Quote: “The old idea, once a harlot always a harlot, possesses the public mind. Proceeding from this premiss, people argue that every woman taken from the streets through the agency of penitentiaries, is a woman snatched from an otherwise interminable life of sin, whereas I have shown that the prostitute class is constantly changing and shifting, that in the natural course of events, and by the mere efflux of time the women composing it become reabsorbed into the great mass of our population…how to render the prostitute less depraved in mind and body, to cause her return as soon as possible to a decent mode of living, to teach her by degrees, and as occasion offers, self-restraint and self-denial, to build her up, in short…is the problem to be solved”.
Comment: This way of thinking strikes me as very progressive and in the same line as Mr. Benson’s thought process when grappling with how to deal with Ruth’s situation when she first came into their care – with more of a religious sentiment to it, but similar. In the Lock piece, it references the Contagious Disease Act would require women to undergo examinations for venereal diseases or be placed through legal custody in a “Certified Hospital” for 1-3 months and, if they didn’t comply, faced imprisonment for upwards of 3 months with possible hard labor. I feel this highlights the element of those disjoined laws, made in the abstract, facing public scrutiny as they do not effectively deal with the realities. Acton mentions many of the same issues Ruth faced, though not in the same manner as prostitution, but at this time, not far off. She had engaged in premarital relations, had an illegitimate son, and was dealing with the same kind of issues this piece mentions when attempting to be a member of society.
Question: The Act itself seems to offer an interesting interpretation of women and the law as it allows for women to appeal to the legal system if they feel their detainment is illegitimate based on their circumstances, such as not having a disease any longer, yet at the same time, allows them zero bodily autonomy. Their body becomes an interest of the law, and refusal to be taken results in prison. Again, the question of what behaviors deemed women criminals arise in both the novels we have read seems to apply here as well. I wondered if we could speak more on this idea of prostitution versus the ‘common prostitute’ as we had started to discuss this in class and how varying levels of actions labeled prostitution could influence Acts like this one. As for “The Lock Asylum” piece, I wondered if we could also unpack this statement, “After my visit to the Lock Asylum, I ventured to suggest…a doubt whether this and kindred institutions were adapting themselves to the wants of the day…” – would this really have encapsulated the wants of society or the wants of the idealistic rendition of society.
