Today's History Lesson in Prostitution

[Cock Throppled]

In the 1400's the population of Florence, Italy had become known as a hotbed of homosexuality. It was so infamous that German slang for 'sodomite" was Florenzer.

In 1432 the government established the "Office of the Night" to identify and prosecute homosexuals.

In an attempt to turn the interest of men from the anus to the vagina the city fathers decided an extensive chain of public brothels staffed with women would help the cause.

Prostitutes became a common sight in Florence and were easy to spot. The law required them to wear gloves, high-heeled shoes (so far so good) and A BELL ON THEIR HEAD.

Talk about "ring for service".

 

[BORKO]

Was there something wrong with bum sex with girls as well?

 

[VanessaofBC]

Very, very interesting, Source please? I have been "taken" too many times on this board. Even WITH a source for that matter.

 

[Cock Throppled]

http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mariterel/Onesta and Control of Prostitution.pdf

 

[Feenix]

Up until the advent of Henry VIII, the Roman Catholic Church condoned prostitution, and even had brothels operating out of convents. It was the Church which controlled hookers in Europe, and Rome in particular, taxing prostitutes for revenue.

When good Ol' Henry came along with his upstart Church of England the Vatican hierarchy felt it better clean up the image it was presenting. Prostitution is now bad.

Prostitution was widely accepted in various parts of the US until WWI, when the authorities tried to control the spread of VD by putting women with STI's in jail. That was intended to shut down the trade in human flesh, and ended up jailing something like 30,000 women across the US, some of whom did not have STI's.

At the same time, prostitution was open in one section of New Orleans which may have been the beginning of desegregation in the US. There were both black and white prostitutes, as well as black and white clients. It was the first place in the US where a black man could see a white woman naked without being lynched. And, by the same token, white men could screw the brains out of a black woman without feeling guilty. This practice, too, came to an end with WWI.

The French offered the Americans travelling brothels during WWI so that US troops could satisfy their natural urges. The offer was rejected, although brothels were used by English and French troops throughout the war.

On the home US front during WWI, many women were unemployed, and unsupported when the men went off to war. To support themselves, these women sold their time and affection to men. Sometimes it was just spending time together, or giving an embrace. And, of course, some even got horizontal with the patron. These women were called "Charity Girls". The practice was largely ignored by the authorities.

Many women were hookers and followed the soldiers during the American Civil War. Syphilis became a major problem during that war, and accounted for a large number of deaths.

SOURCE: A TV program on the history of prostitution seen recently.

The lesson from all of this... blame the American up tightness around sex on WWI.

 

[Ms Erica Phoenix]

Up until the advent of Henry VIII, the Roman Catholic Church condoned prostitution, and even had brothels operating out of convents. It was the Church which controlled hookers in Europe, and Rome in particular, taxing prostitutes for revenue.

The origin of the word 'hooker', however, only dates to the 1840s. The attribution that the 'camp followers' that set up to provide service to the soldiers of Major General Joseph Hooker of the Union (Northern) Army is popular, but incorrect, as it turns out. The term seems to have originated in a New York neighbourhood called "Collyear's Hook" and the women who worked the shipyard there came to be known as 'hookers'.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hooker

 

[Fullhouse]

Prostitutes became a common sight in Florence and were easy to spot. The law required them to wear gloves, high-heeled shoes (so far so good) and A BELL ON THEIR HEAD.

Talk about "ring for service".

Some of the SPs in Richmond wear high heels, make ME wear a glove, and have a electronic bell on the nightstand.

Talk about "ring for end of service".... When that freaken bell goes off, that's the last thing that goes off in that room.......period.

 

[Tugela]

In the 1400's the population of Florence, Italy had become known as a hotbed of homosexuality. It was so infamous that German slang for 'sodomite" was Florenzer.

In 1432 the government established the "Office of the Night" to identify and prosecute homosexuals.

In an attempt to turn the interest of men from the anus to the vagina the city fathers decided an extensive chain of public brothels staffed with women would help the cause.

Prostitutes became a common sight in Florence and were easy to spot. The law required them to wear gloves, high-heeled shoes (so far so good) and A BELL ON THEIR HEAD.

Talk about "ring for service".

Florence of the 1400s was at the center of the renaissance, and was stuffed with artistic types. Then, as now, those sorts of folk are more inclined to take a walk on the wild side than their more conservative brethren.