Perversion, surveillance and the Church of England Purity Society, 1820-1890

Perversion, surveillance and the Church of England Purity Society, 1820-1890

This paper will address responses to the issue of social disorder that was central to many late nineteenth-century concerns in Britain. Supervision of boys and young men became more formalized in the purity movements which proliferated at the end of the century. Perhaps the most notable example was the Church of England Purity Society which was formed in 1880. The Church of England Purity Society represented responses to continued calls for an attempt to redefine masculine ideology. Most importantly, it was a way of aligning the male body with the body of Christ. Moral authority was vested in the Purity Society, which provided exemplars for young men but responsibility for careful supervision was placed with middle-class parents. As an example, physical recreation was widely endorsed, not only as an instrument of spiritual development but also as a medium for training the young to meet with the diverse challenges of a naturally harsh and competitive world.

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