Examining Sexual Labour: Colonial Australia, 1880-1910, History Essay

This essay provides a primary source analysis of sexual labor in colonial Australia between 1880 and 1910, a period marked by urbanization, industrialization, and shifting gender dynamics. It explores the historical context, including the disproportionate ratio of men to women, the economic considerations of marriage, and the limited employment opportunities for women. The essay examines the risks faced by women, such as involuntary infection and the inevitability of pregnancy, and discusses the feminist movement's efforts to address the challenges associated with sexual labor. It concludes that the period was characterized by tensions between masculinism and feminism, with prostitution and marriage representing significant struggles for women.

Primary source analysis

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Main body........................................................................................................................................1
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
Reference.........................................................................................................................................4

Introduction
There is situation of where prostitution is generated in the labour market during the time
period of 1880-1910 in the colonial Australia. There has been urbanisation and industrialisation
that bought sharper PlayStation of interest of labour and capital that is related with formation of
new political parties in contest of those interests. In the first century that is during the colonial
history 1788-1888 that is men has outnumbered the women in the instances of colonising
population (Aroney and Crofts, 2019). The figures have represents the levelling the
disproportion of sexes that has started in the 1880s.
Main body
Creation: The intended audience is people who are willing to develop a detailed overview of the
sexual labour that happened in Australia in year 1880-1910 (Sanders, Maggie and Pitcher, 2017).
It was created by Susan Magarey the main emphasis that is being laid down in this scenario was
about the way sexual labour and prostitution instances has affected the women condition back in
the ear in 1880 and 19910. the major emphasis was laid on the way to understand the statistics
that is requiring more attention & examination, expansion for phenomenon in Britain & united
states have laid emphasis on economic and demographic forces (Mcgrow, 2017). The women in
that era is playing a passive role in the process of changing patterns in last quarter in the 19th
century.
The main focus of the article is to analyse the way entire period was engaged in the context of
masculinism and feminism that is related with marshalling forces against female suffrage that is
the changes in the double standard of sexual morality.
Context: the main context of this article is to develop a detail understand of the situation of
women were marriages were considered as economic transactions. It did not actually highlight
the situation between prostitutes and wives as trading possession of bodies for livelihood. There
is also widespread movement that is taking place across different parts of the world for
admission of women in new fields of labour (Beegan and Moran, 2017).
There was no presence of extra employment opportunities for women that lead to forcefully
getting indulged into the situation of prostitution. If given a choice a major proportion of women
had a preference for getting economic independence after marriage.
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This situation also resulted into danger of involuntary infection where feminist saw it as a risk
for married women.
Third risk that women were facing in this instance was related with inevitability of pregnancy,
conception and childbirth.
Another risk was related of women getting dessert or widow or left with children to provide bit t
here was no place to turn for provision (Bell, 2019). The census also discovered that in Australia
feminists sought towards changing all the horrors that are associated with the instances of sexual
labour. There have been arguments that women have to be taught about sexual aspect before they
use to encounter the marriage bed. The main aspect of limitation was the promoted notions and
the size of families. There was a complete different concept related to motherhood in that ear.
Sexual labour: In this era the main discovering shock was that marriage actually meant sexual
labour and nothing more than that.
The main pint of view of author is to understand the women who have been part of prostitution
and the way superfluous women in Britain were unable to marry. The principal form of
employment for working class women continued through the period to be part of domestic
services (MacKinnon, 2017). As per feminist Bessie Harrison Lee it was said that it was a shock
of discovering that marriage was related to sexual labour and there can nothing be more revolting
to pure minded girl.
Purpose and impact: the main impact of this has been to develop detailed overview of the way
women were forces in certain phases to use their body for the purpose of fulfilment of basic
living rights, there were increased opportunities for women to earn the independent living by
going beyond the present domestic sphere that is sharply contracted (Doezema, 2018). New
generation of Professional government officials are holding a view for proper aspect that is
focussing on the feminist lens to bring sharp focus in surprising the statistics.
In 1903 new south Wales government have been succeed to panic about the vast expansion of
Australia with while Anglo celtic protestants and further establishing a royal commission for
enquiring in the decline of birthrate (Ward and Wylie, 2017) .
The rhetoric through this period is related with the real divisions that is part of separate spheres
of men and women. It is related with establishment of such rhetoric that is women who are
working outside the domestic sphere for living were the sex workers and prostitute are also
regarded as the fallen women.
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Conclusion
It is concluded from the above mentioned aspects that the entire period is ranging
between masculinism and Feminism that is the overall political rights, practises, sexual practices
that are behaviours deemed masculine and feminine. There is evaluation of the principal focus is
on the prostitution and the way marriage has been a big struggle for women in that era.
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Reference
Books & Journal
Aroney, E. and Crofts, P., 2019. How Sex Worker Activism Influenced the Decriminalisation of
Sex Work in NSW, Australia. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social
Democracy, 8(2), p.50.
Mcgrow, L., 2017. Missionary positions: a postcolonial feminist perspective on sex work and
faith-based outreach from Australia. Brill.
Beegan, R. and Moran, J., 2017. Prostitution and sex work: Situating Ireland’s new law on
prostitution in the radical and liberal feminist paradigms. Irish journal of applied social
studies, 17(1), p.6.
Doezema, J., 2018. Forced to choose: Beyond the voluntary v. forced prostitution
dichotomy (pp. 34-50). Routledge.
MacKinnon, C.A., 2017. 15. Trafficking, Prostitution, and Inequality (pp. 162-180). Harvard
University Press.
Sanders, T., Maggie, O. and Pitcher, J., 2017. Prostitution: Sex work, policy & politics. Sage.
Bell, D., 2019. Aboriginal women and the recognition of customary law in Australia (pp. 297-
314). De Gruyter Mouton.
Ward, E. and Wylie, G. eds., 2017. Feminism, prostitution and the state: The politics of neo-
abolitionism. Taylor & Francis.
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