Harlots

DivineGoddess1111111 · 2021-08-25T00:22:57+00:00

It's only very recently in history that we weren't considered as property. It's disgusting that human beings were ever treated this way. It's another form of slavery. Still, in most men's living memory, we have been able to vote, divorce, own property and work. They have no excuse.

lskfjd743 · 2021-08-25T14:34:06+00:00

What I found interesting about the show is that, at the end of the day, neither the "good girls" (ie the wives or other female relatives of the johns) nor the "harlots" were given any real respect, power or protection by the system.

Harlots might be able to earn their own coin and avoid the shackles of marriage, however, they were treated at dirty, debauched creatures who were the constant subject of law enforcement scrutiny. Also, heaven forbid you lose your looks, you could be out in the street. In fact there were several plot lines in the show about being pursued and jailed by law enforcement, and one prostitute, who became disfigured after contracting syphilis, was kicked out of her brothel, became homeless and was forced to beg in the street.

In contrast the "good girls" my have been granted a thin veneer of social respectability but possessed no real power or capacity for self-determination. "Good girl" plot lines included a noblewoman who had been a victim of incest by her brother, became pregnant, and gave birth to her daughter in secret, as well as a heiress who married a nobleman who immediately began to piss her family fortune away on one of the said harlots, as she had no say on how her husband spent the money she brought into the marriage.

Wise-Jelly · 2021-08-25T02:06:14+00:00

Yes, and I love this show. Especially the showoff between the madams (Lydia and Margaret) it gets better! The premise is all about women asserting autonomy in any way possible.

Remember, "the only power is in money" ~ Margaret Wells

Charlotte is my favorite character, I really admire her strength (but also realize so much of what hasn't changed since then).

I think libfem pickmes are trying to harken back to a past when courtesans (wealthy, elite, white women) were able to social climb through sex work. These days that is a different matter altogether with the disposable nature of ig and porn, except for a tiny fraction of women (think Kim Kardashian). It was like that back then as well of course.

Painfulmenstruation · 2021-08-25T00:35:22+00:00

I’ve searched my family tree back through the 18th century and there was only one chick marriage. She was 15 and the boy was 15 too. It was evident they were married because she became pregnant. Of course, I am descended from commoners. It’s really only the rich who had child marriages to secure family funds, the average age of marriage I’ve read otherwise was 22 for women. I also have one ancestor who had her first illegitimate child at 16. Women only became property if they married. Unmarried women could live as they wished.

January_Rain_93 · 2021-08-25T06:27:34+00:00

It's based on "Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies". A man writing about what prostitutes operate in the area and their 'virtues'. Also warning men off women who have "the pox". If you like the show, you should read/listen to Hailie Rubenhold's book about the list and three key figures from the Covent Garden scene at the time. Also by Hailie Rubenhold, "The Five" which aims to give a name and a voice to the women Jack the Ripper killed rather than hearing the same old story of male violence.

nitrozade222 · 2021-08-25T15:53:43+00:00

I love it, but it is depressing that even hundreds of years later not much has changed.

Title	Harlots
Author	corago513
Upvotes	125
Comments	18
Date	August 25, 2021 12:04 AM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/pazn19/harlots/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/harlots.1064894 https://theredarchive.com/post/1064894

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