Imperial Leather By Anne Mcclintock: Summary

Introduction

A newborn baby being poked and probed, by a sea of doctors dressed in sterile blue gowns, has become scene we all know too well. Having a baby has evolved from a matter which solely involves the mother's family and a single midwife to a matter which involves a myriad of doctors, the government and subsequently the state. Anne Mcclintock explores the rise of such phenomena in her book titled Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Context. She attributes a wide range of phenomena regarding race, gender, sexuality as well as the scene above to the rise and establishment of imperialism. This paper will therefore expand and apply Mcclintock's theories to the contemporary forms of imperialism using Haiti and Afghanistan as case studies.

Methodology

Mcclintock, beings her claim by exploring the notion
It was the first of many American lands to be conquered by the Europeans. However, due to various reasons, but most importantly the diminishing natural resources Spanish colonizers diced to abandon the state (Elie 15 - 16). This, however was not the end of colonization, the French colonizers remain, and by 1789, they had in their possession a substantial part of the state and its population. However, the French Revolution gave the slaves, who made up a large part of Haiti’s population, the opportunity to revolt, and demanded more rights (Elie 16 - 17). This ultimately led to the end of slavery from Haiti. Soon after that, the oppressed people living on the island began to consider ways in which they can seek independence. They were able to proclaim their independence soon after in 1803, by signing the capitulation of the cape. However, years of conflict preceded and succeeded the signing of the proclamation (Elie 18 - 24). This was not the end of Haiti’s occupied history. Haiti was later occupied by the United States from 1915-1943 and again 40 years later (Schmidt