Genitourinary Medicine

In my preparation for a possible paper on syphilis in theatre in nineteenth century Europe, I started looking for journal articles about syphilis treatment and assessment during those years before a cure had been found. One of the journals I found was formerly entitled Genitourinary Medicine, now known as Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Disease Association. There is also the International Journal of STDs and AIDS. And The British Journal of Venereal Diseases and Genitourinary Medicine. Knowledge fiend that I am, this is an exciting revelation. It would seem obvious that there would be multiple journals about STDs if there can be multiple journals about theatre, but somehow that level of specificity surprised me.

I asked my professor about doing a paper on syphilis in theatre and he laughed. A lot. He later apologized for laughing, but it was clear he was laughing more out of surprise than anything else. He said he wasn't aware of anyone else writing on the topic which isn't required of a paper for a course, but it does mean that this may be a viable presentation topic for a conference. Then I could have visuals, too! I'll bet images of late-stage syphilis would be talked about for a while in the unsuspecting theatre circles...