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Case studies of nineteenth-century sites from New York City to the
American West The Archaeology of Prostitution and Clandestine
Pursuits synthesizes case studies from various nineteenth-century
sites where material culture reveals evidence of prostitution,
including a brothel in Five Points-New York City's most notorious
neighborhood-and parlor houses a few blocks from the White House
and Capitol Hill. Rebecca Yamin and Donna Seifert also examine
brothels in the American West-in urban Los Angeles and in frontier
sites and mining camps in Sandpoint, Idaho; Prescott, Arizona; and
Fargo, North Dakota. The artifact assemblages found at these sites
often contradict written records, allowing archaeologists to
construct a more realistic and complicated picture of daily life
for working-class women involved in commercial sex. Recognizing the
agency involved in practicing a profession that has never been
considered respectable, even when it wasn't outright illegal, Yamin
and Seifert also look at the agency of other individuals who
participated in illicit activities, defying society privately or
even publicly. The authors demonstrate the various ways
disempowered groups including immigrants, African Americans, women,
and the poor wielded autonomy while constrained by cultural norms.
They also consider similar, contemporary expressions of agency,
with particular attention to ongoing arguments surrounding the
legalization of prostitution. Juxtaposing today's debates alongside
the clandestine pursuits of the past reveals how dominant moral
standards determine what individual choices are publicly
permissible. A volume in the series the American Experience in
Archaeological Perspective, edited by Michael S. Nassaney
Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining
the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Archaeology of Prostitution and Clandestine Pursuits
synthesizes case studies from various nineteenth-century sites
where material culture reveals evidence of prostitution, including
a brothel in Five Points, New York City's most notorious
neighborhood, and parlor houses a few blocks from the White House
and Capitol Hill. Rebecca Yamin and Donna Seifert also examine
brothels in the American West?in frontier sites and mining camps in
Sandpoint, Idaho; Prescott, Arizona; and Fargo, North Dakota; and
in urban Los Angeles. The artifact assemblages found at these sites
often contradict written records, allowing archaeologists to
construct a more realistic and complicated picture of daily life
for working-class women involved in commercial sex.Recognizing the
agency involved in practicing a profession that has never been
considered respectable, even when it wasn't outright illegal, Yamin
and Seifert also look at the agency of other individuals who
participated in illicit activities. Some defied society in
public?drinking on the job or smuggling?while others acted in
private?scratching messages in window panes or hiding caches of
magical artifacts. The authors demonstrate the various ways
disempowered groups?including immigrants, African Americans, women,
and the poor?wielded autonomy while constrained by cultural norms.
They also consider similar, contemporary expressions of agency,
with particular attention to ongoing arguments surrounding the
legalization of prostitution. Juxtaposing today's debates alongside
the clandestine pursuits of the past reveals how dominant moral
standards determine what individual choices are publicly
permissible. A volume in the series the American Experience in
Archaeological Perspective, edited by Michael S. Nassaney.
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