In 1843 on the island of Tahiti the evangelical missionary Rev. Alexander Simpson was accused of sexually assaulting three of the female students under his care, and of taking ‘improper liberties’ with at least three more. The events did not come out in public for at least a decade, while Simpson’s power in the local community only grew and rumblings relating to his wrong-doings were ruthlessly ‘crushed’. By exploring the case of Rev. Simpson, Emily Manktelow gives us key insights into the gender, power and racial dynamics of a particular case of sexual abuse on the frontiers of European colonialism. She explores the social and sexual context of clerical abuse, considers the hierarchies of gender and power that determined how the case was handled, and investigates the nature of colonialism, gender and abuse in the 19th century. The uncomfortably timely content of Gender, Power and Sexual Abuse in the Pacific allows us to interrogate the way we deal with and represent issues of abuse, authority and childhood. It aims to give voice to those whom the archive has silenced, and to listen to what they have to tell us about gender, sexuality and abuse in the modern world.
In 1843 on the island of Tahiti the evangelical missionary Rev. Alexander Simpson was accused of sexually assaulting three of the female students under his care, and of taking ‘improper liberties’ with at least three more. The events did not come out in public for at least a decade, while Simpson’s power in the local community only grew and rumblings relating to his wrong-doings were ruthlessly ‘crushed’. By exploring the case of Rev. Simpson, Emily Manktelow gives us key insights into the gender, power and racial dynamics of a particular case of sexual abuse on the frontiers of European colonialism. She explores the social and sexual context of clerical abuse, considers the hierarchies of gender and power that determined how the case was handled, and investigates the nature of colonialism, gender and abuse in the 19th century. The uncomfortably timely content of Gender, Power and Sexual Abuse in the Pacific allows us to interrogate the way we deal with and represent issues of abuse, authority and childhood. It aims to give voice to those whom the archive has silenced, and to listen to what they have to tell us about gender, sexuality and abuse in the modern world.
List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations PART I: INTRODUCTIONS Prologue 1. Rev. Simpson’s “Improper Liberties” PART II: CONTEXTS 2. Approaches 3. Our Sea of Islands 4. The South Seas Mission PART III: INTERPRETATIONS 5. ‘The Benefit of Every Doubt’ 6. Victim-Blaming 7. Gossip, Rumour and Reputation 8. Defamation, Drunkenness and Dismissal PART IV: CONCLUSIONS 9. Concluding Reflections: History, Memory and Truth-Making Notes Bibliography Primary Sources Unpublished Published Secondary Sources Index
This micro-history critically deconstructs a case of sexual abuse in the evangelical mission community of the London Missionary Society's 19th-century Tahitian Mission.
Emily J. Manktelow is Lecturer in British Imperial History at the University of Kent, UK. She is the author of Missionary Families: Race, Gender and Generation on the Spiritual Frontier (2013) and co-editor of Subverting Empire: Deviance and Disorder in the British Colonial World (2015).
Through solid and insightful scholarship, Manktelow’s book works on
many levels of historical enquiry, including British influence in
the South Pacific, missionary history, feminist history, and the
history of sexual assault. Manktelow also provides a wonderful
resource for teaching students to consider the archives as
depositories of institutional power.
*The Journal of Pacific History*
Both innovative and wide-ranging ... Manktelow's explicit
reflection on contemporary events for the writing of this history
is powerful and engaging ... An admirable book, notable for
Manktelow's method, poised and balanced prose, and finely crafted
and thoughtful analysis.
*Journal of British Studies*
This is a thoroughly researched and very probing discussion of
allegations of sexual abuse within the early missionary movement.
Manktelow's impressive historical excavation is informed by studies
of gender and authority to produce a creative and thought-provoking
study.
*Alison Twells, Reader in History, Sheffield Hallam University, UK*
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