Regulation and Representations: Then and Now

While the four types of women explored in this exhibit belong to the same line of work, their lived experiences do not align. Because nineteenth-century Parisian street girls and contemporary American streetwalkers are a physically accessible and visually identifiable populace, they more often bare the force of anti-prostitution stigma and policing bias. The Parisian courtesan and American escort's access to both financial resources and privileged social networks allow her to assimilate within polite society and exhibit an amount of professional discretion not afforded to her lower-class contemporaries. These discrepancies translate to differing depictions in art and media; while the prostitute is either demonized or victimized by pop culture for her involvement in sex work, the duel nature of the escort affords her a sexy mystique that allows her access into the American television outside of a network crime drama. Socially sanctioned by cultural stigma, this classist divide carries weighted implications for the marginalized women of the lower-half, as evidenced by the extreme abuse committed by former police officer Daniel Holtzclaw. Although one society featured legalized prostitution while the other prohibits sex work, the motivations of both 1800's Parisian and 2000's American law enforcement foster climates which punished those of lower-class while exempting the elite.