Mackenzie Perkins
2/10/15
Syphilis
In the 1490s, this apparently new and frightening disease spread through Italy during the invasion of the French army. This disease was contracted by the soldiers who were sleeping with prostitutes and from mercenaries who probably brought syphilis back with them from their voyages of discover with Christopher Columbus.
The initial impression of this disease was one of fear, and naturally people were looking for someone to blame it on, and unsurprisingly women were blamed for spreading syphilis. Public bathhouses were closed down for ethical and physical contagion. The appearance of HIV and AIDS saw a very similar reaction in the 1980s. Early on, other observers believed that syphilis was a form of punishment from God for having too much sex.
Syphilis was also known as a venereal disease. Venereal signifies Venus, the Roman goddess of love, because this disease was mostly spread by sexual contact. The name has changed to STDs because nowadays love and sex are not the same.
In the 1900s those who were ‘victims’ of syphilis because their spouse was unfaithful, were actually thought to deserve the disease and that it was brought onto them by immoral behavior (was thought to be fitting). Public health officials were forced to spread a rumor that simple contact like drinking from a cup, touching doorknobs, toilet seats, etc. were sufficient ways of spreading syphilis. They were forced to do this to allow people, even those who contracted the disease, to be socially ‘pure’.