Harlot's Parlour: Sex Workers And Legal Brothels Of Europe

A brief and entertaining look at the legal brothels within Europe. While I understand the concern of my sisters in the life regarding the possibility of unethical managers within brothels, these places can be a safe haven for prostitutes.

Hetairae

The hetairae were the professional courtesans and high-ranking prostitutes of ancient Greece, prized for their intellect and charm as well as for their beauty and sexual favours. Of all the women in ancient Greece, they alone were allowed to join men at drinking parties known as symposia.

Hetaerae appear to have been regarded as distinct from pornê, or simple prostitutes, and also distinguished from mistresses or wives.

Highly educated in music, poetry, philosophy, and current events, hetairae were independent and oftentimes influential women whose opinions and beliefs were respected by men. One had to court the favours of the hetairae, whose company was in great demand.

Bordello

Beautiful, edgy, yet lush images by Austrian photographer Vee Speers appear in her book "Bordello: The Art Of Seduction". She has lived near the notorious Rue St. Denis in Paris for many years and used her photographs to create her own interpretation of the Paris red-light district from the 1920s and 1930s within the former bordellos, whose elegant interiors have survived.

“From my window I can see the girls waiting downstairs in the doorways, and it has always fascinated me how these women display their bodies up and down the street like gaudy trinkets in a second-hand shop.“

These photographs had been reproduced with Fresson, a unique 19th century hand-worked technique using a charcoal process, creating a sumptuous quality.

Speers' work recalls the decadence of Paris nightlife of the 1920s and 1930s as exemplified by this hauntingly beautiful photograph of a Parisian prostitute from Brassaï (1933):

Alluring, sensuous, feminine...the art of seduction...

Street Life

Street Life

I still hang around neither lost nor found

Hear the lonely sound of music in the night

Nights are always bright

That's all that's left for me

I play the street life

Because there's no place I can go

Street life, it's the only way I know

Street life

And there's a thousand cards to play

Until you play your life away...

Scarlet Street: Femme Fatale of Film Noir

The femme fatale is an alluring woman of great seductive charm who leads men into compromising or dangerous situations. No other film genre better captures her essence than the dark, brooding, gritty world of film noir. "Scarlet Street" (1945) tells the story of a sexy, tough-talking prostitute named Kitty and her scheming pimp who take advantage of a shy bank clerk and aspiring painter; her pimp urges her to bilk money from this man, whom they mistakenly believe to be a wealthy artist. He embezzles money from his employer in order to finance a lavish lifestyle for Kitty. Tragedy ensues for all involved.

Femme fatale: the fatal woman...

The Siren

Siren: an enticing yet dangerous woman...

"What potions have I drunk of Siren tears..."

(Shakespeare, Sonnet 119)

In Greek mythology, sirens were sea nymphs with voices so sweet that mariners who heard their songs were lured into grounding their boats on the rocks on which the beautiful nymphs sang.

In myth and folklore, similarities frequently exist between the stories about mermaids and sirens.

The naiad was a nymph presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks. Naiads could be dangerous: according to Greek mythology, Hylas of the Argo's crew was lost when he was taken by naiads.

Beware the siren's song of the temptress: bewitching, alluring, dangerous...

Dolce Far Niente: It Is Sweet Doing Nothing

Luxuriance

Opulence

Extravagance

Abandon