Waubonsee Community College

No magic bullet, a social history of venereal disease in the United States since 1880, Allan M. Brandt

eng

"Manuscript sources": p. 189-190Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

No magic bullet

bibliography

11157372

Allan M. Brandt

a social history of venereal disease in the United States since 1880

From Victorian anxieties about syphilis to the current hysteria over herpes and AIDS, the history of venereal disease in America requires us to examine social attitudes as well as purely medical concerns. This brilliant study is the first book to chronicle the range and direction of American reactions to the VD problem over the last hundred years. As the author makes clear, the medical promise of "magic bullets"--Drugs that would rid us of disease- is, in the case of VD, a promise unfulfilled. Despite dramatic advances, these diseases continue to exist in epidemic proportions. Focusing on this paradox of effective medicine and persistent disease, the author recounts the assorted medical, military, and public health responses to the problems that have arisen over the years; these have ranged from the widespread incarceration of prostitutes during World War I to the legal requirements for premarital blood tests. In the author's view, American concerns about venereal disease have been inextricably tied to a set of social and cultural values relating to sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and class. He shows how plans to combat sexually transmitted infections have typically emphasized the regulation of individual conduct. At the heart of such efforts, Brandt argues, is an ongoing tendency to see venereal disease as both a punishment for sexual misbehavior and an index of social decay. The tension between medical and moral approaches to VD has significantly impeded efforts to control these infections, for it has been too often assumed that merely controlling behavior is the answer. In tracing the social history of VD, this book offers a lucid, perceptive commentary on the relationship between medical science and cultural values, between sexuality and disease. -- from Book Jacket

Damaged goods: progressive medicine and social hygiene -- Fit to fight: the Commission on Training Camp Activities -- The cleanest army in the world: venereal disease and the AEF -- Shadow on the land: Thomas Parran and the New Deal -- Dr. Ehrlich's magic bullet: venereal disease in the age of antibiotics