A doctrine of self-control

FERN RIDDELL gives a cautious welcome to an exploration of American attitudes down the years towards both sex work and female sex workers

- FERN RIDDELL

In this study of America's crusade against female prostitution, both at home and abroad, Eva Payne lays out the emotional and moral conflicts that surround sex work. While Empire of Purity is not a book for the casual reader, Payne's dense academic research is interspersed with fascinating glimpses of individuals caught up in the quest to regulate and criminalise American sex workers, from 1870 to the 1930s.

According to Payne, as America grappled with its moral consciousness and attempted to define the New World, the notion of 'Sexual Exceptionalism' emerged. This was the idea that the American character was built on sexual self-control, free of the vices of Europe. Against this backdrop, women, especially sex workers, found themselves caught up in a global battle between the rights of the individual and the power of government.