Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico contributes to the years of research surrounding race, gender, and the effects of American imperialism. Laura Briggs successfully explains imperialism and how American intervention increased the importance Puerto Rico had to American society and visa-versa. Briggs utilizes American and Latin American sources to highlight the extent which American Imperialism had towards Puerto Rico and America’s perception of Puerto Rican race, gender, and nationality. Once Puerto Rico was colonized, American soldiers had sexual encounters with the Puerto Rican females, which stigmatized the people of Puerto Rico. A great deal of unprotected sex, with multiple partners, spurred the increase of venereal diseases. The upsurge of venereal diseases raised concerns amongst the military personnel, resulting in the military to cluster the Puerto Rican prostitutes in specific areas. Prostitutes were housed in certain areas and required to frequently complete venereal disease check-ups. Consequently, the soldiers underwent an examination prior to entering the prostitution camps. Notions of disease running rampant in Puerto Rico fueled the hatred, stereotypes, and prejudice boiling in America—“Venereal disease was depicted as a brown-skinned woman, scantily draped in red—the picture of the “tropical” prostitute”—the soldiers obtained no fault for assisting in the spread of…show more content… Pressures from American governmental officials and health workers tried to alter the Puerto Rican way of life by criminalizing prostitutes, forcing the females to ingest birth control pills, and creating mass hysteria surrounding island nations and people. Although American Imperialism was beneficial to people and nations, imperialism birthed racism and
