Female Prostitution in Portuguese Semiperipherical Border Areas

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Publications

Publication . Schouten, Maria Johanna Christina

The unconventional character of sex work often engendered images of female prostitutes as being anomalous persons. The professional activity then was believed to affect all aspects of life and personality of the sex worker. Inversely, a conviction has existed that only specific types of women, with certain physical and mental characteristics, will enter this trade. This notion of the female prostitute as The Other was particularly powerful in western thought at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, and in the paper the ideas of that period about the “otherness” in its various layers will be explored. This period was also the zenith of imperialism, the domination of Other people and inherently the sexual encounter of occidental men with oriental and African women. The images of these “exotic” women and the practice of prostitution in a colonial context is an additional topic in this paper, to be related with the ideas in Europe about sex work.

2008Conference object

Open access

Imagens da prostituição feminina

Publication . Schouten, Maria Johanna Christina

Esta abordagem do fenómeno de prostituição feminina foca o impacto da imagem negativa de trabalhadoras sexuais na sua auto-imagem e no seu estatuto na sociedade. Neste contexto, discute-se noções de estigma (Goffman) e opiniões divergentes sobre a comodificação da sexualidade, com referência a autores como Simmel e Appadurai. Ilustrações são apresentadas das atitudes face a trabalhadoras sexuais em vários países e em vários períodos, em particular na história de Portugal. This approach to the phenomenon of female prostitution focuses on the impact the negative image of sex workers has on their own self-image and on their status in society. In this context, notions about stigma (Goffman) are examined and divergent opinions about the commodification of sexuality, drawing on authors such as Simmel and Appadurai, are discussed. Illustrations are provided of the attitudes towards female sex workers in various countries, and in various periods, in particular in the history of Portugal.

2005-10-20Lecture

Open access