Beyond brutal passions : prostitution in early nineteenth-century Montreal / Mary Anne Poutanen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Poutanen, Mary Anne, 1952- author.

Series:

Studies on the history of Quebec ; 30.

Études d'histoire du Québec = Studies on the history of Quebec ; 30

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prostitution--Québec (Province)--Montréal--History--19th century.

Prostitution.

Prostitutes--Québec (Province)--Montréal--History--19th century.

Prostitutes.

History.

Montréal (Québec)--Social conditions--19th century.

Montréal (Québec).

Montréal (Québec)--History--19th century.

Social conditions.

Québec--Montréal.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xviii, 409 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Kingston : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2015]

Summary:

During a time of significant demographic, geographic, and .social transition, many women in early nineteenth-century Montreal turned to prostitution and brothel-keeping to feed, clothe, protect, and house themselves and their families. Beyond Brutal Passions is a close study of the women who were accused of marketing sex, their economic and social susceptibilities, and the strategies they employed to resist authority and assert their own agency. Referencing newspapers, parish registers, census returns, coroners' reports, city directories, documents of Catholic and Protestant institutions, police books, and court records, Mary Anne Poutanen reveals how these women confronted limited alternatives and how (hey fought against established authority in the pursuit of their livelihoods. She details these women's lives not only as prostitutes but also as wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters who reconstructed the bonds of kinship and solidarity. An insightful history of prostitution, Beyond Brutal Passions explores the complicated relationships between women accused of prostitution and the society in which they lived and worked. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Prostitutes, Brothel-Keepers, and Their Workplaces

1 Disorderly Women and Disorderly Houses: The Social Geography of Prostitution 33

2 At Home in the Brothel: The Household Economy and Residential Prostitution 77

3 Kinship, Friendship, and Community: Street Prostitution, Homelessness, and Subsistence Strategies 132

Part II Between Law and Custom: Regulating Prostitution

4 Seeking Justice: Plaintiffs, Prostitution Laws, and Legal Procedures 177

5 Policing Prostitution: Peace Officers, Prostitutes, and Ambiguity 209

6 Judging Prostitutes: Encounters, Strategies, and Outcomes at Court 249

7 Correcting Prostitutes: Harsh Punishment for Brutal Passions 277.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 373-396) and index.

Other Format:

Poutanen, Mary Anne, 1952-, author. Beyond brutal passions.

ISBN:

9780773545335

0773545336

9780773545342

0773545344

OCLC:

895338539