My book Fatherhood, Race, and the American State: The Politics of Patriarchal Anxieties will be released with Penn Press on August 25.
www.pennpress.org/978151282984...
melanie newport
Semerwater in the Yorkshire Dales
June 2026
“Congress's top bathroom sheriff Nancy Mace is on the ballot, and while not all of the votes have been counted yet, she is in a respectful fifth place,” Sarah McBride just said. “I don't like punching down and I believe in the politics of grace. So all I will say is happy Pride, Nancy.”
I analyze moments in political development when political actors fretted about the status of White patriarchal control over families. I call these moments "patriarchal anxieties."
Preorder a copy of "Fatherhood, Race, and the American State" in Penn's summer sale using code PENN-SUMMER26
The book analyzes the regulation of fatherhood through public policy from the mid-20th century to the present, arguing that patriarchy persists as a model of political authority in America because of racialized notions of "good" and "bad" fathering that valorize White fathers.
I trace three discourses through which political actors express patriarchal anxieties. By historicizing each, I show how race conditions the state's response to the needs of fathers and how White patriarchy continues to shape assumptions about legitimate political power.
The book is available for preorder, and you can save 40% off the cover price at the Penn Press website using code "PENN-SUMMER26"
