Then: 1830's France

Then: In 1830’s France, the idea of a prostitute having a voice was not likely. In fact, it wasn’t till February 1948 when the provisional government cognized three rights essential to the new democratic and social republic: universal suffrage, education, and employment for women.[1] Be that as it may, the only representation of agency discourse can be found in Parent-Duchatelet’s writing. For the first 100 years Parent-Duchatelet's writing was considered a strong representation of sex workers’ agency. Although, looking back today, it's clear that the women he researched were not aptly represented. It still remains the earliest and most reputable representation of sex worker agency during the 19^th century.

List of Nicknames used by prostitutes in Duchatelet's original text. 

Agency: Given the social status of women and prostitutes during this time period it’s hard to find many explicit instances of individual agency being relayed in Parent-Duchatelet’s text. However, there are a few instances where Parent-Duchatelet highlights specific actions that can be viewed as prostitutes engaging in agency.

Parent-Duchatelet’s research shares an interesting trend where prostitutes found themselves using nicknames in order to attract certain clients. Specifically, the names were used to distinguish what class they are from. Some examples of names are:

“Inferior Class”:

•  Rousselette- Little red pear
• Boulotte- Chubby and small
• La Ruelle-the little street
• La Roche-the rock
• Cocote-Darling/honey
• Poil-Ras-Short fur
• Poil-Long-Long fur
• Raton-baby rat
• Baquet-small tub

“Upper Class”: Often rooted in Greek Mythology or other literature

• Calliope
• Olympe
• Lucrèce[2]

Although not explicit, Parent-Duchatelet describes the Upper Class prostitutes as all having “pretty names” where inferior class names are clearly not revered in the same way. It creates a literal verbal rift between “inferior class” and “upper class” workers. This rift and class organized names forced women to cater towards men of certain classes. Name selection can be viewed as workers exerting agency, but due to the class based structure the nicknames exist in, it can also be viewed as reductive. 

Similarly, Parent-Duchatelet describes the act of getting tattoos and women disrupting church processions (described here), which can be interpreted as other forms of agency for these women. However, without explicit female voices it’s not clear how workers back then were enacting agency.  

[1] Désirée Gay, Jeanne Deroin, Eugénie Niboyet, 1830 - 1870" Paris, Univ., Diss., 1990.