"Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery"

Paper Summary:

This paper shows how, in her book "Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery", Anne M. Butler's premise is that, contrary to the popular stereotype of the dance hall girl with a heart of gold, the prostitute on the western frontier led a far different life. She contends that these frontier prostitutes led turbulent, emotionally unstable lives without any sense of fulfillment or direction.

From the Paper:

"She does not consider them blameless victims and is constantly pointing out how the choices they made contributed to their violent, disorganized life. While she does emphasize the poverty most of these women came from and how few job opportunities there were for women, she completely ignores one of the most significant statistics involving prostitutes. Modern studies of prostitution show that a full 78% of women who enter the profession were sexually abused as children. Nowhere in her book does Ms. Butler refer to this statistic or even form a question regarding its possible contribution to these women's choice of profession."

More papers on "Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery":

• Analytical Essay # 57608 : "Mothers and Daughters: "The Joy Luck Club"
• Book Review # 111376 : "Dominique Lapierre's "The City of Joy"
• Comparison Essay # 41869 : "Common Concepts about Immigrant Women in "Disappearing Moon Cafe" and "Sisters of Grass"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: