relationships, colonial governments and missionaries from imperial powers also sought to modify the sexual practises of indigenous populations. 36 For example,
European colonisers often imposed heterosexuality and monogamy even if it
polygamy was traditional practice in their culture, such as in Guale and Pueblo societies. 37 Therefore, one could argue that the regulation of native populations’
sexual behaviours provided a means of exerting complete control, since colonisers
could employ it to manipulate and dominate entire societies.
To conclude, the importance of race in the history of sexuality cannot be
overstated. The regulation of sexuality played a significant role in the European
colonial project, serving as a tool of domination that reinforced the idea of European
racial and cultural superiority, enforcing the boundaries of racial hierarchy. As
colonial powers employed sexuality as a force of colonialism, that in turn had a
profound impact on black sexualities, ideas of whiteness, and family structures. As
well as the regulation of sexuality intimately connected to attempts in justification for
colonial expansion, and without acknowledging the intersectionality of race within
sexuality history, it is impossible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the
complexities of sexual history. Thus, understanding the complex intersections of
race, sexuality, and power is essential in contextualising and understanding the
social, racial, political, and gender dynamics that have shaped past societies as well
as comprehending the factors that continue to have lasting ramifications on our
modern-day world.
36 Robert M. Buffington, Donna J. Guy, and Eithne Luibheid, pp. 76. 37 Livia Gershon, Polygamy, Native Societies, and Spanish Colonists (2021), Polygamy, Native Societies, and Spanish Colonists - JSTOR Daily [accessed 13 th March 2023]
50
Made with FlippingBook HTML5