Social Sanitation

The health movement embodied different aspects of social etiquette prominent for maintaining sanitary living. The shift from private to public, when analyzing the issues of health, made it possible for people of all ages to play an essential role in promoting the social desire for change. According to Anthony Comstock’s Traps for the Young, a person's mind is more easily manipulated, and controlled, when they are young[1]. By exposing young minds to an era in which there was a strong emphasis on preventing diseases, and carrying oneself with proper etiquette, allowed the discussion on health to be more inclusive and serious; rather than being limited to a select few. Like many gender affiliated roles, it was not customary to see men take charge in many aspects of sanitation, but that ideology was challenged when male public figures took an initiative to prompt the need for action against preventable diseases; yellow fever and cholera.