Relative Intimacy: Fathers, Adolescent Daughters, and Postwar American Culture (Gender and American Culture)

270 Pages·2005·1.93 MB·English

by  Rachel Devlin

Intimac(cid:1)

& 
Coeditors EditorialAdvisoryBoard
ThadiousM.Davis NancyCott
LindaK.Kerber CathyN.Davidson
JaneSherronDeHart
SaraEvans
MaryKelley
AnnetteKolodny
WendyMartin
NellIrvinPainter
JaniceRadway
BarbaraSicherman
Intimac(cid:1)

,  ,
   
Rache(cid:2) Dev(cid:2)in
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Devlin,Rachel.
Relativeintimacy:fathers,adolescentdaughters,and
postwarAmericanculture/RachelDevlin.
p.cm.—(GenderandAmericanculture)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
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---(pbk.:alk.paper)
.Teenagegirls—Familyrelationships. .Fathersand
daughters. .Fathersanddaughtersinliterature.
I.Title. II.Series.
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Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 
 TheOedipalAge:
PostwarPsychoanalysisReinterpretsthe
AdolescentGirl 
 DelinquentGirlsandtheCrisisof
PaternalAuthorityinthePostwarUnitedStates 
 AdolescentAuthorities:
TeenageGirls,Consumerism,andtheCultural
TransformationofFatherhood 
 Coming-of-Age:
APaternalRiteofPassage,– 
 Affection,Identification,Skepticism:
SituatingMeninRelationtoAdolescentDaughters 
Epilogue 
Notes 
Bibliography 
Index 

ALifemagazinephotograph 
AParents’Magazinephotograph 
PublicitystillfromJuniorMiss(play), 
IllustrationfromLifewithTeena, 
IllustrationfromFatheroftheBride, 
Illustrationfrom‘‘Mr.Banks’OtherDaughter,’’
GoodHousekeeping, 
CoverofthebookJuniorMiss, 
AadvertisementforChanelperfumefrom
Seventeenmagazine 
CoverofaissueofEbonymagazine 
CoverofaissueofJetmagazine 
PublicitystillfromKissandTell(play), 
AdvertisementforKissandTell(film), 
PhotographsofF.HughHerbertfromtheNewYorkPost, 

