'No safe women': Prostitution, masculinity, and disease in France during the Great War

This thesis examines documents from the French Army and public administrations to identify the medical, political, and cultural dilemmas military doctors and civil servants encountered as they tried to halt the spread of venereal disease during the Great War. The battle against venereal disease which raged in France during the war reveals how culture codes and medicine interacted. The most medically-sound course of action was chosen less often than treatment strategies which fit how French commanders understood masculinity and the role of prostitution.; In order to control disease, officials first relied on France's system of state-regulated prostitution. Regulation would never control disease and the army warned its soldiers that women (including those of the middle class) were a threat to their health and dangerous. Hoping to provide a disease-free sexual outlet for soldiers, the French Army eventually considered ways to establish and supply their own military brothels.; During the war, the French Army's Military Health Service was consumed with the task of treating syphilis and gonorrhea among soldiers. To do so, they considered a variety of treatments, including topical greases and cleansing stations. The resulting discussions in the army of whether to use specific treatments or regulate soldiers' conduct reveals much about how the French understood masculinity and French men's sexual identity.; The women who worked in prostitution faced police harassment and long, difficult hours of work. Often they received poor health care or were infected by instruments police doctors used to examine them for disease. Women were often trapped in the profession, pushed there by financial or physical impairment. Still, the thesis explains that not all women should be seen as victims. Some women displayed a tremendous amount of agency, manipulating the system to avoid arrest. Other women opened their own brothels, leaving the profession once the war ended.; This thesis argues that there is a strong connection between social policy and medicine, especially during a period of war. It also argues that while the stigma surrounding systems of prostitution has limited historical inquiry, the topic itself is a rich source of study.