Ivan Kramskoy (1837–1887). "Unknown" (1883). In this painting, which often adorned the lid of chocolate candies in Soviet time, depicts a prostitute, or rather, a camellia - the highest rank of women of free behavior. Camellias gave themselves up to rich lovers to support them. It happened that a considerable fortune of their admirers passed to them. The canvas shows that the left seat in the stroller is free - this was a sign “I’m looking for a partner-sponsor”; decent ladies never rode like that: the seat next to it was intended for the husband or servant.
In one of his essays about Blok (1880–1921), Maxim Gorky (1868–1936) cites a prostitute’s story, recorded by him, about a funny episode that happened to the poet in one of the rooms of a dating house on Karavannaya Street in St. Petersburg.
One day in the fall, very late and, you know, slush, fog […] on the corner of Italianskaya, a decently dressed, handsome man, a very proud face, invited me, I even thought: a foreigner […] They came, I asked for tea; he called, but the servant didn’t come, then he himself went into the corridor, and I, you know, was tired, cold and fell asleep sitting on the sofa. Then I suddenly woke up and saw him sitting next to me […] “Oh, excuse me, I said, I’ll undress now.” And he smiled politely and answered: “No, don’t worry.” He moved to the sofa with me, sat me on his lap and said, stroking my hair: “Well, take another nap!” And - imagine! - I fell asleep again - scandal! I understand, of course, that this is not good, but I can’t! He rocks me so gently, and it’s so comfortable with him, I’ll open my eyes, smile, and he’ll smile. It seems that I was even completely asleep when he shook me carefully and said: “Well, goodbye, I have to go.” And he puts twenty-five rubles on the table. “Listen, I say, how can this be?” Of course, I was very embarrassed, I apologize [...] And he laughed quietly, shook my hand and even kissed me.
Fornication for free
In our opinion, this story very accurately conveys one of the features of Russian culture - its certain asexuality, in comparison with the civilization of the West. Here too the young lady did not show herself as a woman. And they pay her for it, they pay not a woman, but a person - a suffering person without gender. Agree that in France or Germany such an episode was hardly possible. One of the manifestations of this feature of our value system was the long absence of brothels in Russia. Unlike Europe, we have not inherited an ancient sexual culture, the principles of which could successfully compete with Christian ones ethical standards: before early XVIII centuries in Russia, church courts still tried cases of “sexual crimes.” Thus, according to church norms, during intercourse only the missionary position was allowed, when the man was on top. The “woman on top” pose was punishable by repentance from three to ten years. The man-from-behind position was called bestial fornication and could be punishable by excommunication.Until the middle of the 17th century, we have no evidence of the presence of brothels in Muscovy. No, of course there was debauchery in the sense of extramarital affairs, and it is condemned in Domostroi, but one has to speak very carefully about corrupt debauchery. Of course, a number of secret brothels existed in taverns. However, carnal love here was usually limited to rough, drunken copulation in the backyard. There is no need to talk about any eroticism similar, for example, to the eroticism of the Renaissance.
Nicolaus Knüpfer, 1603–1660. "Scene in a Brothel" (1630s). Russia did not know anything like this until the 19th century, but then it was possible to hire a blank prostitute in most restaurants and cafes major cities. In the essay “Kwisisan” (1910), publicist Yuri Angarov described one of them this way: “An ugly sight! Here and there a mass of colorful fabrics, boas, jackets, ribbons, and huge hats dazzles the eye. The cynicism of poses, gestures, conversations defies description […] They kiss, hug, press women’s breasts...”
From tavern to brothel
We only know for sure that there are prostitutes in Russia from the moment the state begins to fight them. In 1649, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629–1676) issued a decree instructing patrolmen to ensure that there were “no whores on the streets and alleys.” From the decree of Peter II (1715–1730) in 1728, we know that there were already secret brothels in St. Petersburg. However, we do not know how different they were from the old taverns. The first aristocratic brothel is described in a 1753 case brought against the owner of a secret brothel - a certain German woman from Dresden who settled in St. Petersburg. The employees of the establishment were foreigners.However, these and subsequent attempts by the state to fight prostitution were not particularly successful, and the authorities changed tactics. Now the task was to bring prostitution under state control, primarily in order to stop the spread of syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases. These efforts culminated in the publication of a decree in 1843 legalizing prostitution. From that moment on, the police began to issue permits for the opening of legal brothels under medical government control. The “golden age” of Russian prostitution began, which lasted until 1917 and, of course, influenced the formation of Russian sexual culture, but never managed to help it go beyond teenage romanticism.
In Russia there were two main categories of prostitutes: ticketed and blank. These included priestesses of love registered with the police. The first lived in brothels and were required to undergo a rather humiliating medical examination twice a week to detect sexually transmitted diseases. They did not have passports: they had to leave it with the police, receiving instead a “yellow ticket” - the only document identifying them and confirming the right to practice their profession. It was not allowed to exchange it again for a passport. “Free-riding” prostitutes were punished with fines.
The origin of the name “yellow ticket” is not entirely clear. The paper was white, but probably of poor quality and quickly turned yellow. Another version recalls the decree of Paul I (1754–1801), which ordered all prostitutes to wear yellow dresses. True, due to the death of the emperor, the decree was not executed.
