The Damsel in Distress Problem with Daniel Peña

Daniel Peña is the author of HOW TO LOOK AWAY: On American Cruelty and the Refusal to Disappear, a collection of essays about his childhood as a Mexican-American kid in conspiracy-friendly Texas and the broader experiences of watching those fringe elements enter American popular culture and politics, helping to create the tolerance of human rights abuses against migrants from Latin America and elsewhere. For this episode, he tells me about Cynthia Ann Parker, a white girl in Texas who was captured by and then raised within a tribe of Comanche natives in the mid 1800s, and how her story, and the stories made up about her, were processed through the white American imagination. We discuss the narrative of the white damsel in distress and look at how girls and women have been used for centuries as an almost folkloric justification for cruelty and the consolidation of power. Get a copy of HOW TO LOOK AWAY Check out Daniel's other work here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a Patron⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content Or subscribe to American Hysteria on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get some of our new merch at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠americanhysteria.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, all profits this month go to The Sameer Project, a Palestinian-led mutual aid group in Gaza Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠americanhysteria.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Producer and Editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Miranda Zickler⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Associate Producer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Riley Swedelius-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Associate Editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kaylee Jasperson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith