How Did Madeleine Become a Prostitute - Essay Example

How did “Madeleine” become a prostitute? Although Madeleine was born in a secure middle family, her life changed abruptly when her father became a drunkard. Her thirst for quality education was not fulfilled since her family became financially ruined by her father’s alcoholic habits. The family had to sell their house and land and ended up living in a bad neighborhood where sex trade was tolerated. This is when her life began to change negatively. She had no friends and began to interact with the prostitutes since they were her only source of companionship. The talks with the prostitutes in her neighborhood started altering Madeline morals. However, she moved to St. Louis to live with a friend while she was seventeen. She began to work in a factory but realized she was pregnant after working for a few months. She thus ran away from the friend’s house and moved into a brothel within Kansas since she could not support herself financially. To hide her identity, she invented the name Madeleine Blair. She later lost her baby and almost managed to avoid being engaged in sex trade when she migrated to Chicago. In Chicago, she started her life working in a department store. However, the salary is meager and she could not support herself. She ended up getting back to prostitution. Therefore, the major reason why Madeleine got into prostitution was the unplanned pregnancy. When she realized she was pregnant, she was ashamed of herself and left her friend’s house. Since she had no means to support herself she ended up getting into prostitution. Another reason that led Madeleine get into prostitution was her early exposure to talks regarding prostitution. She had lived in environments where prostitution was considered a lesser vice. Therefore, she easily got into the sex industry when she was compelled by her financial needs. Although she was aware of the existence of sex industry, she had tried to avoid being a prostitute by searching for a noble job since she wanted to retain her respect. However, the dire need for money and her condition of being pregnant drove her into the industry. Alter some time, her desire for money increased making it hard for her to leave the sex industry. She started migrating from brothel to brothel and ended up establishing her own brothel in Canada. 2) What does her story tell us about life during the late Gilded Age? How was she affected by industrialization, urbanization, rural decline, and the social problems associated with these transformations? In the Autobiography, Madeleine approves that the sex industry was of great economic benefit to the western countries. Madeleine considers prostitution as the only way that women could contribute to economic growth. Even the authorities and most people in Canada viewed sex industry as important in enhancing economic growth. Men considered brothels as crucial and would even go to nearby town in search of sex if there were no brothels in their locality. As industrialization progressed, men started earning better salaries. Most of them spent part of their salaries to pay for sex. This demonstrates that industrialization contributed to increase in prostitution. Madeleine describes her brothel as one that constituted an important social and economic component. It fulfilled the needs of the working class (Anonymous 180-184). To the girls who worked in the brothel, it was their source of income hence a form of employment. Moreover, the local municipal authorities greatly benefited from the bribes that Madeleine gave them. The common people viewed prostitution as an important component of the local economy that was beneficial to all. Women could get employment, the authorities made profits, and men had some place to spend their leisure time. Therefore, people viewed brothels as institutions as important sector of the economy that enhanced exchange of money. With industrialization, there was increased number of women in urban centers. To them, prostitution was a noble way of earning income. Though still stigmatized, prostitutes begin to consider prostitution a noble occupation. A business that makes Madeleine migrates from one region to another. She reaches a point and decides to be independent. She thus establishes her own brothel. Madeleine’s autobiography shows the effects of urbanization on women. With industrialization, most people in the west considered going to urban centers to seek for employment. However, most jobs were available in factories where conditions could have been hostile for women. Moreover, women were still being undermined. Therefore, most women would find themselves struggling financially, and ended up in brothels. The police tolerated the brothels. A police chief participates in suggesting a possible madam for Madeleine’s brothel. Therefore, industrialization resulted in flocking of females in the towns such as Toronto resulting in moral issues. 