Customer Reviews

The Lost Sisterhood: Prostitution in America, 1900-1918

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The Lost Sisterhood is a fascinating account of prostitution at the turn of the last century. It is also a marvelous glimpse at the challenges and difficulties faced by lower class women - persons who had many careers and doors closed to them, prostitution one of the few ways an independent (ie. unmarried) woman could earn a living.

Far from a sordid or judgemental account, Rosen explores the factors behind the profession, its tolerance (especially in the growing cities of the West), and the attitudes of contemporary Americans towards the trade and those who plied it. I recommend the book for its straightforwardness on a challenging topic, as well as for its honest treatment of the subject and scholarship.

Anyone interested in American women's history and the history of the progressive period will be fascinated by this engrossing book. Rosen explains prostitution within the context of a rapidly growing United States, showing how concerns over prostitution dovetailed with concerns about problems of industrialization and urbanization and immigration. Rosen explores the various attitudes of progressive reformers toward prostitution and explores the lives and works of the prostitutes themselves. There are a few interesting photos included in the book, too.

An even-handed examination of working women's history in America. It provides deep & wide insight into how women got into the business of prostitution, stayed there, died in it, or left it. The book is as current today as it was when first published in 1982, as is the turn-of-the-century business era it examines. An excellent read and is a 'to include' in women's history reference/biblio lists.

I have an abiding interest in the social history of the first two decades of the 20th century, a time period often neglected in standard history courses. This book is an interesting and scholarly review of the lives and work of prostitutes and their role in society - and it includes background from the 19th century and a bit of information on the evolution of prostitution into what it is now. Parts of the story are almost unbearably grim - which is unavoidable if one is to be truthful. One cannot read about the Chinese girls imprisoned in the "cribs" until their premature deaths without feeling ill. The range from the best-kept brothels to the 50-cent houses to the 'cribs' to the streetwalkers, and the role of the police in maintaining these systems, is well-described. I was especially interested in what Jane Addams thought about how the restricted social role that all 19th century American women were judged by created the roles of both the 'respectable woman' and the prostitute. For the 'respectable woman," fear of being forced out of a man's protection and onto the streets was enough to control her behavior.

This Book is great. Factual, honest, thoughtful. Not for those not interested in the real human angle.