"Taking gender as a lens of analysis, these subjects are envisioned in a new light. As Gender and the Southern Body Politic examines literature and art, labor and law, manhood and womanhood, the historians contributing to this volume argue that politics is not limited to the machinations of parties, candidates, and voters. Instead, they suggest that private matters - family, home, and sexuality - are integral to the construction of public power.

Focusing on gender and ranging from the colonial period to the present, these essays explore the politics of memory, masculinity, domestic violence, political obligation, the male body, and affirmative action."--BOOK JACKET.