In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Sueann Caulfield The Birth of Mangue Race, Nation, and the Politic s of Prostitutio n i n Ri o d e Janeiro, 1850-194 2 rrom the early nineteenth century until the 1860s, many European countries promoted state regulation of prostitution to control the spread of venereal disease during wartime. Others wanted to identify deviant women in rapidl y urbanizin g areas . Thereafter mora l refor m campaign s targete d state-regulated prostitution , particularl y i n postcolonia l nations , a s old fashioned . In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, Brazil's desire to portray itself as a modern nation involved obscuring prostitution control in its capital city, Rio de Janeiro. How could Brazil regulate prostitution and still b e considere d modern ? Whil e prostitutio n becam e a n astonishingl y frequent topi c of debate among diverse groups of public officials an d professional elites, control measures in Rio were never clearly delineated. Offi cial regulatio n wa s considere d b y legislator s t o contradic t bot h Catholi c morality and civil liberties guaranteed by Brazilian law. Nevertheless, pressures to "clean up" the city so that elite families and foreign visitors would not hav e t o vie w prostitute s force d th e polic e follo w extralega l policies . Their actions, including the relocation of some prostitutes to less visible and less desirable parts of the city, reflected th e racial, ethnic, and class preju dices that informed elit e ideals for the nation. 86 . 6 The Birth of Mangue » 87 The resul t wa s th e birt h o f Mangue , a n infamou s red-ligh t district . Located on the margin of downtown Rio, Mangue was populated by poor prostitutes, mos t o f who m polic e convenientl y identifie d a s Jewis h Europeans o r Brazilians o f color. Once a neighborhood share d b y prostitutes , small businesses, and working-class residents, Mangue was overtaken by brothels and bars after 1920 , the year the king and queen of Belgium visited Rio. Police, instructed t o "clea n up" areas that their royal highnesse s would tour , rounde d u p lower-clas s prostitutes , hel d the m i n jai l fo r vagrancy until the royal visit ended, and then crowded them into the existing brothels on Mangue's nine crisscrossing streets. There, a few kilometers inland from Guanabar a Bay and comfortably ou t of sight of the city's modernized commercia l core, began a series of experiments in police administration of vice. By the late 1920s , prostitution i n Mangue had evolve d into a unofficia l system b y whic h polic e registere d se x worker s an d intervene d i n th e administration o f brothels . This regim e directl y contradicte d th e "aboli tionist ," o r antiregulatory , dispositio n o f Brazilia n law . In part becaus e of the weaknes s o f Brazil' s centra l government , however , legislator s neve r defined prostitutio n policie s clearly . Thi s vaguenes s fostere d debate s o n prostitution policy, kindled by the struggles of diverse professionals for the authority no t onl y t o shap e municipa l administratio n bu t t o determin e Brazil's cultural identity and political future. I n the meantime, Rio's police worked with o r against politicians, jurists, public health authorities, social workers, an d othe r professional s t o defin e an d implemen t diverse , ofte n conflicting, policies. Prostitutes took advantage of these conflicts, whethe r by gaining allies who could help defend their individual or collective interests or by slipping through the cracks of incoherent control mechanisms. • SOCIA L HIERARCHIES OF PROSTITUTION, 1850-1920 The stor y o f "th e zone " (a zona), a s Mangue was known, bega n well before th e 1920s . From th e mid-nineteenth century , police had orga nized increasingly vigorous, though sporadic, campaigns to confine lower class prostitutes t o area s th e polic e considere d appropriate . I n particular , police trie d t o kee p prostitute s awa y fro m tramline s an d reputabl e com merce , and beyond the gaze of respectable citizens. They acted in response to increasing pressure from sensationalis t press campaigns and from med ical and legal...

Share