Feminizing Venereal Disease: The Body of the Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century Medical Discourse

by Mary Spongberg

Book Overview

In 1497 the local council of a small town in Scotland issued an order that all light women--women suspected of prostitution-- be branded with a hot iron on their face. In late eighteenth- century England, the body of the prostitute became almost synonymous with venereal disease as doctors drew up detailed descriptions of the abnormal and degenerate traits of fallen women. Throughout much of history, popular and medical knowledge has held women,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814780822
• ISBN13: 9780814780824
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"