Why Draw These Parallels?
As Parent-Duchatelet was conducting his research on the habits of prostitutes in Paris, the French government was simultaneously exerting control in Algeria. He includes the writings of Doctor Alphonse Bertherande, which detail the man’s experience with prostitutes in Algeria. As a French territory, Algeria was considered to be very important to Imperial France, this can be seen in part by the mere inclusion of Algeria in Parent-Duchatelet’s work which explicitly dealt with France. To study prostitution in France and not consider how sex workers lived in Algeria then establishes itself as impossible. Furthermore, to study prostitution in Algeria while under the control of France and not engage with the process of “otherization” is also impossible. After reading the documents provided by Parent-Duchatelet it is obvious that establishing certain women as an other is an important element to establishing a way in which society interacts with sex work.
In addition to looking at the writings of prostitution in Algeria, this project will also consider the treatment of Africans and what were called Moorish women in the 1830s. By extending the realm of study during the 1830s this project is able to make more certain claims about the intersection of “othering” and prostitution. In doing so, the hope becomes the ability to draw connections solely on a basis of what was/is considered to be other by a historically specific society.
Pulling in studies of sex tourism in the Dominican Republic allows for the theories of the impact of being considered an “other” by society to be tested on more modern examples. It is clear that when people travel to other countries populated by people they consider an “other” in order to buy sex that it is done, in part, specifically because of that categorization. While the prostitution explored in this part of the project is not taking place in a currently colonialized land the relationship between the purchaser and prostitute is definitely impacted by a difference in wealth and power.
The images selected for this page intend to display similarities between Boca Chica and Algeria. Chosen to be displayed together based on their similar triptych style and that both are representations of exotified and sexualized POC women. In the modern image we are presented with a form of sexual objectification that we see fairly frequently in media, a man grabbing and kissing a woman in a show of dominance. In the image of Algerian women we see three solitary and finely dressed women. The rich fabrics of their clothes serving to exotify and entice the viewer. The similarities between these image sets show how even though modernity has altered how tourism happens, the exotification of POC bodies remains remarkably similar.