| |
| author | Hannah B Kohn |
| title |
Streetwalkers, Women Hunters, and the Shrieking Sisterhood: The Contagious Diseases Acts and Constructions of Women in Nineteenth-Century Britain
|
| abstract | The Contagious Diseases Acts were passed by the British Parliament in 1864, 1866, and 1869. The Acts applied to
eighteen districts in Britain and almost all of the British colonies. Explicitly, the purpose of the Acts was to control venereal disease in the British
military, but in reality, the legislation created an environment in which prostitutes and women of the working-class poor could be harshly policed and
regulated. Two main coalitions formed in response to the Acts: repealers, who wished to overturn the Acts; and extentionists, who wanted to expand the
Acts to the entirety of Britain. The repeal group included many middle-class women, who were able to access the political sphere in an unprecedented
manner while protesting against the Contagious Diseases Acts. The discursive debate between the two groups played out primarily in print. Working-class
women's lives and bodies were the primary concern of the Acts, but they were left out of the formal discourse-making process. Nevertheless, they protested
in significant ways, particularly in courts, in the domestic sphere, and in hospitals.
Streetwalkers, Women Hunters, and the Shrieking Sisterhood: The Contagious Diseases Acts and Constructions of Women in Nineteenth-Century Britain
explores the discursive production around the Contagious Diseases Acts, and the resistance of working-class women, using Foucauldian and materialist lenses. |
| school | The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University |
| degree | B.A. (2017) |
| advisor | Wendy Kolmar |
| committee | Wendy Kolmar
Jinee Lokaneeta
Francis Bernstein |
| full text | HBKohn.pdf |
| |
