Soldiers, away from home, want sex. That’s why sex workers flock to military camps. During World War I, sexually transmitted infections among soldiers were viewed as undermining the efficiency of the military. At home and abroad, soldiers lost nearly 7 million days of work as sick days because of sexually transmitted infections. Infection was also seen as a moral issue.

The Committee on Training Camp Activities was formed a few days after Congress declared war in 1917. It provided recreation to keep off-duty soldiers busy so that they would not succumb to sexual temptations. The committee also provided sex education for the soldiers. The teachers used fear tactics and advocated abstinence. Condoms were not discussed. Of all the soldiers in Europe during World War I, Americans had the highest rates of infection. They were the only ones who were forbidden the use of condoms.

Social hygienists volunteered to aid the committee’s moral reform effort. They urged soldiers to avoid infection for the good of their country and to protect the virtuous women at home from infection.

A law enforcement division of the committee was also formed to clear prostitutes out of cities near military camps. Most cities in America had “red-light districts” of brothels in which sex workers entertained customers. The committee closed these districts all across the country. Despite the shutdown, rates of infection remained unchanged. Sex workers simply moved to other neighborhoods. As brothels were closed, working the streets became common, and the risk of violence against prostitutes increased.

Although prostitutes were working-class women with few other employment options, many were stigmatized and blamed for the spread of infection and moral decay Men who hired them, however, were neither arrested nor blamed.

As brothels near military bases closed, soldiers turned to young women who were hanging around looking for excitement, adventure, and love. Soon these young women were being called promiscuous and blamed for infection rates among the soldiers. Public health campaigns were mounted that suggested it was women’s responsibility not to arouse the passions of men. Health messages suggested that “easy” women were usually infected and were not trustworthy.

Treatment centers, called prophylaxis stations, were set up in the camps to kill any infection a soldier might pick up before it got into his bloodstream. The social hygienists disapproved. They thought prophylaxis encouraged soldiers to have “illicit” sexual contacts.

Soldiers were supposed to be treated within three hours of sexual intercourse. Unsanitary conditions, long waiting lines, and embarrassment discouraged many of them. A man had to urinate, then wash his genitals and have them inspected by an attendant. The attendant injected a liquid solution into the penis that the man had to hold in his urethra for five minutes. He wasn’t to urinate for four or five hours after expelling it.

To encourage prophylaxis, men were threatened with court-martial if they became infected. Their pay was docked as well.

*34/155/5*

Related Posts:

• GAMES FOR HYSTERICAL COUPLES – GAME 5: TALK DIRTY TO ME (INTRODUCTION)
• GAMES FOR DEPRESSED COUPLES – GAME 4: HOPELESS SEX (PART 3)
• GAMES FOR PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE COUPLES – GAME 3: NUDE HAMLET (PART 1)
• GAMES FOR BORED COUPLES – GAME 1: SEDUCTION SURPRISE (BY THE WIFE) (PART 3)
• JUNK SEX VS. LOVING SEX – INTRODUCTION
• PROSTATITIS
• GENITAL ANATOMY: SCROTUM
• PROSTATE CANCER
• MALE ANATOMY: PENIS
• BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA (BPH)

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.