Racial Differences in Paris

There are few, if any, mentions about the race of Parisian prostitutes in Parent du Chatelet's work.  With few explicit mentions of race it becomes necessary to draw from other cultural sources in order to determine how race was treated in Paris.  While art is one method through which to understand the relationship between white and black Parisians, it is also possible to draw from the colonialism of France.  As France colonized many places where the native populations where not considered white, the French treatment of the populations of their colonies reveals the French view that non-Europeans were an inferior race.  Another such area that it is possible to draw from is art that was being produced during Parent du Chatelet's time.  Much has recently been written about the role of race especially in Manet's groundbreak painting, Olympia.

An analysis of this painting by Manet provides one with the ability to see the differences in attitude towards Black servant women and White prositutes in Paris.  Similar to the painting by Delacroix also used in this exhibit which depicts a harem scene in Algeria, the darkest body in this painting is depicted as a worker.  She is very much not meant to be seen as a figure of beauty compared to the luxurious and relaxed White figure.  Contemporary issue was taken with this painting as it eschewed traditional symbols of class and prostitution in a manner that confused and alienated the viewer.  But while much attention has been paid to the White women, little has been paid to the Black women who presents the prostitute with the gift of flowers.  There is no feminine aspect to the Black servant's body, she is used as a foil to the strong femininity of the prostitute.  This shows that even in a painting that is attempting to question the stereotypical presentation of prostitutes in art, Black women are not even fully articulated.  This separation is continued in the representation of Arabic and African prostitutes.