each intended to house two Ouled-Naïl women, most very young
Title
each intended to house two Ouled-Naïl women, most very young
Subject
Prostitution in Algeria
Description
-lets, each intended to house two Ouled-Naïl women, most very young (there are some whose years do not yet number 12), pretty and shapely, under their costume I was going to mention that a grotesque disguise overwhelms them. About eight in the morning, the chaous entrusted with the care of these terrestrial houris [angels] give free rein to their residents; these soon scatter into the Moorish cafes crowded around the harem. Here to the sound of the music, almost always accompanied by a Basque tambourine, they strive by all kinds of dances and more or less lascivious poses, interspersed with songs, to arouse the desires of smokers or the idlers attracted by their presence.
Nothing is more strange than the stage of Ouled-Naïl! To see these faces burdened by all colors, illuminated crimson cheeks, foreheads of yellow ochre, gleaming vermilion lips, dark eyes circled with kohl (antimony sufide), the eyebrows drowned in a thick brown layer of henna (Lawsonia inermis), the lot enammelled in lurid patches with black and pink ointments.
Can it be believed? After two or three years exercising such a trade, the Ouled-Naïl girls, enriched with a small nest egg, are returning to their native tribe where they are very popular in marriage. Reintegrated into family life, no memory of the past will affect their consideration; nearly all affirmed they are renowned for their good behavior as mothers and wives.
There is no need to go to the desert to search for examples of similar unions. In 1840, at Blidah, a young Mooress of dazzling beauty was carried away from a public house, - where, in a health visit, we had recognized syphilis - by a wealthy merchant who took the incontinent women in front a qadi [Sharia judge].
This is the place to talk about the mezouar [chief?] established by the Moors,
Nothing is more strange than the stage of Ouled-Naïl! To see these faces burdened by all colors, illuminated crimson cheeks, foreheads of yellow ochre, gleaming vermilion lips, dark eyes circled with kohl (antimony sufide), the eyebrows drowned in a thick brown layer of henna (Lawsonia inermis), the lot enammelled in lurid patches with black and pink ointments.
Can it be believed? After two or three years exercising such a trade, the Ouled-Naïl girls, enriched with a small nest egg, are returning to their native tribe where they are very popular in marriage. Reintegrated into family life, no memory of the past will affect their consideration; nearly all affirmed they are renowned for their good behavior as mothers and wives.
There is no need to go to the desert to search for examples of similar unions. In 1840, at Blidah, a young Mooress of dazzling beauty was carried away from a public house, - where, in a health visit, we had recognized syphilis - by a wealthy merchant who took the incontinent women in front a qadi [Sharia judge].
This is the place to talk about the mezouar [chief?] established by the Moors,
Creator
Dr. Alphonse Betherand
Source
On Prostitution in the City of Paris, p. 540
Date
1836
Format
.jpg of .pdf
Language
French
Type
scientific treatise
Files
Citation
Dr. Alphonse Betherand, “each intended to house two Ouled-Naïl women, most very young,” A la Recherche des Femmes Perdues, accessed May 5, 2024, https://onprostitution.oberlincollegelibrary.org/items/show/107.