Conclusion

We have seen in this exhibit many of the ways in which the activity of third-party intermediaries has evolved from 19th century Paris to today’s America. 

On the business level, the third-party intermediaries between prostitutes and their clients have always taken on an extractive role. Like any business leader, their goal was and is to maintain a certain profit through the management of their prostitutes, and they have used various methods to reach it. While always keeping a position of superiority, the madam and the pimp varied, however, in these methods throughout time, since the socio-economic and historical context has so radically changed since 19th century Paris. In a nutshell, while the madam remains a business woman with priorities, she recruits prostitues through connections and earns their respect very quickly within the institutionalized context of the brothel. On the other hand, the pimp shows to us more coercive methods of recruitment and entertains a relationship with the prostitutes that is often quite violent.  

In the social realm, public perceptions about 19th century madams and today's pimps have significantly evolved. The main difference comes from the transformative gendered perception of the role, which has itself influenced social perceptions around the "respectability" of the figure of third-party. On the one hand, the madam was regarded as a respectable businesswoman who possessed the ability to transition between the immoral world of prostitutes and the fashionable society. On the other hand, the pimp today is largely seen as a criminal figure of male dominance. The word "pimp" is both gendered and racialized, as pimps are often perceived as black cisgender men. 

Finally, regarding the legal domain, the relationship between law enforcement and third-party intermediaries has also changed over time. The madam's role, for the most part, sanctioned by the state because they provided a form of regulation and surveillance over the sex industry within the institution of the brothel. Madams were thus given priviledged leeway to operate their business. Today, on the other hand, third-party intermediaries are not given such liberty: their link to law enforcement is, if it takes place at all, one of confrontation and bribery, which has pushed pimps to utilize various tools like the internet to avoid risk of detection. Nowadays, legal authorities are also prompt to label pimps as sex traffickers, when in fact, third-party intermediaries can hold a wide variety of roles within the sex industry.