"The Master Problem of the Age": Print Culture and the Sex Trade in Canada, 1880-1920
Keywords:
Information History, Sex Trade, Reform, MarginalizationAbstract
An historical case study of the moral panic which characterized anti-prostitution efforts in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Canada both on and off the page provides evidence for the influence print media can have on social thought and marginalizing practices. A selection of reformist publications is examined to highlight parallels that existed between print media and common attitudes towards and regulation of the sex trade. One significant parallel is a tendency to interpret the trade as rooted in the perceived moral and behavioural aberrancies of young wage-earning women. Various developments in print and information culture during this period are then explored to suggest why such commonalities may have existed. An ever-deepening connection between Canadian society and the printed word increased the ability of print material to reach and influence the general public. This connection offers a possible explanation for similarities in attitude towards female sex workers in print and in reality, which serves as an example of the printed word‘s strong potential for social influence.
Keywords: information history, print culture, sex trade, reform, marginalization
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