Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State [Paperback]

Judith R. Walkowitz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521270642 | ISBN-13: 978-0521270649 | Publication Date: October 29, 1982

The state regulation of prostitution, as established under the Contagious Diseases Acts of 1864, 1866 and 1869, and the successful campaign for the repeal of the Acts, provide the framework for this study of alliances between prostitutes and feminists and their clashes with medical authorities and police. Prostitution and Victorian Society makes a major contribution to women's history, working-class history, and the social history of medicine and politics. It demonstrates how feminists and others mobilized over sexual questions, how public discourse on prostitution redefined sexuality in the late nineteenth century, and how the state helped to recast definitions of social deviance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Prostitution and Victorian Society represents women's history at its most ambitious and effective. Walkowitz's discerning analysis of the Ladies National Association's ideas and strategies makes her book a very useful part of the political education of feminists of our own generation.' Ellen Ross, Signs

'A picture of the complex mechanisms through which class, gender and sexualities are refracted and shaped. This is a major, pathbreaking achievement which will leave future historians deeply in Judith Walkowitz's debt.' Jeffrey Weeks, History Today

' ... essential (and compelling) reading.' British Journal of Law and Society

' ... a classic of social history, full of vivid experience bound together by a profound understanding of the social ideology and moral myth of Victorian England ... A work of impeccable scholarship; a parable for today; yes, both of these. But let the reviewer not founder in her own morality. This is also a book full of lusty life and exceptional characters.' Elizabeth Janeway, Los Angeles Times

'Walkowitz reveals the complexity of the social, economic, moral, religious and political (including feminist) issues that were entwined in the CD controversy through a virtuoso analysis. Walkowitz exposes the void that still exists in the historical explanation of changes in ideas and policies on sexual and social relations of the sexes that have transpired since late Victorian times. The exposure is a worthy challenge to a social historian who can match Walkowitz's gifts in research and analysis.' The American Historical Review

Book Description

Examines the state regulation of prostitution in mid-Victorian England as established by the Contagious Diseases Acts of 1864, 1866 and 1869. Explores the origins of the Acts, the successful feminist campaign to repeal them and their impact on the registered prostitutes and their community.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 29, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521270642
• ISBN-13: 978-0521270649
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars worth a read, December 2, 2008

By 

D. Held (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State (Paperback)

This is an excellent book when it is discussing lower class women reactions to dominance by men and Middle Class Victorian attitudes toward the lower classes. The author makes the point that prostitution was often a job of short duration for women who would presumably move on to other things; marriage, working class occupations, domestic help. It gets dull and dissertation like when discussing the doings of the various parties arrayed against each other over the Contagious Disease Act, which sought to regulate venereal disease amongst prostitutes. I wish it could be chopped up in two big sections. In any case, chapters 1, 2, 8, 10 would suffice for the first view. Needless to say, there is no prurient interest in this book of social history on the treatment of lower class women.