Medical discourse and municipal policy on prostitution: Palma 1862-1900 Eva Canaleta Safont (*) y Joana Maria Pujades Móra (**) (*) Departament de Ciencies Històriques i Teoria de les Arts. Universitat de les Illes Balears.
[email protected] (**) Departamento de Población. Instituto de Economía, Geografía y Demografía. CSIC.
[email protected] Dynamis Fecha de recepción: 6 noviembre de 2007 [0211-9536] 2008; 28: 275-299 Fecha de aceptación: 21 de enero de 2007 SUMMARY: 1.—Introduction. 2.—Stigma of syphilis and social exclusion of prostitutes. 3.—Me- dicine and prostitution–syphilis in Mallorca. 4.—The regulation of the prostitution: laws and general context. 5.—Municipal regulation of prostitution in Palma (19th Century). 6.—Final remarks. ABSTRACT: During the 19th century, prostitution aroused strong emotions in most European cities. Palma de Mallorca was no exception and, in common with many Spanish cities at that time, regulated this activity. The objectives of this paper are to analyze the Mallorcan medical discourse on syphilis, evaluate the concept of venereal disease as social stigma and, finally, examine municipal policy on prostitution. PALABRAS CLAVE: Prostitución, discurso médico, estigma, salud pública, organización municipal. KEYWORDS: Prostitution, medical discourse, stigma, public health, municipal organization. 1. Introduction (*) Prostitution, as Evans 1 indicates, is one of the distinguishing traits of ni- neteenth-century urban culture, because of its widespread nature as well as the obviousness with which it flaunted itself, a source of considerable (*) This article was supported by predoctoral grants froms the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, and the Balearic Islands Department of Economy and Innovation. The authors have contributed equally to this article.