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In contrast with its puritanical image, the 19th century saw the emergence of the body as a vital subject for analysis. Against this backdrop, hygienic medicine fuelled a formidable ‘mill of representations’, culminating in the second half of the century in the establishment of veritable scientific ideologies. This article focuses on the pivotal role played by one such ideology: the assimilation of female corporeality, which led to the development of a ‘corrupting’physiology linking sexuality to disease.