The Contagious Diseases Act in the United Kingdom was first passed by parliament in 1864 to prevent to spread of venereal diseases. The act looked to primarily protect men in the armed forces, who often contracted such diseases from prostitutes. The letters in the London Lowlife collection each discuss the act, the impact it has thus far had and the impact it will have upon society in the future. The writers also discuss the act’s practicalities and moral implications.
The three authors: Mrs. W.T. Malleson; “Justina” and an anonymous writer, each writes in response to a letter written by Miss. Garrett. According to the London Lowlife Collection, Garrett outwardly supported the Contagious Diseases Act and encouraged its extension.
The responses written by Justina and the anonymous writer go against Miss. Garrett, claiming that the Act not only endangers the liberty of women, but also intensifies the problem of venereal disease. The writers use prostitution as a prime example of this, arguing that the requirement of professional prostitutes to register themselves with the authorities was not only an unfair practice, but was inefficient in identifying such women, as many would evade registering. In her letter, Justina notes that it was common for lower class women to be registered and/or arrested; yet higher-class women often went undetected. Justina offers this as a severe flaw in the act. She suggests that requiring women to register and face not only public scrutiny, but unavoidable testing, and possible arrest, forces prostitution underground, thus encouraging the spread of disease and defeating the purpose of the act. This is an opinion also shared by the anonymous writer, who puts forth the idea that in order to make the act successful, and fair to both men and women, the entire male population should be subjected to similar testing and if infected, seclusion from society until cured.
All three writers convey the notion that the Contagious Diseases Act incurs a social injustice between the sexes. They point out that while women prostitutes, as well as some “respectable women,” (Justina, pg.28) have been arrested and subjected to compulsory checks for venereal disease, the men who use prostitutes, and thus spread the disease, are not subjected to the same treatment. Mrs. W. T. Malleson describes the way “vicious husbands and fathers communicate disease to their innocent wives and children” (Malleson, pg. 25), and yet are not held accountable. This is an opinion reiterated in the anonymous author’s argument whereby she states that only subjecting women to such testing is like, “arresting all drunk men and submitting them to police force and letting all women drinkers in the same way go free as blameless and unimpeachable” (pg2).
It is this injustice between the treatment of men and women that dominates Malleson’s argument. The writer expresses the need for equal opportunities between men and women particularly in terms of education. Malleson discusses the way women are put at a disadvantage from birth due to society’s lack of opportunities’ for them. She argues for an investment in teaching women about the dangers of venereal diseases, as well as providing young girls with a choice, so that they do not feel trapped/forced into the “evil” profession of prostitution. She places blame on men for the continuous spread of the disease amongst families as well as addressing other social injustices that relate to marriage and divorce.
While the three writers discuss in detail their opinion on Miss. Garrett’s letter and the Contagious Disease’s Act, offering their own solutions, I am interested in learning more about the anonymous author, as well as each of the writers’ backgrounds. I would also enjoying gaining a greater knowledge on the act itself in order to judge it from a more informed perspective and thus draw my own conclusions.
2 comments:
Your analysis of this topic is well thought out and very thorough. I like the way that you drew particular attention to the injustice between men and women in these acts. I also read the documents in The London Lowlife Collection, but I had forgotten about the anonymous author's comparison between arresting only drunk men and arresting only infected women. I think that including this comparison in your analysis added an interesting layer and helped readers contectualize the effect of the Acts.
I completely agree with your plans for further investigation and I think that it is important to find out the backgrounds of the writers in order to be able to better understand the reasons why they wrote their letters. I am particularly intrigued about the religious background of each of the authors. I know that the issue of morality comes up quite often in the letters, however I think that it would be worthwhile to further investigate the religious backgrounds of the authors to see what type of religious affiliation, if any, has influenced their beliefs.
Charlotte,
I found your research to be quite fascinating. I was originally interested in looking into researching the London Lowlife collection myself, but my interests were then pulled elsewhere. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the collection better through your analysis. The beginning information that you provide in the post certainly helps all of us to feel like we are also experts on this topic, even though we may not be. Your summary of the authors’ views puts everything into perspective and immediately helps us to compare the authors from the start.
Your analysis of the texts was very well done, but I was just considering you maybe elaborate on some of the strategies that the authors go about in writing these works. For example, it seems that Justina rather openly attacks and goes against the thoughts of Miss. Garrett, do you think she is effective in her strategies? From what you said in your analysis, it seems like she really tries to appeal to logos in her arguments, do you think this carries her points and ideas?
Also, it was interesting to see how women and men were treated differently. I think that this is certainly an interesting idea to keep in the back of your head as you continue on with your research. It certainly sparked interest in me; it is intriguing to see how society not only reacts to contagious males, but even how society reacts to the men who sleep with the prostitutes. I look forward to reading your further research and development.
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