Title Foul bodies : cleanliness in early America / Kathleen M. Brown

Published New Haven : Yale University Press, ©2009

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 450 pages) : illustrations Series Society and the sexes in the modern world Society and the sexes in the modern world. Contents Caring for the early modern body -- Skin -- Corruption -- Empire's new clothes -- Gentility -- Virtue -- Reimagining sickness and health -- Healing housework -- Redemption -- Laborers -- Immersion -- Mission Summary A nation's standards of private cleanliness reveal much about its ideals of civilization, fears of disease, and expectations for public life, says Kathleen Brown in this unusual cultural history. Starting with the shake-up of European practices that coincided with Atlantic expansion, she traces attitudes toward "dirt" through the mid-nineteenth century, demonstrating that cleanliness--and the lack of it--had moral, religious, and often sexual implications. Brown contends that care of the body is not simply a private matter but an expression of cultural ideals that reflect the fundamental values of a society. The book explores early America's evolving perceptions of cleanliness, along the way analyzing the connections between changing public expectations for appearance and manners, and the backstage work of grooming, laundering, and housecleaning performed by women. Brown provides an intimate view of cleanliness practices and how such forces as urbanization, immigration, market conditions, and concerns about social mobility influenced them. Broad in historical scope and imaginative in its insights, this book expands the topic of cleanliness to encompass much larger issues, including religion, health, gender, class, and race relations Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-435) and index Notes Print version record Subject Hygiene -- United States -- History -- 18th century Hygiene -- United States -- History -- 19th century Social evolution. Medicine -- History -- 17th century. Medicine -- History -- 18th century. Hygiene -- history Cultural Evolution History, 17th Century Human Body History, 18th Century History, 19th Century HEALTH & FITNESS -- Healthy Living. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural. Hygiene SUBJECT United States Subject United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book LC no. 2008022131 ISBN 9780300160277 0300160275

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