familiares irregulares
II. El significado de la deseada integración en la vida de la Iglesia
The i n f l u e n c e o f t h e G r e at W a r o n w o m e n at t he p r e s e n t t i me i s g e n e r a l l y b a d . . . • We b e l i ev e e v i l
e f f e c t s i n many way s , exc i t e m e n t and r e s t l e s s ne s s , have f o l l ow e d i mme d i a t e l y o n a l l g re a t w a r s , and t he ado r ab l e s ex i s p r o ba b l y p a s s i ng t h r o u g h t h i s pha s e a t t he pre s e n t t ime , b u t w e t ru s t t ha t s o o n t o mo s t women a home w i l l b e c o m e m o r e a t t r ac t i v e than an o f f i c e o r a s ho p , a n d a b a b y t he mo s t d e s i r a b l e p o s s e s s i o n o n e a r t h .
N e w Z e a l and M e d i c a l J o u rn a l , Oc t o be r 1 9 1 9 .
I n the f i rst part o f thi s the s i s we have charted the response to venereal d i sease in New Zealand between 1 9 1 0 and 1 9 4 5 . Th i s re sponse re f lected and art i culated a
variety o f tens ions , anxieties and as sumpt ions about race , d i se ase , sexual ity and soc ial change . The se factors
helped to shape i n i t i at ive s on venereal d i sease and to d e fine t he boundaries within which debate over the i s sue took p l ace and within wh ich soc ially and morally
acceptable solut i ons we re formul ated .
I n analys i ng the reaction to venereal d i sease in New Zeal and in t h i s pe riod it becomes obv ious that the concern with the se d i seases cannot be solely explained by med i cal factors . I ndeed , at a numbe r o f important po ints med ical personnel we re outspoken in the i r c r i t i c i sm o f the
preva i l ing mood of alarm about the venereal ' menace ' and o f the measure s wh ich pol i t i c ians we re keen to adopt . These reservat ions were art i culated in 1 9 1 0 when the
Attorney-General attempted to i nt roduce ' tougher ' venereal d i sease l e g i s lat ion and again in 1 9 1 7 when the Soc ial
Hyg iene B i l l was i ntroduced . The gap between medical and s oc i al att i tudes towards the g ravity of the i s sue was also o bv i ous i n the response to the survey o f doctors
undertaken by the Committee of I nqui ry i nto Venereal
Diseases in 1 92 2 . The resul ts o f the aurvey made it c lear t hat doctors were by no means conv inced that venereal
d i sease const i tuted the maj or threat which po l i t
�
c ians and s ome other members of the i r profess ion portrayed it as .attributed to med ical factors alone , one must l ook to other explanat i ons for the alarm and act i v i sm wh ich the i s sue occas ioned . I n t h i s sec t i on we wi l l examine the p ropo s i t i on that this concern re flected contemporary anxieties about rac ial f i tne s s , sexual ity and soc ial c hange . We shal l then examine the pos s i b i l i ty that as wel l as art iculat ing the se anxieties act iv i sm on the i s sue was al so , pe rhaps , for some an attempt to respond to these changes and to reaf f i rm values that appeared to be
threatened .
The level o f anxiety and act i v i sm which the i s sue o f venereal d i sease provoked sugge sts that any attempt to unde rstand contempo rary approache s to the i s sue must analyse the wide r soc ial anx i eties of the period . I t i s tempt ing t o analyse the epi sode i n t e rms o f the " moral panic " theory f i rst uti l i sed by Stanley Cohen in h i s study o f the ' mods ' and ' rockers ' of the 1 9 5 0 s . 1 Al though thi s theory has been appl ied to a wide var iety of contemporary and h i storical stud ie s , I have dec ided to reject such analys i s for the present d i scus s i on . First , a s other
h i storians have sugge sted2 , I bel ieve t hat t he appl icat i on
1 . S . Cohen , � � Qf
t he Mods ( London , 1 98 0 ) .
2 . See S . Jef freys , " ' Free from al l uninvited touch of man ' : women ' s campai gns around sexual ity , 1 8 8 0 - 1 9 1 4 " , in L . Coveney , M . Jackson , S . Jeff rey s , L . Kay and P. Mahony ,
o f such theor i e s r i sks downplaying and overlooking the mot i ve s wh ich guided part ic ipants i n the se epi sodes . My analys i s concent rate s on the importance o f acknowledg ing c ontempo rary bel ie f s and percept i ons and the parameters which they imposed on act ion . Cohen ' s analys i s also place s cons iderable emphas i s on the rol e of the mass med i a . The ambi guous att i tude o f contemporary media towards the i ssue o f venereal d i sease suggests that Cohen ' s mode l may not be an appropriate one .
