In Erotic Exchanges, Nina Kushner reveals the complex world of
elite prostitution in eighteenth-century Paris by focusing on the
professional mistresses who dominated it. In this demimonde, these
dames entretenues exchanged sex, company, and sometimes even love
for being kept. Most of these women entered the profession
unwillingly, either because they were desperate and could find no
other means of support or because they were sold by family members
to brothels or to particular men. A small but significant
percentage of kept women, however, came from a theater subculture
that actively supported elite prostitution. Kushner shows that in
its business conventions, its moral codes, and even its sexual
practices, the demimonde was an integral part of contemporary
Parisian culture.
Kushner s primary sources include thousands of folio pages of
dossiers and other documents generated by the Paris police as they
tracked the lives and careers of professional mistresses, reporting
in meticulous, often lascivious, detail what these women and their
clients did. Rather than reduce the history of sex work to the
history of its regulation, Kushner interprets these materials in a
way that unlocks these women s own experiences. Kushner analyzes
prostitution as a form of work, examines the contracts that
governed relationships among patrons, mistresses, and madams, and
explores the roles played by money, gifts, and, on occasion, love
in making and breaking the bonds between women and men. This vivid
and engaging book explores elite prostitution not only as a form of
labor and as a kind of business but also as a chapter in the
history of emotions, marriage, and the family."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
