Prostitution has long been the subject of novels and history books, however, in the Victorian period it was quite common, even though many ignore this part of the history of that time. It is estimated that at that time, more than 80 women worked as prostitutes in the city of London alone.
Source: mentalfloss.com
This fact reveals how the culture of that time was obsessed with sex. The pleasure professionals were called “fallen women”, as they were seen as an example of how upright women should never be.
Even so, many women were able to earn money that they would not otherwise be able to and the reasons for working in prostitution were many. In this way, check out some curiosities about prostitution in the Victorian Era.
Unfortunately, to this day, women are paid less than men. However, there are some exceptions, such as in porn industry, for example, in which actresses receive up to 10 times more than actors. In the Victorian period, prostitution was one of the few work options for women.
This was the only trade in which a woman could work fewer hours and earn more, since even the most educated ones could earn 25 pounds a year working as typists and other permitted professions. With prostitution, many of them, if they were beautiful, managed to guarantee total financial freedom.
Source: buzzfeed.com
Sex workers had to do the same job, however, there were three levels they could fit in. The humblest class was made up of girls who worked in brothels. They slept with whatever men the pimp assigned.
In addition, they lived in poor hygiene and health conditions, in unhealthy environments. Middle-class prostitutes were often independent and had their own apartments. They could choose their own customers, so no pimp or pimp took a share of their profits.
However, being an independent prostitute meant the absence of protection from the community that lived in the brothels.
The highest class of sex workers, they were beautiful women and refined enough to work only for wealthy clients. Some of them ended up serving only one man. In addition, many of them ended up marrying their clients.
Source: nytimes.com
As we mentioned, women had few job options and most of them were low-income. Some merchants' wives helped their husbands in business, however, they took advantage of some hours of the day to work as prostitutes. It is estimated that at that time, many men agreed to let their women sleep with others. In fact, it is estimated that a large proportion of the wives of merchants at that time worked in prostitution.
Just like today, at that time men also had varied desires, however, they could not express what they wanted in their marriages. Thus, the solution was to look in the city's brothels, which, in order to satisfy the needs of these clients, specialized in different subjects.
They had traditional brothels, with transsexuals, gays and others, whose objective was to fulfill eccentric fantasies. There were flagellation brothels, where men went only to be whipped by call girls and boys.
Source: smithsonianmag.com
At that time, rich men interested in call girls could have access to a kind of catalogue. This guide detailed the profile of these women, describing physical characteristics, personality and cost. If the woman was a virgin or extremely beautiful, this value increased considerably.
Source: vocal.media
In the XNUMXth century, venereal diseases were so common that they killed as many people as war. The biggest visitors were young military men, who often contracted one of them. At the time, to prevent the spread of disease, the Contagious Diseases Act was passed, so any woman (even if she wasn't a prostitute) suspected of having a communicable disease was forced to submit to an examination.
If this woman resisted, she was tied to a table. If the disease was confirmed, she would have to be hospitalized for treatment for up to three months.
Finally, prostitution in the Victorian Era was very common, although society had a lot of prejudice, however, this is not a fact of antiquity, since today, many sex workers experience almost the same as these women lived.
