The Magdalenes: Prostitution in the Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth century witnessed a discursive explosion around the subject of sex. Historical evidence indicates that the sexual behaviour which had always been punishable began to be spoken of, regulated, and policed in new ways. Prostitutes were no longer dragged through the town, dunked in lakes, whipped and branded. Medieval forms of punishment shifted from the emphasis on punishing the body to punishing the mind.

Building on the work of Foucault, Walkowitz, and Mort, Linda Mahood traces...