During the pe r i od under s tudy conce rn with the qua l i ty and quant ity o f New Zealand ' s populat ion was to inspire a var ie ty o f measure s in the f ields o f health , educat ion and c h i l d we l fare . These measures ranged from init iat ive s l i ke the introduction o f the School Med ical Service and o f c h i l d and mate rnity bene f i t s to more ove rtly eugenic
endeavours l i ke the Mental De fect ives Amendment B i l l of 1 9 28 . 3 Thes e rac ial anxieties were al so ev ident in the al arm occas i oned by the al l eged preval ence o f venereal
control of women ( London , 1 984 ) , p . 2 5 .
3 . The B i l l ' s eugenic i nspirat i on was obv i ous i n four c l auses , which were the subj ect o f c ons iderable crit i c i sm and c ontroversy . C l ause 7 amended the def in i t ion o f a
mental ly defective person by i ntroduc ing a new c lass : the ' soc ial defect ive ' . C l ause 1 5 made provis ion for
schoo l children three or more years ' backward ' in the i r s chool ing t o be reported t o the proposed Eugen i c s Board . C l ause 2 1 made marri age with a reg i stered ' de fect ive '
i l legal and c l ause 2 5 - the most content ious - prov ided for the ster i l i sat ion of ' defective s ' , cond i t i onal upon the c onsent o f pat i e
h
t , parent or guard ian . Of the se c l auses only c l ause 7 was to surv ive the B i l l ' s f i rstd i sease i n the Dominion . I n part icular , these d i sease s �
were l inked to physi cal and moral degenerat ion , including dec l i ne in the b i rth- rate .
Thi s alarm was based on two premi ses : that venereal d i sease was rampant and that thi s state of affairs had far-reaching and d i re s i gni fi cance for the ind ividual , the nat ion and the race . Wh i l st the f i rst premise was subject to vary i ng op inions , there was no denying that venereal d i sease had d i re effects for those unfortunate enough to c ontract i t . Th i s was e spec i al ly so g iven the
shortcomings of contempo rary med ical and pharmaceut i cal knowl edge and t reatment . In this pre-penic i l l in e ra the t reatment of venereal i nfection was a l engthy proces s and one not w ithout s ide -effects . 4 As a consequence many sufferers fa i l e d to seek medical treatment for venereal infect ion or to carry it through t i l l the d i sease was c ompletely cured . s G iven the shortcomings of orthodox med ic i ne in treat ing these d i seases not surpr i s ingly many sufferers hoped the a i l ment would go away or consulted vendors of ' quack ' med i c ine . 6
4 . One pol i t i c i an suggested that the arsenical compound salvarsan , or ' 6 0 6 ' , had k i l led more than syph i l i s i t se l f ,
1 8 0 ( 1 9 1 7 ) , p . 6 5 3 .
5 . At t he We l l i ngton venereal d i seases c l inic , for
example , only 40 per cent . of cases cont i nued t reatment unt i l non- infect ive . See 1 9 2 2 ( H . 3 1A ) , p . 1 5 . 6 . The Comm ittee o f I nqu i ry into Venereal D i seases
expre s sed concern at the apparent number of cases t reated by chemists and other unqual i f i ed personne l . See
I f untreated , syph i l i s and gonorrhea could l ead to a mu l t ipl ic ity of compl icat i ons , many o f then fatal . The se
i nc luded i nsanity , de formity , bl i ndne s s , deafness , d e f i c ient development , d i seases o f the ne rvous system l ead ing to paraly s i s and locomotor atax i a , ste r i l i ty , rheumat i sm and d i seases o f the bladde r and k i dney .
