The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation
- ISBN-10
- 0199838984
- ISBN-13
- 9780199838981
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 416
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1993-11-18
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Author
- David E. Stannard
Description
For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world. Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness and diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492. He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico and Central and South America, then north to Florida, Virginia, and New England, and finally out across the Great Plains and Southwest to California and the North Pacific Coast. Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went, the native people were caught between imported plagues and barbarous atrocities, typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people, he asks, do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians. Digging deeply into ancient European and Christian attitudes toward sex, race, and war, he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans and their descendants launched--and in places continue to wage--against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create much controversy, Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today, he adds, and one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. At once sweeping in scope and meticulously detailed, American Holocaust is a work of impassioned scholarship that is certain to ignite intense historical and moral debate.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2001-04-12
- 400 pages
- Paperback
- Oxford University Press on Demand
Similar books
-
The Mismeasure of Man (Revised and Expanded)
By Stephen Jay GouldIn this edition Dr. Gould has written a substantial new introduction telling how and why he wrote the book and tracing the subsequent history of the controversy on innateness right through The Bell Curve.
-
"You Can Tell Just By Looking": And 20 Other Myths about LGBT Life and People
By Michael Bronski, Ann Pellegrini, Michael Amico... The Mismeasure of Desire : The Science , Theory , and Ethics of Sexual Desire ( New York : Oxford University Press , 1999 ) , 148–53 . 6. Ibid . , 153 . 7. Ibid . , 148 . 8. Malory , " Homosexuality & Choice " ; Stein , The Mismeasure ...
-
The Trouble with Nature: Sex in Science and Popular Culture
By Roger N. LancasterFor analysis of the intertwining histories of science, sexism, racism, and the making of the homosexual body, two papers stand out: Jennifer Terry, "Anxious Slippages between 'Us' and 'Them': A Brief History of the Scientific Search for ...
-
Evolution and Morality
By James E. Fleming, Sanford V. LevinsonIn his treatise Criminal Law (New York: Aspen, 1997), 21, Paul H. Robinson also describes the criminal law's role in shaping societal norms: The real power in shaping people's conduct lies in the networks of interpersonal relationships ...
-
Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society
By Bruce BawerBruce Bawer exposes the heated controversy over gay rights and presents a passionate plea for the recognition of common values, "a place at the table" for everyone.
-
Queer Theory and Communication: From Disciplining Queers to Queering the Discipline(s)
By Gust YepDr. Yep was nominated for “Outstanding Professor Award” in 1992-93, 1993—94, and 1994-95 at California State University, ... He was named “Outstanding American Educator” in Who's Who Among America's Teachers (1994), was nationally ...
-
Homosexuality and Science: A Guide to the Debates
By Vernon A. Rosario... Contemporary Perspectives on Psychotherapy and Homosexualities . London : Free Association Books . Shilts , Randy . 1987. And the Band Played On : People , Politics , and the AIDS Epidemic . New York : St. Martin's Press . Showalter ...
-
The Philosophy of Sex: Contemporary Readings
By Alan Soble, Jacob M. Held, Sarah HoffmanSolipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009], 223–40). 7. Nussbaum argues that objectification is permissible in relationships generally characterized by mutual respect; ...
-
Between Gay and Straight: Understanding Friendship Across Sexual Orientation
By Lisa M. Tillmann-HealyK. Rauch and J. Fessler , Why Gay Guys Are a Girl's Best Friend ( New York : Fireside , 1995 ) . 35. Wood , Gendered Lives . 36. G. Bateson , Steps to an Ecology of Mind ( San Francisco : Chandler , 1972 ) . 37.
-
AIDS and the Sexuality of Law: Ironic Jurisprudence
By J. Rollins... Desire: The Search for the Gay Gene and the Biology of Behavior. New York: Simon & Schuster; Edward Stein. (1999). The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation (Ideologies of Desire). Oxford: Oxford ...