Graduation Year
Spring 2011
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
Reader 1
Lisa Cody
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2011 Yoshan Kennedy-Churnac
Abstract
This thesis discusses discourses surrounding the urban prostitute in mid-nineteenth century Paris and London. During the nineteenth century, sexuality became a topic of increasing concern and an outpouring of literature on deviant sexuality and ways to regulate it appeared from moral commentators, social scientists, and physicians. Different historical moments saw the prevalence of different approaches taken, whether it was through the moral counsel of religious pamphlets, or through the methodological approach implemented by medical journals and social surveys. My study will trace the evolution of sexual discourses on prostitutes as well as how their authors influenced attempts to regulate these women. My primary argument is that sexual discourses of this period were organized around definitions of normality and deviancy, the understanding of what constitutes respectability, and the desire to control marginalized populations. The discursive literature on prostitution that appeared during this century thus provides an indication of how power manifests itself in unseen ways and how the power of words can shape definitions of sexuality and deviance.
Recommended Citation
Kennedy-Churnac, Yoshan A., "The Weight of Words: Discourse, Power and the 19th Century Prostitute" (2011). CMC Senior Theses. 93.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/93
