IncorrigibleWilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 2006 M01 1 - 172 páginas On a May morning in 1939, eighteen-year-old Velma Demerson and her lover were having breakfast when two police officers arrived to take her away. Her crime was loving a Chinese man, a “crime” that was compounded by her pregnancy and subsequent mixed-race child. Sentenced to a home for wayward girls, Demerson was then transferred (along with forty-six other girls) to Torontos Mercer Reformatory for Females. The girls were locked in their cells for twelve hours a day and required to work in the on-site laundry and factory. They also endured suspect medical examinations. When Demerson was finally released after ten months’ incarceration weeks of solitary confinement, abusive medical treatments, and the state’s apprehension of her child, her marriage to her lover resulted in the loss of her citizenship status. This is the story of how Demerson, and so many other girls, were treated as criminals or mentally defective individuals, even though their worst crime might have been only their choice of lover. Incorrigible is a survivor’s narrative. In a period that saw the rise of psychiatry, legislation against interracial marriage, and a populist movement that believed in eradicating disease and sin by improving the purity of Anglo-Saxon stock, Velma Demerson, like many young women, found herself confronted by powerful social forces. This is a history of some of those who fell through the cracks of the criminal code, told in a powerful first-person voice. |
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... matron says. We're relieved to find the room filled with familiar faces from the Home. I try counting those present but give up when I reach forty. It appears that a good number of the older Belmont girls aren't here. One of the first ...
... matron unlocks the door and says, “Get into an orderly file.” She directs us toward the open door, then walks behind, ferrying us along the wide corridor to the hallway where we came in. She seems annoyed at our confused behaviour and ...
... matron?” I ask the girl. “She'll be back in about half an hour. We're having free time before we're locked in our cells for twelve hours.” “Twelve hours,” I say ruefully. “Most of the girls in this ward are first offenders except maybe ...
... matron returns. I hear the sound of keys jingling as she approaches. She bids us to enter our cells and says firmly, “There's to be no talking.” We are quick to obey. The matron begins the laborious task of retrieving the cell keys and ...
Velma Demerson. A matron standing at the entrance watches the women leave the line and go to their regular tables ... matrons about so we're able to whisper. Providing so many girls with their proper place in the dining room seems to be a ...
Contenido
CHAPTER 12 | 111 |
CHAPTER 13 | 121 |
CHAPTER 14 | 127 |
CHAPTER 15 | 135 |
CHAPTER 16 | 141 |
CHAPTER 17 | 149 |
CHAPTER 18 | 159 |
AFTERWORD | 165 |