Stigma in Paris: 19th Century
Prostitution, Class, and Stigma in 19th Century France: Filles Publiques vs. Courtesans
Filles Publiques (public streetwalkers) in Paris were perceived as the class "most abject and repulsive of all prisoners"[1]. There were a few [understood] primary causes of prostitution for these women: poverty, laziness, and vanity were undoubtedly the most widely agreed upon. There was a certain stigma associated with the lower class in 19th century Paris (whether or not women from that class entered into prostitution). The lives of those in poverty were frequently associated with deprivation, carelessness, and neediness (all of which were thought to contribute to the corruption of young females from those families)[1].
While public women were scrutinized and controlled to no end, indoor prostitutes were not subject to the same criticism as their outdoor counterparts. Courtesans were prostitutes who came from the upper class and practiced their work privately. Despite the negative perception toward prostitution held by the general public, courtesans often chose this lifestyle for its relative freedom and luxury [1]. Due to their wealth, courtesans were able to dress in respectable attire, much unlike the public working women from the lower classes (see Gabe Simon's exhibit for more information). Thus, females who engaged in indoor prostitution were able to blend in with the rest of society; consequently, courtesans were not the targets of stigmatization or regulation in the way that public women were.
Police Regulation and Stigma Associated with Publicity:
"Prostitution must be suppressed in the places where the prostitute takes shelter. They must not come shamelessly to spread out in broad daylight. On the public street, provoking immorality and hurting decency, which darkness covers and conceals, which causes only the one who knows who feels attracted to her for indecent needs of an immoral imagination, which those can't be forced to find themselves in contact with those who feel some disgust at a degradation of humanity so miserable and so distressing" (translation of police document, 1840).
Because working class prostitutes were considered "morally inferior" in Paris, they were highly regulated by the police. These women were labeled as "filthy and monstrous" and consequently came to symbolize what was wrong with society. Thus, police regulation worked to keep prostitutes out of the "moral" and "modest" public view. Ironically, prostitutes were viewed as an inevitable and somewhat necessary aspect of French society. Although they were frowned upon, police were not trying to rid of them entirely. Rather, they were attempting to keep them out of the public view. It is important to note that these regulations applied to "street girls" only; lorettes and courtesans were not impacted by these regulations [1]. Thus, (as is demonstrated in this police document) stigma was not directed at sex work in general so much as it was directed to public, working class prostitutes.
Prostitutes and Marriage:
The shame of coming from the lower class can explain the rise of lorettes in Paris. Lorettes were aspiring courtesans; working class women who attempted to abandon manual labor and aspired to a "bourgeois" life by becoming the mistress of a wealthy man[1]. Although lorettes were not technically considered to be prostitutes, many considered them to be interchangeable; the only difference was that lorettes passed themselves off as members of the upper class through manipulative tactics. Further, lorettes were more selective in who they chose to sleep with; they avoided men who had occupations in the lower and middle classes (such as journalists as is illustrated in the image to the left) in order to ensure their rise to the luxurous lives they were aspiring to [2].
Typically, working class prostitutes in Paris (filles publiques) were not able to marry [1]. Despite the temporary nature of their work, those women were forever deemed as unfit for marriage due to their previous occupation. A few girls from higher classes that were once involved with sex work were able to marry, but those women were rare. Although the majority of prostitutes didn't marry, they often lived with older men (typically widowes or bachelors), and worked to keep up their homes, prepare their food, and oftentimes, passed as their legitimate spouse. However, prostitutes were only able to attach themselves to men from the lower/working class (such as former rag-pickers or scavengers). Men from higher classes married more "respectable" women. Thus, there was an undeniable divide between moral high-class women and former prostitutes who were not marriage material [1].
[1]Parent-Duchâtelet, A.-J.-B, and Roger Ridley-Smith. Prostitution in the City of Paris. Wellington, N.Z.: R. Ridley-Smith, 1838. Translation by FREN 311, 2016.
[2] Murphy, L. Aspiring Courtesans. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://libbymurphy.com/humancomedy/albums/aspiring-courtesans/, 2016.