A possessive investment in white heteropatriarchy? The 2016 election and the politics of race, gender, and sexuality

Abstract

The 2016 election has triggered new interest in and speculation about longstanding questions about the roles of race, gender, and sexuality in American politics. We argue that rather than anomalous and exceptional, the 2016 election represents an extension – and perhaps the beginning of a consolidation – of enduring and intersecting configurations of racialized and gendered power, marginalization, and oppression. We examine some of the ways in which these intersecting configurations structure and are structured by American politics, exploring some of the political consequences of proximity to or distance from the benefits of white heteropatriarchy.