-"If a harlot plants an olive it does not become fruitful, whereas if it is planted by a chaste woman it is fruitful." Malleus Maleficarum
The following comes from A Cultural History of Sexuality, Volume I. [In Ancient Rome,] ...while visiting prostitutes and brothels was acceptable for young men of any [social] status, as long as they kept their visits to a minimum...prostitutes were more commonly associated with the non-elite. In fact, prostitutes in late republican and imperial Rome were, along with actors and gladiators, infames (individuals who lacked honor, and could bring dishonor to certain Romans if they entered into their presence). Roman priestesses avoided them in the street, and it was considered dishonorable for noble citizens over a certain age to visit prostitutes--especially in brothels, where the various [social] classes easily intermingled. The Roman censors could de-class citizens who became prostitutes or pimps from their tribe, and mark them with notae. Such individuals could no longer remain members of the senatorial or equestrian orders and thus (when male) were disqualified from the offices and distinctions of those orders.
Ancient Greek terminology for sex work, also from A Cultural History of Sexuality, Vol. I. The ancients had various terms for prostitutes. In Greek, the lexicographers list "Ground-beater" (Chamaitypē) "Bridge-girl" (gephyris) "Streetwalker" (spodesilaura, peripolis, dromas) These are all terms that suggest prostitutes could ply their trade throughout the city. Common terms from the classical period for a prostitute were pornos/pornē, paidiskē, hetaira, and pallakē. Pornē likely comes from the verb pernēmi (to sell), and nicknames and slang terms such as Obolē (one obol [a unit of currency]), Didrachmon (twelve obols), and chalkiditis (penny whore), emphasize the material nature of the prostitute-client relationship, the low cost of such women, and their communal accessibility. While there is the possibility that independent, high-priced prostitutes (megalomisthoi) such as Phyrne and Rhodopis did exist, these women were far fewer in number than we should imagine. Mysachnē (polluted one) and pornoboskos (pimp; from boskō--to feed or tend--commonly used in the case of cattle) imply the low regard some ancients had toward prostitutes.
-“You boys can keep your virgins... Give me hot old women in high heels with asses that forgot to get old.” Charles Bukowski
-"One should not abandon the other, nor should either cease his voyage until they reach port together." 13thC Advice on orgasming together
"One of the reasons often given [in the Middle Ages] by moralists as to why prostitutes should be avoided was the danger of incest: a man had no way of knowing whether a prostitute had previously had sex with his brother, father or other relative, and according to ecclesiastical [church] definition, she might therefore be related to him, and he would then unwittingly be committing incest." - Sex, Religion, and the Law, by Irina Metzler, in A Cultural History of Sexuality, Vol. II: The Middle Ages
(1265) This Tuscan fresco shows a tree holding penises & may refer to the myth witches stole & hid penises in trees.
"[In medieval times] unlike rape, prostitution was a sin (in church law), but not a crime (in secular law). Activities associated with prostitution, however, such as procuring (sometimes by raping a girl which subsequently might make her unmarriageable) and pimping, were considered crimes. Many late medieval towns in Germany, England, Italy, and France legalized and regulated prostitution in municipal brothels. The reasoning behind the legality was that by providing a regulated outlet for sexuality, greater sin (through indiscriminate fornication) would be prevented; better to have a few sinful women than potentially many women sinning." [Apparently men were ok in this regard] - Irina Metzler, "Sex, Religion, and the Law," in A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Middle Ages
May Day descends from the Roman festival, Floralia. Sex workers claimed the day as their own & celebrated by dancing naked in the streets.
A sex worker waiting a client in İstanbul at Abanoz St. photo from 1960s, was taken by Osep Minasoğlu.
Josephine Baker(1906-75):singer, seductress & spy. Hemingway called her ‘the most sensational woman anyone ever saw’
The Romans & Greeks thought large penises were animalistic & barbaric. Small willies were considered quite cultured
Exactly right! This is why Priapus (the god of the enormous phallus) was also considered something laughable/absurd.
Although not specifically related to sex work, a very large number of lead badges dating from medieval and late medieval times have been unearthed in archaeological digs. They contain some rather bizarre depictions of disembodied genitalia. For some the purpose is speculated to be to ward off evil, to bring good sexual luck or fertility. In the photograph, a crowned vulva is being carried by three phalluses on a litter. The chapter's author suggests it may be an outrageous parody of processions in honor of the Virgin Mary. "Sex, Popular Beliefs, and Culture," by Malcom Jones. Included in A Cultural History of Sexuality in The Middle Ages, Ruth Evans, ed.
This is fascinating - "Bishop Burchard of Worms, compiling his Latin penitential around the year 1000 in Germany, expected his [church] confessors to inquire of the female penitent whether she had ever ingested her husband's semen or mixed her menstrual blood in food or drink that he then unknowingly consumed in order to increase her husband's love for her. Or had she ever placed a live fish in her vagina and kept it there until it was dead and then cooked it and given it to her husband to eat, or kneaded dough with her naked buttocks and then baked it and given her husband the bread to eat, with the same end in mind?" (All these appare to be genuine practices of popular sexual magic...) "Sex, Popular Beliefs, and Culture," by Malcom Jones. Chapter 7 of A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Middle Ages, Ruth Evans, ed.
Two workers show off the plastic, hard 'bra' - designed to help prevent occupational accidents (Los Angeles in 1943)
From “Ann Landers Talks to Teen-Agers About Sex,” 1963. boy I missed that one..........'cause it soooo didn't work on me
Damaris Paige was a 17thC madam. Her brothels offered "a sturdy cunt for 2 shillings." Her moto was "money & cunny are the best commodities"
In a 1745 letter to a younger acquaintance, Benjamin Franklin wrote of his preference for older lovers.
Ugh...supposedly circumcision was supposed to cut down (no pun intended) on masturbation later in life. Where did we get this poisonous idea that it was such a good thing to stifle, to suffocate, the sexual urge? (Rhetorical question.) In ancient times (at least) women were believed to have voracious sexual appetites (more so than men), and therefore all the more reason for men to be careful around them. (Eye roll...)
The sweat of famous gladiators was strigiled off & sold in vials; Roman women reportedly used it as a beauty treatment and/or aphrodisiac.
Biographer of courtesan, Sally Salisbury(1692-1724), recorded her retort to a Duchess who sneered at her fine jewels
