A consciousness of "race" as an allegedly fundamental and important definer of human identity is a relatively recent historical development. By the late nineteenth century, racial divides in many parts of the world--including all parts of the "Western" world--had become deeply entrenched in popular consciousness, social institutions, and political practice. In many modern societies, the notion that "the races" should co-exist in separate social realms came to be regarded as natural and obvious. To cross the racial divide was thus to act unnaturally to at least some extent. And the ultimate transgression against this human-made "natural" order was to cross the racial divide sexually. Indeed, such behavior, if done on a large scale, would soon undermine the very idea of "race" as a way of categorizing humans. (Incidentally, notice how angry people of all political persuasions sometimes become when someone points out the biological baselessness of the very idea of human races.)

One aspect of Western fascination with the Orient was that it was--or at least was imagined to be--a place where the races mingled and mixed. Combining the potential for a mixing of races with the other elements of exotic Oriental sexuality was a perfect formula for kinky fantasies during the nineteenth century. And this tendency continued well into the twentieth century and, though now more muted, remains with us today.

The images here are two examples of the threatening aspects of inter-racial sexual mingling in Western eyes within the broader context of Orientalism. "This is the Enemy" was an entry in an American cartoon contest during the Pacific War. The notion of Japanese as depraved sexual predators had existed in the United States since the start of the twentieth century, and, as one would expect, it received considerable attention during the war years. Notice the stark white-dark contrast in the image.

The image at the top is from the 1950s. At that time, the notion of inter-racial sex, while still threatening, could also be titillating if set in a far off land--India in this case. This was the classic Orientalist formula adapted to the movie screen. Notice here too the stark black-white contrast.

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