Pathologization of Lesbianism, in Prostitutes and Beyond
This page looks at the similarities in treatments and attitudes that 19th-century French prostitutes and 20th-century American lesbians received, with particular focus on female prostitutes who had relations with other women. (For simplicity’s sake, though anachronistic and inaccurate, the term “lesbian prostitutes” will be used for these women.) In particular, it examines the shared history of pathologization and dehumanization these women were (and often still are) subjected to, and the view of same-gender attraction as the highest form of amorality and disease.
In Parent-Duchatelet's notes, there is an entire section on tribades (lesbians), and far from unbiased, Parent-Dutchatelet shows us much of the strong pathologization and stigma faced by lesbian prostitutes over prostitutes in general.
"[W]e can consider [this] the last degree of vice to which a human being can attain, and for that reason, they require special monitoring on the part of those in charge of the surveillance of prostitutes . . . it is often necessary to contain them."1
Here reports of tribades specifically, where they require extra monitoring from their "straight" counterparts. They represent a stronger threat than a prostitute alone.
“I have from several inspectors and some former prison guards, that pregnancies are more frequently noticed among tribades than the common prostitutes who have not contracted this disorderly taste.”2
Lesbianism here is a disease--it is something that is caught, contracted, and that infects these prostitutes. It is not just a moral failing like prostitution, but an additional illness atop it.
This patholigization of same-sex interactions is a historic battle fought by prostitutes, lesbians, and lesbian prostitutes. In her essay "Lesbians and Prostitutes: A Historical Sisterhood," Joan Nestle says when it came to police interaction in the 20th century, "we knew clearly that there was little difference between whore and queer when a raid was on."3
Compare this to Parent-Dutchatelet's report:
"Thus, in 1824, it was expressly forbidden that the lady-keepers [teneuses] of houses of debauchery, to allow their girls to sleep two to one bed; there were punished with several days in prison those who during visits and inspections were found lying together.”4
No matter their differences, their historical policing and pathologization are intertwined.
1. Parent-Duchatelet, Alexandre. Mattson, Greggor (trans). "Tribades" (selections from), 1859. pp. 170-172.↩
2. Parent-Duchatelet, Alexandre. Mattson, Greggor (trans). "Tribades" (selections from), 1859. p. 172.↩
3. Nestle, Joan. (Eds.). (1987). Sex Work: Writings by Women in the Sex Industry (First ed.). Pittsburgh: Cleis Press. p. 232↩
4. Parent-Duchatelet, Alexandre. Mattson, Greggor (trans). "Tribades" (selections from), 1859. pp. 170-171↩