Depraved and Disorderly: Female Convicts, Sexuality and Gender in Colonial Australia by Joy Damousi

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Bend to back cover left tail corner. Sticker remnant on top front cover. Minor marks on foredges. Interior and binding are still very good.

This innovative book marks a new way of looking at convict women. It tells their stories in a powerful and evocative way, drawing out broader themes of gender and sexual disorder and race and class dynamics in a colonial context.

It considers the convict past in light of contemporary concerns, looking at the cultural meanings of aspects of life in the colony: on ships, in the factories and in orphanages.

Using startlingly original research, Joy Damousi considers such varied topics as headshaving as punishment in the prisons and the subversive nature of laughter and play, as well as analysing the language of pollution, purity and abandonment. She also discusses the nature of sexual relationships, including evidence of lesbianism.

The book shows how understanding the sexual and racial differences was crucial for both the maintenance and disturbance of colonial society and became a focus for cultural anxiety. (back cover)