Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1996. Hardcover. First Edition (NAP). Written by Ann duCille. Signed and inscribed on the half title page ('for Joe and Kit, dear friends much missed with love and admiration, Ann, Christmas 1996'). Fairly rare hardcover copy, rarer still for being signed (only one other signed hardcover for sale on the Internet). None of the few other copies have dust jackets. My sense is that it was issued without one. ISBN: 0674810813

'How does the notion of colorblind equality fit in with the social racism remains America's premier national story and its grossest national product. From Aunt Jemima Pancakes to ethnic Barbie dolls, corporate America peddles racial and gender stereotypes, packaging and selling them as breakfast food or toys for kids. Moving from the realm of child's play through the academy and the justice system, Ann duCille draws on icons of popular culture to demonstrate that it isn't just race and gender that matter in America but race and gender as reducible to skin colour, body structure and other visible signs of difference. She reveals that Mattel Inc., uses stereotypes of gender, race and cultural differences to mark - and market - its Barbie dolls as female, white, black, Asian and Hispanic. The popularity of these dolls suggests the degree to which dominant definitions of self and other have become internalized. In a similar move, "Skin Trade" interrogates the popular discourse surrounding the trial of O.J. Simpson, arguing that much of the mainstream coverage of the case was a racially coded message equally dependent on stereotypes. Focusing on Newsweek and Time in particular, duCille shows how the former All-American was depicted as un-American. She explores other collusions and collisions among race, gender and capital as well. Especially concerned with superficial distinctions perpetuated within the academic community, the author argues that the academy indulges in its own skin trade in which both race and gender are hot properties'.