Rethinking Rufus: Sexual Violations of Enslaved Men (Gender and Slavery Ser.)

Review
Foster’s work is a monumental contribution to history, Africana studies, gender studies, and black male studies that forces us to ask not how but why generations of scholars did not account for, or theorize, the evidence of black male sexual victimization across the centuries despite many being well known. -- Tommy J. Curry ― author of The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood
Rethinking Rufus is a game-changer. Thomas A. Foster takes an oft-cited historical source and helps us see it, and the history of gender and sexuality in slavery, with new eyes. Foster's sensitive and inventive interpretations of the history of the sexual abuse of enslaved men provides new ways to investigate and understand these difficult and important histories. -- Leslie M. Harris ― coeditor of Sexuality and Slavery: Reclaiming Intimate Histories in the Americas
Rethinking Rufus illuminates new dimensions of how sexual violence operated during slavery by incorporating the perspectives of Black men. . . . Foster’s gendered analysis of sexual violence opens up new avenues for further research on the interrelatedness between masculinity, reproduction, and slave labor. Rethinking Rufus is a great contribution to the fields of Early American History, Gender Studies, and African American Studies. -- Kevin C. Quinn ― Black Perspectives
Foster offers a compelling contextualization of the myriad ways enslaved men also experienced sexualized violation.... [His] exploration offers new avenues of further gendered study and augments the history of US slavery as an inherently and completely abusive enterprise rooted in white self-interest and inhumanity. -- E. R. Crowther ― CHOICE
Rethinking Rufus is the first book-length study to focus on enslaved men’s experiences of sexual violence and violation. As such it is a major contribution to the literature on both American slavery and the history of sexuality and will be essential reading for students and scholars alike. ― H-Soz-Kult
Rethinking Rufus is a well-written, meticulously researched, paradigm-shifting book. It is essential reading for anyone in search of a more complete understanding of how people of African descent, particularly men, experienced enslavement in the Americas. ― Journal of the Civil War Era
From the outset of this provocative book, Thomas A. Foster forces a historical reckoning. . . . Rethinking Rufus deserves a wide readership. Readers will appreciate Foster's reframing of historical narratives, his use of multiple kinds of evidence, and his concise prose style. Its findings broaden understandings of sexual abuse among the enslaved and will undoubtedly stir future research in the history of sexuality in America. -- Thomas Balcerski ― Journal of American History
Foster deftly handles the complexity of sexual violence. . . . [Rethinking Rufus] expands our understanding of the brutalities of slavery and opens up new avenues for further study. -- Libra Hilde ― Journal of Southern History
Anyone who has read Saidiya Hartman, Sasha Turner, Ramey Berry, Martha Hodes, Tera Hunter, Jennifer Morgan, and Stephanie Camp would find the book to be useful. Some non-academics would also find Rethinking Rufus to be accessible and interesting. It covers challenging subject matter, but Foster handles it well as he pushes his readers to rethink much of what they know about sex and slavery. Rethinking Rufus is one of the more engaging books that I have recently read, and I highly recommend it. -- Antwain K. Hunter ― Journal of the Early Republic
The publication of Rethinking Rufus is a watershed moment in the study of Black masculinity as well as an important addition to the scholarship on race, gender, and slavery. -- Thomas Blakeslee ― The Journal of African American History
Rethinking Rufus is the first book-length study of sexual violence against enslaved men. Scholars have extensively documented the widespread sexual exploitation and abuse suffere