Nancy Armstrong, Adam Ashforth, Homi Bhabha, John Bird, Elleke Boehmer, Jerry Broughton, Carol Boyce-Davies, Neville Choonoo, Clara Connolly, Laura Chrisman, David Damrosch, Jean Franco, Henry Lewis Gates, Liz Gunner, Catherine Hall, Stuart Hall, Janet Hart, Kathleen Hill, Clifford Hill, Rachel Holmes, Qadri Ismail, Cora Kaplan, David Kastan, Dominic LaCapra, Neil Lazarus, David Lloyd, Melinda Mash, Aamir Mufti, Benita Parry, Ken Parker, Mary Louise Pratt, Bruce Robbins, George Robertson, Ellen Rooney, Trish Rosen, Andrew Ross, Lynne Segal, Ella Shohat, George Stade , Bob Starn, Michael Sprinker, Michael Taussig, Robert von Halberg, Penny von Eschen, Cherryl Walker, Cornel West and Patrick Williams. I thank them all. I am deeply grateful to all my friends at Columbia, especially Marcellus Blount, Ann Douglas, Jean Howard, Priscilla Wald and Gauri Viswanathan, whose laughter, solidarity and intellectual vibrancy have meant more than I can say. Very special thanks must go to Edward Said for his inspirational blend of academic and political engagemen

FAQs

What central themes does Imperial Leather explore?

It explores race, gender, and sexuality in the British colonial contest, showing how colonial power reorganized ideas of family, desire, and identity.

How does the book connect colonialism to cultural and domestic life?

It analyzes imperial discourse through the metropolis, domesticity, commodity advertising, and the re-invention of patriarchy to show how everyday culture served colonial goals.

What kinds of resistance or critique does the book highlight?

It discusses Black women’s resistance and narrative ambiguity, along with cultural resistance in later decades, and it also examines nationalism, gender, and race as contested political ideas.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia