For something that played such a prevalent role in life at the front, sex and venereal disease (or VD) have […]
The Cultural Logic of Calories and Body Types
We were promised calorie labels. New York City has required them in chain restaurants since 2008 and California since 2009, […]
Civil War Soldiers’ Wet Dreams
The American Civil War is arguably the most written about topic in American history. Yet for all that has been […]
Race, Sex Education, and the Age of Consent in South Africa
One of the best and most unexpected perks of researching the history of sex education in South Africa is receiving […]
“I Would Rather Have My Own Mind”: The Medicalization of Women’s Behavior in Ireland, 1914-1920
When he brought her to the asylum, twenty-four-year old Katie’s father was asked to describe what behaviors or actions had […]
To “Serve this Long Term at Home”: Robert Buffum, Mental Illness, and the Prison Trap
Just over a year after having the third-ever Medal of Honor pinned on his uniform for surviving months of retributive […]
Sisterhood Subpoenaed: Abortion on Trial at an 1892 Women’s Medical College
Courtroom dramas are a television staple. If the Good Wife isn’t your cup of tea, there is Law and Order, […]
Mothers’ Natures: Sex, Love, and Degeneration in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Every so often, some viral article or other will declare that science “proves” or “confirms” that intelligence is inherited from […]
The Second Sentence: AIDS in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison
In January 1986, Irish current affairs program Today Tonight reported on a spate of deaths and attempted suicides in Dublin’s […]
Buried Secrets, Living Children: Secrecy, Shame, and Sealed Adoption Records
Between 1945 and 1973, single mothers in the United States gave birth in an era of secrecy and shame that […]