Weallwritewithanaudienceinmind,andthisprojectbene-
fitedenormouslyinitsearlystagesfromthefactthatNancyF.Cottand
Jean-ChristopheAgnewweremine.NancyF.Cottadvisedthedisserta-
tiononwhichthisbookisbasedatYaleUniversity.Herquickeyeand
succinctquestionsgalvanizedbothresearchandargument,whileher
ownscholarshiphasbeenaconstantsourceofinspiration.Theidea
fortheprojectgrewoutofapaperforJean-ChristopheAgnew’smemo-
rableseminartitled‘‘TheAmericanCentury.’’Hisapproachtocultural
historyanimatesmythinkingthroughoutthebook;hisintellectual
generosityandenthusiasmhelpedmeseeitthroughtocompletion.
SupportfromtheMrs.GilesWhitingFoundationandaMellonFel-
lowshipforResearchallowedmetocompleteresearchonthedisser-
tationonwhichthisbookisbased.GrantsfromtheSexualityResearch
ProgramoftheSocialScienceResearchCouncil,theLarryHackman
ResearchProgramoftheNewYorkStateArchives,andtheTulaneUni-
versityCommitteeonResearch,allowedmetodoadditionalresearch
andtotaketimeofftofinishthewriting.
Muchoftheresearchforthisbookwasconductedatvariousarms
oftheNewYorkPublicLibrary,includingtheSchomburgCenterfor
Research on Black Culture; the Science, Industry, and Business Li-
brary;andtheLibraryforthePerformingArts.ArchivistsattheBilly
RoseTheatreCollectionhelpedmewendmywaythroughmidcentury
drama—afieldthat,withoutthiscollection,mightnothavemadeit
intomyhistoricalimagination.JimHoltsattheNewYorkStateAr-
chivesinAlbanydidagreatdealtohelp,evenwhensearchesproved
frustrating.
Two Medievalists, Bonnie Wheeler and Caroline Walker Bynum,
wereearlymodelsofintellectualreachandprecision;bothgaveme
much-needed encouragement early on. Robert Griswold answered
questions at the beginning of this project and generously shared
sources.ReginaKunzelhelpedmesituatesomeofmythinkingasI
setouttoturnthedissertationintoabook.JeannieRheehelpedme
thinkthroughlegalhistoryandSherrieInnesspromptedmetomake
itmorereadable.
CatherineStimpsonreadtheentiremanuscriptandposedimpor-
tantquestionsatacriticaljuncture.AtatimewhenIneededanaudi-
ence, Martha Hodes arranged for me to give a presentation at the
ProgramintheHistoryofWomenandGenderatNewYorkUniver-
sity.JamesBoydenandLindaPollockgenerouslyreadchapterswhen
Iaskedthemtoandofferedusefulsuggestions.
This book rests on the shoulders of those who transformed the
historyofyouthandtheirdoingsintotherecognizedandrichlyre-
searched topic that it is today. I very much appreciate that Paula S.
FassandBethL.Bailey,twosuchpioneers,readandcommentedex-
tensivelyonalatedraftofthemanuscript.
InNewOrleans,thefriendshipofLarryPowell,LauraWatts,Rich-
ardWatts,AlisaPlant,KateHaulman,NatalieRing,DanielHurewitz,
Peggy Simon, Randy Sparks, and Justin Wolfe has helped see me
throughtheday-to-dayworkofteachingandwriting.SylviaFreyhas
been a steadfast intellectual ally, and the simple knowledge of her
presencewasoftenreassuring.BethWillinger,attheCenterforRe-
search on Women, and Cynthia Lowenthal, dean of Newcomb Col-
lege,havehelpedmakethiscityahospitablehomeforthinkingabout
women and gender. I have counted on Pamela Smith and Donna
Deneenfortheirhelpwiththeoffice-basedworkofwritingandtravel.
In New York, Kio Stark read various chapters and offered help-
fuladvice.SabrinaBanesandTeneaJohnsonassistedwiththeoften
drearybusinessoftrackingdownsourcesonmicrofilm.JoshuaBeck-
manhelpedwiththearcanaofphotoediting.
Genuine thanks to my editor at the University of North Carolina
Press,SianHunter,forgivingmethe‘‘rigorousreviewprocess’’she
promised and for her thoughtful advice. Thanks also to Mary Cavi-
ness,DavidHines,andallattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress
whohavehelpedwiththeproductionofthisbook.
I thank Debby Applegate, Elizabeth Barnes, Virginia Blaisedale,
PamelaHaag,AmyKesselman,TripMcCrossin,andSusieSteinbach
for their friendship and provocative conversation during the years
spentonthedissertationandafter.IamgratefultoCynthiaGooen
Lesser and Deborah Rieders more than they know for making me
laughsomuchforsomanyyearsandfortheirpatiencewiththisbook.
viii 
BernardDevlinlookedupcitationsformeatthepubliclibrarywhen
IcouldnotbeinNewYork,andJamesE.Devlinhelpedonthefinan-
cialend.IamindebtedtoTonyLacavaroforvariousliterarytips.
ThefriendshipofRosanneMarionAdderleyhasbeenamostun-
expectedgift,andithassustainedmeduringthetimeithastakento
finishthisproject.AthenaDevlinhasreadeverypageofthebooksev-
eraltimesover;herinsighthasbeeninvaluable.Idonotknowhow
tothankherenough.Aroomofone’sownisonething,butintheage
ofDr.Searsitisquiteanothertogiveoneselfpermissiontogothere.
IamdeeplygratefultoStephenSollinsforhisendlessconversations
onallsidesofthisquestion,hisgeneroushelp,andhisunwavering
faithinthisproject.ThankstoJonahSollinsDevlinformakinglife
outsideofthatroomsorich,interesting,musical.
 ix