
American Gold Digger
Marriage, Money, and the Law from the Ziegfeld Follies to Anna Nicole Smith
Brian Donovan(Author)
The University of North Carolina Press
Published on 16. November 2020
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-4696-6027-1 (ISBN)
Description
The stereotype of the "gold digger" has had a fascinating trajectory in twentieth-century America, from tales of greedy flapper-era chorus girls to tabloid coverage of Anna Nicole Smith and her octogenarian tycoon husband. The term entered American vernacular in the 1910s as women began to assert greater power over courtship, marriage, and finances, threatening men's control of legal and economic structures. Over the course of the century, the gold digger stereotype reappeared as women pressed for further control over love, sex, and money while laws failed to keep pace with such realignments. The gold digger can be seen in silent films, vaudeville jokes, hip hop lyrics, and reality television. Whether feared, admired, or desired, the figure of the gold digger appears almost everywhere gender, sexuality, class, and race collide.
This fascinating interdisciplinary work reveals the assumptions and disputes around women's sexual agency in American life, shedding new light on the cultural and legal forces underpinning romantic, sexual, and marital relationships.
This fascinating interdisciplinary work reveals the assumptions and disputes around women's sexual agency in American life, shedding new light on the cultural and legal forces underpinning romantic, sexual, and marital relationships.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
16 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
658 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4696-6027-1 (9781469660271)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Brian Donovan
American Gold Digger
Marriage, Money, and the Law from the Ziegfeld Follies to Anna Nicole Smith
E-Book
10/2020
The University of North Carolina Press
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Brian Donovan is professor of sociology at the University of Kansas.