Duke University Press Erotic Innocence

In Erotic Innocence James R. Kincaid explores contemporary America's preoccupation with stories about the sexual abuse of children. Claiming that our culture has yet to come to terms with the bungled legacy of Victorian sexuality, Kincaid examines how children and images of youth are idealised, fetishised, and eroticised in everyday culture. Drawing on a number of wide-ranging and well-publicised cases as well as scandals involving such celebrities as Michael Jackson and Woody Allen, Kincaid looks at issues surrounding children's testimonies, accusations against priests and day-care centres, and the horrifying yet persistently intriguing rumors of satanic cults and "kiddie porn" rings. In analyzing the particular form of popularity shared by such child stars as Shirley Temple and Macaulay Culkin, he exposes the strategies we have devised to deny our own role in the sexualisation of children.Finally, Kincaid reminds us how other forms of abuse inflicted on children - neglect, abandonment, inadequate nutrition, poor education - are often overlooked in favour of the sensationalised sexual abuse coverage in the news, on daytime TV talk shows, and in the elevators and cafeterias of America each day.