Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Mercy by Anne Butler

753 Words2 Pages

The book Daughters of joy, Sisters of mercy is a historical account of the lives of prostitutes living in the post-Civil War Western United States. The book’s author, Anne Butler, attempts to shed light on their lifestyle practices ranging from where and how they worked and lived to why they became such a sought after and integral commodity during this time period. It also explains why so many women turned to providing “services” in return for financial gain. During the late 19th century industry seemed to flourish in the, previously untouched American West. Because of the nature of work being done in the West such as lumbering and mining, many women were unable to work legitimate jobs. Despite these setbacks, many women continued to migrate into the “trans-Mississippi West.” (Butler. 9) Butler explains that most of these women were poor and uneducated which further lessened their chances of getting a good job. By her account many women who turned to prostitution ended up recipients of violence whether it came from customers of their co-workers. Butler makes the thesis of the novel clear from the get-go. In regard to prostitution in the West, for years it had been sugarcoated as a frivolous life and many historical description of it purposely omit the more negative aspects of it. Her intention was to shed the common portrayal of prostitutes in the West as concubines with positive intentions. The first main point of the book Butler wanted to shed light upon was that prostitutes contributed significantly to the development of western society in many ways. Prostitutes were not beneficiaries of the full protection of the law with regards to violence despite the fact that they were citizens and members of society. Because of this, ... ... middle of paper ... ...nly of working with prostitutes even though it was obvious they did. In this chapter, Butler has a large amount of data to work with and this constitutes how this chapter was well organized and perfectly documented the nature of the military during this time period Butler did an astounding amount of research in a wide variety of primary sources in many locations of the American West. Her research gave her a variety of illuminating incidents and historical accounts to relate as well as allowing her to provide some statistics, such as how many prostitutes were convicted in various locations and the flow of certain classes and races of women through the courts. Overall, it is concise and well written and organized as well. It is thoroughly footnoted which in of itself is valuable because the reader can draw upon those sources for additional study if they so desire.

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