3) What do we learn about the class, race, gender, and sexual hierarchies of that time? In other words, how did society’s assumptions about proper behavior affect a woman like “Madeleine”? The issue of class is evident even in the sex industry. Moreover, there was racism with most prostitutes in poor regions being women. There are only certain kinds of women who can practice prostitution in the high-class places. Prostitutes such as Miss Laura were amongst the few who could venture into the high-class places. It happens that a considerable number of the prostitutes were from high class. Their wives were preoccupied by their own lives and had little time to spare for their husbands. Madeleine even questions this issue when she asks, “Why should one class of women be able to dwell in luxurious seclusion from the trials of life, while another class performed their loathsome tasks?” (Anonymous 90-91). This indicates that the sex industry was an occupation for the lower classes but was mainly used to satisfy the need of men in higher classes. The society in which Madeleine lived showed disregard towards women. Women especially from lower classes are viewed as sex objects. Therefore, Madeleine is unwilling to lose her independence and refuses to marry the man who impregnated her. She fears losing her independence. She describes the man as who had a “…dominant nature that would have molded the woman of his choice to his own will and I was as unmoldable as any girl possibly could be” (Anonymous 103). This showed that Madeleine feared losing her individuality by getting married. Therefore, women yearned for financial and social independence and were ready to do anything to get and retain it. This depicts a male dominated society where women had little say. From Madeleine’s story, it is clear that women were poorly paid in other form of employment. Therefore, some ended up getting into prostitution where they could earn much money. However, the risks involved are too many. Their lives were challenging since they risked contracting venereal diseases, police harassment, some got pregnant, and had to abort while others had to start using alcohol to as a form of distraction from the challenging life. Madeleine views men as irresponsible an unimportant. The inefficiency of men in their parental role is evident. Madeleine’s father leaves her wife to cater for the family. Moreover, Madeleine struggles singly to ring up the children. The brothels were viewed as centers that enhanced interactions between individuals from different social classes. They could not outlaw the brothels since they were a major source of income. Moreover, they attracted prominent persons to the city. 4) What was her critique of American society during the 1890s? What was her view of moral reformers? What is her take on science and religion? In Canada, the authorities were supportive of the sex industry. Madeleine is even welcomed by a police chief in Alberta town to open a brothel. Although there were reformers who were opposed to prostitutions, the authorities were less opposed to the practice. Although prostitution was stigmatized. Madeleine is opposed to science. She felt that scientists were attempting to consolidate institutional voice. She uses the tem pseudoscience with contempt. She felt it was dominating the minds of modern women and filling it with crap. She was irritated by the attempts of scientists to moralize prostitution by using scientific terms. She described scientists as feeble-minded. She felt that they were contaminating the minds of people to prevent them from speaking for themselves. She was greatly opposed to the Moral and Social Reform Council of British Columbia, which she felt, was a creation of pseudo-scientists (Anonymous 194-196). Madeleine considered her profession as a prostitute to be incompatible with religion. She therefore tried to avoid religious people. However, most people tended to consider her a good Christian, something she did not like since she was often forced to pretend to be one. Although the religious people disgusted Madeleine, she still had some respect for them and preferred ignoring them other that conflicting with them. However, she felt that they were too nosy. She claims that she was not ready to allow a reformer to interrupt her and says that she “will have the servants through him out if he comes here bothering me” (Anonymous 182). She was telling the doctor who had told her that the Presbyterian minister of Toronto would pay her a visit. Conclusively, Madeleine gets into prostitution due to economic hardships. Her father turned into an alcoholic and spent all their savings leaving them poor. The family live in bad neighborhood and she learns about prostitution early in life. She thus moves to St Louis to live with a friend. Industrialization had led to increased employment resulting in migration of people to urban centers. First, Madeleine works in factories before she realizes she is pregnant. She runs away from her friend’s house and starts living in a brothel where she is highly exposed to prostitution. She almost escapes from prostitution when she starts working in a department store. However, women were earning little and she realizes she could not cater for her needs. She thus goes back to prostitution fully. Madeline’s story depicts how women were viewed as sex objects. They could not get proper employment and the only way to be financially independent was to practice prostitution. The rich women are depicted as emotionally unavailable to their husbands. Their husbands thus go to pay for sex in brothels. Even in the sex, industry there is racial and class segregation where prostitutes are classified. Different regions of the west are characterized by varying class of prostitute depending on the social class living in the area. The police and other authorities support prostitution and view it as a great enhancer of economic growth. Madeleine dislikes religious people and scientists. She felt scientists were corrupting peoples mind. Works Cited Anonymous. Madeleine An Autobiography. Toronto: Kessinger Publishing, 2004. Print. Read More