Fille Publique

Image of title page of L’Odyssée d’une fille found in Oeuvres complètes illustrées de Guy de Maupassant. Gallica 

The girls, skirts raised, showing their legs, flashing a white stocking in the dull glow of the night lamps, waited in the shadows of the doors, called or passed quickly, bold, whispering in your ear two obscure, silly words. They followed a man for several seconds, cuddling up against him, breathing their putrid breath in his face; then, seeing the futility of their exhortations, they let him in an abrupt, disgruntled motion and resumed walking, swinging their hips. I went along, called by all, taken by the sleeve, harassed and offended. (1)

In the excerpt, the girls are described as shameless and outgoing, fearlessly approaching men and disengaging if they see no fruit for their effort. They are characterized as filthy and outgoing, and the narrator is clearly sickened by their behavior. Unlike archetypes like the lorettes, the fill publiques are typically not described as even being particularly attractive, morally or physically.

Image from L’Odyssé d’une fille found in Oeuvres complètes illustrées de Guy de Maupassant. Illustrated by V. Rottembourg. p. 285. Gallica 

 

 

Shortly after the scene above, the narrator observes that the police begin a large capture of the girls in the vicinity and is latched onto by a young girl trying to escape arrest:

All of a sudden, I saw three who were running as though panicked, yelling quick words to the others. And the others broke into a run, to flee, taking their dresses in their hands to go faster. We yielded a great haul of prostitutes that day. And suddenly I felt an arm under mine, while a frantic voice murmured in my ear: “Save me, sir, save me, don’t leave me.” I looked at the girl. She was not yet twenty years old, though already withered. I told her: “Stay with me” She murmured: “Oh! Thank you.” We arrived at the line of agents. It opened to let me pass. And I stepped onto Drouot Street. (1)

This is an example of the typical police round-up of streetwalkers. They simply grab a large bunch of them all at once and it is up to them to alert the others and make an escape. The girl in the scene at the end makes the good choice to cling to the narrator, meaning that at a quick glance, she is no different from many other normal girl, out with her male counterpart. This begs the questions, what is it really that allows women to pass as “honest?” The higher class lorettes do so by affording good clothes and keeping generally better hygiene, but the street walkers are not so fortunate. Surely upon closer look, the girl here could be recognized as such. Likewise, if an unlucky, lower class-looking woman is caught out alone, she could easily be picked up as a prostitute herself. This ties in how the intersection of class and gender play in with sex work.

Above, there is an image from the text depicting the young girl from the scene above. Later in the story, she describes her past to the narrator. This image is likely of her during her transition into a fille publique. She, a lone girl on the street and clearly poor, is an easy target of the law. She is the type of prostitute most harshly affected by the regulatory laws and most vulnerable to abuse by this system.

Next, there is a document from the Police Archives listing out some specific rules and regulations regarding filles publiques. Several provisions in particular are of note, but they all reflect the general public apprehension toward prostitutes, and the begrudging acceptance of their continued existence.

An image of the Extrait des Règlements, a document listing specific regulations on prostitutes. Police Archives. Circa 1840.

 

 

Prostitutes are responsible for presenting themselves once every 15 days at the Dispensary, to be checked out (examined???) (2)

This particular provision is of note, as it expressly commands, first and foremost, that all registered prostitutes must appear for an examination regularly; syphilis was a major public issue and prostitutes were largely blamed (Refer to another exhibit on Syphilis). Further, prostitutes who are caught without having registered and without having been regularly examined are particularly punished. They are immediately thought by all to be associated with chaos, filth, disease and debauchery as they are specifically forbidden from actions that anyone, prostitute or not, could commit against public peace, seen here:

They cannot station themselves in the public eye, to form groups, to reunite or circle up… (2)

They are also forbidden from many specific public areas and restricted to certain hours. It can be inferred from this document that law enforcement knew that prostitution could never really be made illegal, but it could at least hopefully be kept out of the eye of the “decent” public. In this way, the filles publiques are an easy social target, blamed for and associated with filth and disease, held to restrictive laws, and thoroughly punished should they avert these laws and restrictions. Yet, despite these repressive laws, Duchatelet again reminds us “Prostitutes exist everywhere, is this not evident proof that one cannot impede them and that they are inherent to society?” (3)