Bates College Journal of Political Studies
Abstract
The United States military worried about the impact of venereal diseases on the ability of soldiers to fight in both World War 1 and 2. The war years thus resulted in an increase in regulations that sought to curb the spread of venereal diseases. Much of this regulatory shift has focused on how police targeted women who were suspected of spreading venereal diseases to American soldiers. Women were profiled as promiscuous and possible sex workers, with the lines between the two categories becoming increasingly blurred. Policing was viewed as a public health regulatory mechanism that needed to be carried out to protect a fit fighting force and win the wars. However, the public health regulatory arm focused not only on policing possible sex workers, but also on using sex education for men as a way to curb the spread of venereal disease. This paper explores these two dual public health regulatory mechanisms that the US military used to keep soldiers healthy in the name of winning the World Wars.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Ranis, Hanna
(2025)
"Conflating Disease, Morality, and Sex: Regulating Military Fitness in the War Years,"
Bates College Journal of Political Studies: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scarab.bates.edu/bjps/vol2/iss1/2