{"product_id":"feminizing-venereal-disease-the-body-of-the-prostitute-in-nineteenth-century-medical-discourse-9780814780824","title":"Feminizing Venereal Disease: The Body of the Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century Medical Discourse","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1497 the local council of a small town in Scotland issued an order that all light women--women suspected of prostitution-- be branded with a hot iron on their face. In late eighteenth- century England, the body of the prostitute became almost synonymous with venereal disease as doctors drew up detailed descriptions of the abnormal and degenerate traits of fallen women. Throughout much of history, popular and medical knowledge has held women, especially promiscuous women, as the source of venereal disease. In \u003cb\u003eFeminizing Venereal Disease\u003c\/b\u003e, Mary Spongberg provides a critical examination of this practice by examining the construction of venereal disease in 19th century Britain.\u003cbr\u003e Spongberg argues that despite the efforts of doctors to treat medicine as a pure science, medical knowledge was greatly influenced by cultural assumptions and social and moral codes. By revealing the symbolic importance of the prostitute as the source of social disease in Victorian England, Spongberg presents a forceful argument about the gendering of nineteenth- century medicine. In a fascinating use of history to enlighten contemporary discourse, the book concludes with a compelling discussion of the impact of Victorian notions of the body on current discussions of HIV\/AIDS, arguing that AIDS, like syphilis in the nineteenth century, has become a feminized disease.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mary Spongberg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New York University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/1998\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.71lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.39h x 5.36w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780814780824\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSpongberg, Mary:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eMary Spongberg\u003c\/b\u003e is a lecturer in women's history at Macquarie University in Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New York University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40183706812531,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_f76b2929-736c-4e1c-8195-bdd0fa034cfc.jpg?v=1655558397","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/feminizing-venereal-disease-the-body-of-the-prostitute-in-nineteenth-century-medical-discourse-9780814780824","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}