Feminizing Venereal Disease

In the late 18th century, women were considered potentially infectious to men; by the early 20th century, very few women were considered vectors of disease. By focusing on representations of the prostitute in medical and legal discourse, art, literature and religion, this text charts these shifts.

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In the late-eighteenth century all women were considered potentially infectious to men but by the early-twentieth century only certain women were considered vectors of disease. By focusing on representations of the prostitute in medical and legal discourse, art, literature and religion this book will chart these shifts, while at the same time exploring broader concerns about construction of femininity and masculinity, the protection of male sexual privilege and the impact of feminism and eugenics on medicine, the law and popular culture.