No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States Since 1880

by Allan M. Brandt

From Victorian anxieties about syphilis to the current hysteria over herpes and AIDS, the history of venereal disease in America forces us to examine social attitudes as well as purely medical concerns. In No Magic Bullet, Allan M. Brandt recounts the various medical, military, and public
health responses that have arisen over the years--a broad spectrum that ranges from the incarceration of prostitutes during World War I to the establishment of required premarital blood tests.

Brandt demonstrates that Americans' concerns about venereal disease have centered around a set of social and cultural values related to sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and class. At the heart of our efforts to combat these infections, he argues, has been the tendency to view venereal disease as both a
punishment for sexual misconduct and an index of social decay. This tension between medical and moral approaches has significantly impeded efforts to develop "magic bullets"--drugs that would rid us of the disease--as well as effective policies for controlling the infections' spread.
In the paper edition of No Magic Bullet, Brandt adds to his perceptive commentary on the relationship between medical science and cultural values a new chapter on AIDS. Analyzing this latest outbreak in the context of our previous attitudes toward sexually transmitted diseases, he hopes to provide
the insights needed to guide us to the policies that will best combat the disease.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medicine, Science, American History, Medical, History Of Medicine

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Robin Redden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brandt's thesis in "No Magic Bullet" is that in order to develop effective public health policy for controlling disease we must first resolve the underlying social or cultural conflicts between the medical and the moral approaches to disease. Specifically discussed in this book are the venereal or sexually transmitted diseases. The book is also an interestingly historical view of how these diseases have been treated throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries with a majority of the book discussing how the government addressed the issue during WW1 and WW2.

The American "puritanical" tendency to view STDs as "moral punishment for sin" has seriously impeded the development of what Brandt calls "magic bullets" or drugs to stop infection. These diseases (he primarily includes syphilis, gonorrhea, Herpes 2 and HIV/AIDS) are intertwined with social and cultural attitudes about sex and societal mores around sexuality. He shows how these attitudes have slowed and/or prevented cures or public health policies that would better protect the public and prevent the spread of infection, even after the advent of penicillin.

Understanding the historical perspective and the corresponding social and cultural attitudes help public policy makers and public health officials develop better global health policy that will keep all people safer. The book goes into the funding and educational issues/problems as well.

The book is basically written as a dissertation and thus is not terribly easy to get through. I found the language and sentence structure (I'm reading in 2020) to be a bit hard to get through...it took a much longer time for me to read these 200 pages than my usual pace. The inclusion of the WW posters during the health campaigns were interesting and of course the book reflects the antiquated (negative) attitudes towards women of the time but in general is an important book for anyone interested in the history of epidemic disease.

[Klissia]

O sexo e sua "doencas infeciosas"ainda seguem sendo um grande tabu cultural/social, entre a ciência e a moralidade. esse livro traz dados interessantes sobre que cobre mais de 100 anos de aspectos civis e militar dos norte-americanos. Dizem que a Primeira Guerra foi um fato que dividiu o mundo entre antes e depois ,no aspecto social,forcas de trabalho e nas dinamicas sexuais,aqui o aspecto interessante que comprova isto são os dados e estatisticas do exercito americano e sus habitos sexuais durante guerras com a explosao da sifilis,gonorreia e a corrida por medidas de saude publica e tratamento,que ainda hoje impõe um estigma nas pessoas que apresentam sintomas dessas infeccoes.
A ciencia consegue controlar quase tudo mas a sexualidade humana segue sendo complexa e indomavel.

[cam_omile · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for class. 😳

[Scott Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The human response to venereal disease has always had a strongly social component. Not only is there biology involved; other factors also include prostitution, gender dynamics, sexuality, fear, and moralisms. In this work, Brandt identifies all of these impacts and constructs a narrative of how Americans have reacted to this disease since the underlying biology had begun to be unearthed in the late 19th century. He does so meticulously and comprehensively so that no important stone is left unturned and so that the reader has a 360-degree view of this often “hush-hush” matter.

This book begins in the progressive era when hope for triumph over social ills abounded. Already in this era, the disjunction of the causes of disease and morality can be seen. Individuals and groups emphasized an understanding of STDs either as a moral failing or as part-and-parcel of nature and life. While these differences in perspective underlay the social nature of this disease, they also impacted how the disease was portrayed among the public. The fundamental conflict of these approaches (morality vs. disease), well-illustrated by Brandt, seems to continue with us to this day.

This book provides an interesting take on human sexuality. As a history, the book’s contents are not meant to convey any inherently socially disruptive message. Nonetheless, it illustrates the shortcomings of many approaches towards sexuality from earlier times that are still with us. For instance, the need for personal responsibility is still an answer many give to sexual problems. Campaigns based on fear are still with us as are stigmatizations. The reader acquires an in-depth and intriguing view of the social dynamics of sexuality without being argued with. This side effect highlights the book’s strengths – that it treats a complex issue with fairness and objectivity.

Several themes should be noted. The military campaigns of the world wars are detailed because of their transformative impact. Not all trends continue with us; some trends change. For example, male use of prostitutes was viewed as a central issue in the late Victorian era and early 20th century; however, after World War II, premarital sex became a defining issue in its place. Effective medications also provided a means of social transformation towards sexual liberty while the resurgence of viruses (herpes and HIV) curtailed that same sexual liberty.

I wish more people would treat sexual diseases like Brandt does, with the seriousness they deserve. Sexuality is an important facet of human life, and despite the widely enforced cultural silence, its central social role is becoming increasingly identified. Likewise, disease is another facet with significant social import. The combination of these two – viewed through the prism of history – makes for a supremely interesting read. Despite being 35 years old, this book hits a high mark with erudition and excellence.

[Jessica Silk · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have mentioned, it's a little outdated, but patterns of discourse around and response to STIs has been eerily cyclical, so it's still relevant to learn from the pre- and early-HIV/AIDs period. Brandt tackles the ways in which social constructions around illness ultimately affect the way they are treated or, at times, perpetuated due to lack of effective response. There has been a history of responding to STIs from moral grounds instead of science, which continues in the debate around sexuality education. One thing that may not be clear to those interested in this subject (that was an added bonus for me) is that it has a wealth of information about the shaping of laws around sex work. As well, it paints the story of how laws around sex work and STI treatment have been shaped by the military.

[Galicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is assigned reading for Yale course Hist 234: Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600 Professor Frank Snowden.

Discovery of penicillin and its first use in curing syphilis in the early 1940’s was thought to be a “magic bullet”. The author concludes near the end that no such sure remedy exists for any disease. None existed for HIV/AIDS at the time of this writing in 1985. This well researched text has much interesting history mostly concerning venereal diseases.

[sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A ripping yarn -- if you like sex, moralism, history, politics, gender relations, war, poverty, and all that stuff.

The history of science is endlessly interesting to me, and how social events have interacted with scientific approaches to mitigate disease melts my brain. I kept highlighting this book for use in future papers and lectures.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sociology of public health- loose women and all that good stuff.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! A book about STDs!