Social hygiene movement
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{{Unreferenced|date=June 2007}}
[[Image:Sex hygiene and false modesty.png|thumb|150px|"Sex hygiene" is contrasted with "false modesty" in this frontispiece to an early 20th century book.]]
The '''social''' or '''mental hygiene movement''' of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was an attempt by [[Progressive Era|Progressive-era]] reformers to control [[venereal disease]], regulate [[prostitution]] and [[vice]], and disseminate [[sexual education]] through the use of [[scientific method|scientific]] research methods and modern media techniques.
The social hygiene movement represented a rationalized, professionalized version of the earlier [[social purity movement]].<ref name="Simmons1993">{{cite journal
| last = Simmons
| first = Christina
| title = African Americans and Sexual Victorianism in the Social Hygiene Movement, 1910-40
| journal = Journal of the History of Sexuality
| volume = 4
| issue = 1
| pages = 51–75
| date = 1993
| url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1043-4070%28199307%294%3A1%3C51%3AAAASVI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| month = Jul
| year = 1993 }}</ref> Many reformers, such as Dr [[Marie Stopes]], were also exponents of [[eugenics]]. Inspired by [[Charles Darwin]]'s theory of [[natural selection]], they argued for the [[Sterilization (surgical procedure)|sterilisation]] of certain groups, even racial groups, in society. This link between [[racial hygiene]] and social hygiene can be seen in Australia, where the [[Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales]] is now named The Family Planning Association<ref>[http://www.fpahealth.org.au/news/20061102_80.html Family Planning NSW: News: Announcements: 80 years of Family Planning<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.
Social hygiene as a profession grew alongside [[social work]] and other [[public health]] movements of the era. Social hygienists emphasized sexual continence and strict self-discipline as a solution to societal ills, tracing prostitution, drug use and [[illegitimacy]] to rapid [[urbanization]].
The [[American Social Hygiene Association]] was formed in 1913 and later renamed to the [[American Social Health Association]].
The movement remained alive throughout the 20th century and found its way into American schools, where it was transmitted in the form of classroom films about [[menstruation]], sexually transmitted disease, [[drug abuse]] and acceptable sexual behavior in addition to an array of [[pamphlets]], [[posters]], [[textbooks]] and [[film]]s.
==See also==
* [[Racial hygiene]]
* [[Mann Act]]
* [[Family planning]]
== References ==
<references />
==External links==
*[http://special.lib.umn.edu/swha/IMAGES/home.html American Social Hygiene Posters] - Online repository of social hygiene posters from the [[University of Minnesota]]
*[http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger The Prelinger Archives at the Internet Archive]
*[http://www.archive.org/details/avgeeks AV Geeks at the Internet Archive]
[[Category:Progressivism]]
[[Category:Public health]]