History 2185 Lecture Notes - Josephine Butler, Donaldina Cameron, Living Wage
31 Jan 2013
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Document Summary
In the late 19th century prostitution was a leading problem in urban centres and it caused a lot of anxiety for the middle class and they saw it as part of a larger problem of general immorality. Also part of a larger problem of the commoditisation of sex and this was in the context of a large urban centre where there were many entertainment and amusement industries that relied on sex like theatres and dancehalls. They wondered how they could alleviate the issue of prostitution and one way was to make efforts to work with them women themselves who needed fixing (were men prostituting but it was more secretive) Social commentators talked about prostitutes a lot and they were referred to as fallen women (reference to the. Adam and eve story) and it implied they had no moral code and had fallen to the bottom of society.
