Syphilis, Wives, and Physicians

Medical Ethics and the Family in Late Nineteenth-Century France

Bibliographic Data

ID8940070
AuthorsJill Harsin (0009-0009-9943-2578, corresponding author)
Year1989
Volume16
Issue1
Pages72-72
Publication date1989-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrench Historical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-1071 • E-ISSN: 1527-5493
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/286434
PMID11651648
OpenAlexW2334484364
LanguageEN
Citations received11

The history of venereal disease and its treatment in late nineteenthand early twentieth-century France presents a rather extraordinary paradox. This period was a time of increasing concern about sexually transmitted diseases, as well as a recognition of their diffusion into all levels of society. It brought a new understanding of the extent to which syphilis could reach down into the next generation, destroying fetuses in the womb or condemning stricken families to sickly, tainted progeny. Most importantly, during this period reglementation, the registration and regular examination of prostitutes that had long been a feature of Paris and other large cities, was reaffirmed and extended throughout France as a means of controlling venereal disease.' This procedure resulted in the subjection of thousands of prostitutes to harsh and frequently arbitrary regulation, often with the justification that such cruel treatment of unworthy women would save respectable wives from diseases that their husbands would otherwise have brought home to them. Yet-and here is the paradox-there was a general recognition of the fact that respectable middle-class women in France who did become ill were likely to be inadequately treated, if treated at all. Dr. Alfred Fournier (1832-1914), one of the world's leading syphilis specialists in the late nineteenth century, was so certain of

Family medicine · Medical ethics · Political science · Syphilis · Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Medicine

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