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Patriots, prostitutes, patriotutes: the mobilization and control of female sexuality in the United States during World War II

Hegarty, Marilyn Elizabeth
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1232541954

Abstract Details

1998, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
This dissertation explores the wartime processes of both mobilizing U. S. women’s “patriotic” sexuality and suppressing “deviant” sexuality. As the United States mobilized for war, the government, the military, and the medical establishments collectively launched a campaign to control and contain women labelled as “prostitutes” or “promiscuous” who came to symbolize the recurrent wartime problem of venereal disease. Social agencies, such as the American Social Hygiene Association, and the media also supported the campaign. But a simultaneous effort to mobilize female sexuality in support of the war effort complicated the campaign. In order to formulate venereal disease control policies, the Army, Navy, Federal Security Agency, State Health Departments, and the American Social Hygiene Association met and drew up the Eight Point Agreement in 1939, marking the official start of sociopolitical efforts to control female sexuality. In 1941, the May Act made prostitution in proximity to defense-related areas a federal crime. The federal government then created the Social Protection Division to serve as a “watchdog” over women’s morals. American women became a suspect category, subject to surveillance for the duration of the war. The narrative base of this study rests on the records of the Social Protection Division of the Office of Community War Services, the Army and Navy, the United States Public Health Service, and the American Social Hygiene Association. This dissertation presents a challenge to existing scholarship regarding World War II and the postwar period. It extends the ongoing historical debate regarding the effects of wartime transformation of the status of American women by looking beyond changes in women’s labor force participation. It introduces sexuality as a critical factor in the debate regarding the liberating aspects of war and suggests that the 1950s emphasis on family and domesticity should be reconsidered as, in part, a response to wartime disruption of the sexual system.
Leila J. Rupp (Advisor)
Susan M. Hartman (Committee Member)
John C. Burnham (Committee Member)
229 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hegarty, M. E. (1998). Patriots, prostitutes, patriotutes: the mobilization and control of female sexuality in the United States during World War II [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1232541954

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hegarty, Marilyn. Patriots, prostitutes, patriotutes: the mobilization and control of female sexuality in the United States during World War II. 1998. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1232541954.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hegarty, Marilyn. "Patriots, prostitutes, patriotutes: the mobilization and control of female sexuality in the United States during World War II." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 1998. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1232541954

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1232541954
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© 1998, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.