Consequent ly , those who urged the nece s s ity o f fac i ng up t o the venereal ' menace ' we re qu i c k to spe l l out its cost
i n terms of human i l lne s s and suffe r i ng . They were not
above ove rstat ing the i r case . One po l i t i c i an , for
example , sugge sted that 90 per cent . of a l l d i seases wh ich affl icted mankind could be traced back to vene real
infect ion . 7 A s im i l ar message was procla imed i n
characte r i s t i c fash i on by that t i re l e s s campai gner for prophylax i s , Ett ie Rout :
D i sease , Di sabl ement , Mental Angui sh and Phys ical To rture , Nat i onal Deter iorat ion - Death I tse l f : all these surround and penetrate the Venereal Di sease Probl em . 8
Publ ic ignorance regard ing these d i seases and the i r transm i s s ion comb ined with the shortcom i ngs o f
contemporary med i c ine and the absence o f a n e f fect ive and e asy cure to exacerbate al arm and c re ate a fert i l e c l imate
for exag gerat i on and m i s informat i on . I f venereal d i sease
1 9 2 2 ( H . 3 1 A ) , p . 2 0 . 7 . 1 80 ( 1 9 1 7 ) , p . 6 5 4 .
was dep icted as exac t i ng a formidabl e tol l in terms of human s i ckn� s s and suffer ing , even more d i sturbing we re contemporary percept i ons of the apparent ease with wh ich vene real infe c t i on could be spread and o f its al leged pers i stence in the b l oodstream of the generat ions . Tal e s o f acc idental infect ion due to shared c i garettes and
utens i l s we re common and such fears were re i nforced by l eg i s lative prohi b i t i ons on suffe rers which had l ittle sc ient i f i c just i f icat i on . 9 S imi l arly , : i t was bel ieved that syph i l i t ic infect ion could wreak i ts horrible
vengeance down to the thi rd generat i on . 1 0 It was depi cted as a ' l iv i ng po i son ' whose fateful clutches it was
impo s s ible to e scape . 1 1
Wh i l e venereal d i sease menaced i ndividual wel l - be ing , i t also posed a potent threat to the race . To
contempo rari e s i t was thi s rac ial aspect wh ich exc i ted most d i squ iet for by attack i ng ind ividual health vene real d i sease al so threatened the f i tne s s and e f f i c iency of the nat ion and the race as a whol e . Moreover , these d i seases not only posed a s i gn i f icant threat to ind ividual health .
9 . The Commi ttee o f Inqui ry i nto Venereal Di seases
suggested that publ i c fears of acc i dental infection we re " g reatly exaggerated" , 1 9 2 2 ( H . 3 1A ) , p . 5 .
1 0 . Med ical authori t i e s we re divided on the t ruth o f thi s . The Bri t i sh Royal Comm i s s ion was scept ical but New
Zealand ' s Committee o f Inqu i ry accepted the poss i b i l ity o f third generat i on syph i l i s , i b id . , p . 2 1 . For a modern opinion see Platts , p . 4 4 .
They also threatened the fert i l ity of the nat ion ' s women and the health of i t s i nfants . In its attempts to grapple w i th the problems of infert i l ity modern society i s
red i scover i ng the role which the sexually transmitted d i seases play in explaining infert i l ity . Today the concern stems from a des i re for personal happiness . In thi s pe riod , howeve r , the concern re flected anxi ety about the necess ity for a high bi rth rate to preserve nat ional and rac ial integr i ty .
The prospect of ster i l i ty among the Dom in ion ' s women was e spec ial l y d i st��bing g iven the currency o f eugen ic and neo-Darwinian think i ng wh ich port rayed the ' c iv i l i sed ' races o f the world as engaged in a batt l e for rac ial
supremacy w i th the al legedly more prol i f ic races of the East . The pe r iod saw a vari ety of Government and
voluntary init iat i ves to pre serve infant l i fe mot ivated by the conv i c t i on that , in the words of the Pre s ident of the New Zeal and Branch of the Bri t i sh Med ical Assoc iat ion ,
" The best immigrants to New Zeal and are strong and healthy c h i ldren born in the dominion" . 1 2
To some observors the survival of the race was by no means a sure thing . The bi rth rate was fal l ing as
knowledge of b i rth control prac t i ce s spread and to many c ontemporari e s the threat of ' race su ic ide ' appeared a
1 2 . New Zealand Med ical Journal , Vol . 8 , No . 3 3
(
February 1 9 1 0 ) , p . 1 3 .fri ghtening poss i b i l ity . 1 3 Both abroad and in New Zealand , med ical authorit ies i dent i f ied venereal infec t i on as a
s i gn i f icant source o f steri l ity and infant mortal ity . l f W i th i t s assoc iat i on with steri l i ty , abort i on and s t i l l -