Exhibit Introduction

This exhibit will highlight the lack of change in researcher, agency and public discourses surrounding prostitution. Relying on Alexandre Parent-Duchatelet’s research from 1830s France as the origins of the exploration of prostitution, it'll act as the foundation to compare contemporary discourses. 

In his investigation, Parent-Duchatelet was able to capture a broad range of discourses within his writing. Parent-Duchatelet, through ethnographic research with prostitutes and analysis of police archives, was able to provide a lens into both agency and public discourses for that time. 

Although, Parent-Duchatelet provides the discourses for 1830's France, not much has changed over the past 180 years. However, some innovations have occurred in more contemporary times to expand or shift these discourses. This exhibit will expose these similarities and recognize the innovations that have occurred over time as a product of these discourses.