Art & Prostitution

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So far, the study has focused mainly on late 19th and the first half of the 20th century art. In this part we will ask if there is an evolution during the end of the 20th century to our contemporary times?The goal is to identify a potential reappropriation of prostitutes in their representation, to determine whether or not beyond the artists previously studied, they saw themselves as prostitutes in the same way. The purpose is also to question the problems linked to the stigmatization where either you consider the prostitute as a victim or as a dangerous woman, or as a debauchery. There is always a stigmate that weights on them which is relative to the gaze of the artist. So is it linked to reality? Is it the social norms? Does it know an evolution through time, but particularly by changing the gaze and thus the angle and subjectivity of the representation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In june 2012, Najate Vallaud-Belkacem, back then minister in charge of women’s rights and spokesperson of the government, gave an interview (Le JDD) in which she re-asserted France’s “abolitionist stance” in terms of prostitution: “The question is not whether or not we want to abolish prostitution - the answer is yes - but to give us the means to do so.” Actually, the term “abolitionist” emerged in the 19th century and did not mean exactly what it means today. Here, there are three key words to understand: “reglementarism”, “abolitionism” and “prohibitionism”. All these terms are inherited from the debates of the 19th century which arose in the context of a growing prostitutional phenomenon in Europe but even more in France and in Paris. During the second part of the 19th century, this growing prostitutional phenomenon had reached such an extent that Paris was nicknamed “Europe’s brothel” or the “city of vice”. What was the context then ? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this first episode, we are going to navigate from the present to the past and see how past representations and narratives are used to tell something new about the present. As a consequence, if the meanings and implications of the narratives on the figures of feminine  prostitution were built in the 19th and 20th centuries, yet they are very often modified and adapted to present times to fit a new discourse.What are the present uses of such past narratives? What are the several contemporary discourses behind these uses and what purpose do they serve in regards to current feminist debates in France?This first episode will be divided into 2 main parts. First of all, we are going to study the current mobilization of the 19th century through the specific feature of the brothel (I). Then, in a second part, we will make the link between past literary references and contemporary French cinema. This second focus will allow us to study the main current representations of prostitution, which are mostly in continuity with traditional narratives, but also sometimes in rupture with them (II). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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