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Policing Sex in the Sunflower State: The Story of the Kansas State Industrial Farm for Women
Policing Sex in the Sunflower The Story of the Kansas State Industrial Farm for Women is the history of how, over a span of two decades, the state of Kansas detained over 5,000 women for no other crime than having a venereal disease. In 1917, the Kansas legislature passed Chapter 205, a law that gave the state Board of Health broad powers to quarantine people for disease. State authorities quickly began enforcing Chapter 205 to control the spread of venereal disease among soldiers preparing to fight in World War I. Though Chapter 205 was officially gender-neutral, it was primarily enforced against women; this gendered enforcement became even more dramatic as Chapter 205 transitioned from a wartime emergency measure to a peacetime public health strategy. Women were quarantined alongside regular female prisoners at the Kansas State Industrial Farm for Women (the Farm). Women detained under Chapter 205 constituted 71 percent of the total inmate population between 1918 and 1942. Their confinement at the Farm was indefinite, with doctors and superintendents deciding when they were physically and morally cured enough to reenter society; in practice, women detained under Chapter 205 spent an average of four months at the Farm. While at the Farm, inmates received treatment for their diseases and were subjected to a plan of moral reform that focused on the value of hard work and the inculcation of middle-class norms for proper feminine behavior.
Nicole Perry’s research reveals fresh insights into histories of women, sexuality, and programs of public health and social control. Underlying each of these are the prevailing ideas and practices of respectability, in some cases culturally encoded, in others legislated, enforced, and institutionalized. Perry recovers the voices of the different groups of women involved with the the activist women who lobbied to create the Farm, the professional women who worked there, and the incarcerated women whose bodies came under the control of the state. Policing Sex in the Sunflower State offers an incisive and timely critique of a failed public health policy that was based on perceptions of gender, race, class, and respectability rather than a reasoned response to the social problem at hand.
Nicole Perry’s research reveals fresh insights into histories of women, sexuality, and programs of public health and social control. Underlying each of these are the prevailing ideas and practices of respectability, in some cases culturally encoded, in others legislated, enforced, and institutionalized. Perry recovers the voices of the different groups of women involved with the the activist women who lobbied to create the Farm, the professional women who worked there, and the incarcerated women whose bodies came under the control of the state. Policing Sex in the Sunflower State offers an incisive and timely critique of a failed public health policy that was based on perceptions of gender, race, class, and respectability rather than a reasoned response to the social problem at hand.
- GenresHistory
296 pages, Paperback
Published June 10, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 2, 2023
Read for book club to learn about the area we live in. Very informative… before WW1 there was a outbreak of syphilis in outside the Fort Leavenworth base. In order to control the outbreak they started arresting the women that contracted the the VD. Women were blamed for the spread of the disease. The government wanted to protect the military before they left for war by locking up the women.
January 17, 2022
Not the easiest book to read through, but it’s full of incredibly interesting information. And a warning about how people allow laws, politicians, and residents to work together to let appalling practices continue for decades.
One of my favorite quotes: “Rather than asking, ‘Why did anyone think this was a good idea?,’ our question must this become, ‘How did hundreds of people think this was a good idea and continue to implement this policy for over two decades?’”
My favorite part was the detailed descriptions of the findings from interviews with the inmates about how they came to be at the farm. But there was some compelling information in the previous chapter about policy. I think this author does a very good job of looking at the history with an intersectional lens that researchers should take note of as they continue to publish their findings.
If you’re interested in reading the book, I would recommend reading the conclusion and based on that, deciding if you want to dig deeper.
One of my favorite quotes: “Rather than asking, ‘Why did anyone think this was a good idea?,’ our question must this become, ‘How did hundreds of people think this was a good idea and continue to implement this policy for over two decades?’”
My favorite part was the detailed descriptions of the findings from interviews with the inmates about how they came to be at the farm. But there was some compelling information in the previous chapter about policy. I think this author does a very good job of looking at the history with an intersectional lens that researchers should take note of as they continue to publish their findings.
If you’re interested in reading the book, I would recommend reading the conclusion and based on that, deciding if you want to dig deeper.
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November 9, 2022This book was very dry, and in places rather repetitive.
It is obvious that a lot of research went into this book. However, I felt there were several pieces missing. It is important to put history in the context of the time, and there were several places that seemed to be addressed from today's knowledge.
The Spanish flu that was occurring the same time as WWI should be a part of the discussion, when discussing the situation with the soldiers at Ft. Riley, the Depression that occurred later, especially when talking about funding. People had to work with the medical knowledge they had, and in this area it was limited.
The role of women was changing rapidly at this time as well, even more so in Kansas. One must ask, "What were their intentions?".
This is not to minimize the problem(s), and there were many, but to look at at it in a way to move forward.
This is a good book to open the discussions that should take place.
It is obvious that a lot of research went into this book. However, I felt there were several pieces missing. It is important to put history in the context of the time, and there were several places that seemed to be addressed from today's knowledge.
The Spanish flu that was occurring the same time as WWI should be a part of the discussion, when discussing the situation with the soldiers at Ft. Riley, the Depression that occurred later, especially when talking about funding. People had to work with the medical knowledge they had, and in this area it was limited.
The role of women was changing rapidly at this time as well, even more so in Kansas. One must ask, "What were their intentions?".
This is not to minimize the problem(s), and there were many, but to look at at it in a way to move forward.
This is a good book to open the discussions that should take place.
January 4, 2023
an in-depth look into a hidden aspect of our history. i loved the intersectionality, by examining class and race and the double standards that misogyny brings, it brings the full picture together. a must-read if you want to understand how important respectability is (still currently) valued in society.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews