The Dirt on "White Slavery": The Construction of Prostitution Narratives in Early Twentieth-Century American Newspapers

2014/01/23 by Erin Gallagher-Cohoon · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Race, History, and American Society #Sex work and related issues #Asian American and Pacific Histories

paper · pdf · doi:10.29173/cons21380

openalex publication_date 2014/01/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

The paper "The Dirt on 'White Slavery': The Construction of Prostitution Narratives in Early Twentieth-Century America" analyses the development of white slavery discourses in Progressive Era newspapers, reform books and trial records. White slavery involved both gendered and racialized fears of coercive prostitution. These prostitution narratives are used to uncover early twentieth-century American perceptions of appropriate femininity, inherent female weakness, and the sexual threat of racial and ethnic minorities.

Cited by

• Sex trafficking in the United States [wikipedia]

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