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The “Gypsy” Stereotype and the Sexualization of Romani Women

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“Gypsies” in European Literature and Culture

Part of the book series: Studies in European Culture and History ((SECH))

Abstract

The fact that the representation of people of color—and women of color, in particular—has been exoticized and sexualized in the Western perception is nothing new (cf. Burney; Jan Mohamed; Jiwani; Lalvani; Negra; Parmar; Shohat and Stam; Yegenoglu). The Romani people, or “Gypsies,” have not escaped this portrayal, and the literature that examines it is growing rapidly (cf. Champagne; Esplugas; Gabor; Gordon; Hancock, “Duty and Beauty,” We are the Romani People, “The Concocters”; Iordanova; Lemon; Malvinni; Mayall; McLaughlan; Needham; Nord, “Marks of Race,” “Seen in Rare Glimpses”; Pellegrino; and Schrevel).

The Gypsy women and girls … are capable of exciting passion of the most ardent description, most particularly in the bosoms of those who are not of their race, which passion of course becomes the more violent when the almost utter impossibility of gratifying it is known. George Borrow, The Zincali

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Authors
  1. Ian Hancock
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Valentina Glajar Domnica Radulescu

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© 2008 Valentina Glajar and Domnica Radulescu

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Hancock, I. (2008). The “Gypsy” Stereotype and the Sexualization of Romani Women. In: Glajar, V., Radulescu, D. (eds) “Gypsies” in European Literature and Culture. Studies in European Culture and History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230611634_10

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