Formal prostitutes differed from ticket prostitutes in the presence of a rented apartment and relative freedom of movement under the control of pimps, who replaced the girls as brothel owners. The identity card it issued - a “blank” - was similar to a “yellow ticket”, but allowed its holders to look for clients on city streets and to appear for a medical examination only once a week. According to the 1889 census, 1,216 brothels in Russia offered their services, housing 7,840 prostitutes. There were more blank ones - 9763. In total - 17603 supervised girls of easy virtue.
The same “yellow ticket”. “And ancient beliefs waft/Her elastic silks/And a hat with mourning feathers/And a narrow hand in rings...” (A. Blok. “The Stranger”). The artist Yuri Annenkov (1889–1974) writes in his memoirs: “The students knew Blok’s “Stranger” by heart […] Two girls from the same housewife from Podyacheskaya Street, Sonya and Laika, dressed as sisters, wandered along Nevsky, attaching black ostrich hats to their hats feathers. “We are a couple of Strangers,” they smiled, “you can get an electric dream in reality. You won’t regret it, cute little mustachioed one (or pretty little shaven one, or a cucumber with a beard)....””
Brothel fears
The ranks of women in the free profession were replenished mainly from two sources - the peasantry (47% of total number prostitutes) and philistinism (36%). The latter in the past were, as a rule, maids, seamstresses, dressmakers, and sometimes factory workers. Most of them ended up in love houses while looking for work. Special agents tracked them down and, colorfully depicting the carefree living conditions of free women, turned those who trusted them into living goods. However, according to statistics, the total number of those recruited into brothels was insignificant compared to total number peasant and bourgeois women who found a more respectable way to earn a living. This question makes us think about the psychological characteristics of women who dedicated their lives to serving Priapus.Based on observations of pre-revolutionary and modern psychologists, first of all, Yuri Antonyan, with a certain degree of probability we can say that one of the basic feelings of a woman who decides to become a prostitute is anxiety, which is mainly formed from the complete lack of emotional contacts with parents in early age. The anxiety of prostitutes has two properties, which are often intertwined - fear of material need and fear of not being liked by men. As a result, they are susceptible to bouts of depression, accompanied by feelings of inferiority and the perception of themselves as dependent, insignificant and even insignificant.
Wherein spiritual world prostitutes are very poor - they do not read or go to the theater (we are talking about the 19th century), their personality remains immature, which is sometimes mistaken for childish spontaneity. For this reason, the desire of girls of easy virtue to find a lasting social status often focuses solely on the desire to lead beautiful life freely managing money. In the 19th century, spiritual food for prostitutes was replaced by “romances” with regulars of their chambers or with one of the servants, and perhaps with one of the friends in the establishment. After all, they were locked up almost all the time: the “yellow ticket” ban was in force, depriving them of the right to freely go into the city. However, all these attachments were fleeting: a year the prostitute changed two or three brothels. This was the rule for the entire network of brothels: the client should not have a feeling of satiety with its workers.
But basic anxiety is only one of the factors that sends a woman to the panel. The second is sexual indifference. It, as a rule, is formed in a child who early understood what sexual love is. And I must say that in many peasant families the parents' sexual relations were not hidden. So if the father and mother were overly expressive or rough in their sex life, the child was at risk.
Third and most important factor, according to Antonyan, is desomatization, depersonalization of one’s own body, natural feature character type. A desomatized person subconsciously feels his flesh as something alien, isolated from his own Self, which can be freely manipulated. This is precisely what explains the amazingly careless attitude of prostitutes towards sexually transmitted diseases, the possibility of being beaten and even killed. All this is perceived as a cost of their craft.
I hope everyone understands that the majority of women with the psychological characteristics described above do not become prostitutes; for this there must be some accompanying factor that sends them to the panel: need, disappointment in life, etc.
Van Gogh Vincent (Van Gogh) " Brothel"(1888)
Sonechka Marmeladova - 50 kopecks
Brothels were divided into three categories. In the first hour of lovemaking cost from 3 to 5 rubles. Night - from 10 to 25 rubles. In houses of the second category - 1–2 and 2–5 rubles, respectively. Students, officials, junior officers and people of liberal professions came here. Third-class dens were the cheapest and were intended for factory workers and general workers: 30–50 kopecks were left here per hour, 1–2 rubles per night.The silver ruble of the 19th century is approximately equal in purchasing power to a modern thousand. Oddly enough, today's prices for call prostitutes, whose status can be compared with the inhabitants of brothels, almost coincide with the prices of a hundred years ago.
The working day in brothels began at five o'clock in the evening. Everyone started preening: whitewash, rouge, antimony... All this was generously applied to the face, often turning the girl into a nesting doll - the village idea of beauty was reflected - “what is red is beautiful.” Some had tattoos on their forearms: a heart with an arrow, doves, the initials of lovers or mistresses. Tattoos were also applied to intimate parts bodies, but their appearance, according to the doctors who examined the inmates of the brothel, was “shamelessly cynical.”
IN major cities brothel owners sought to locate their establishments near the center, so that potential clients could easily reach them and not be intercepted by street prostitutes. But not in the very center, so as not to be an eyesore to the authorities. In the provinces, on the contrary, red light districts were moved to the outskirts.
Madame, the owner of the house, greeted visiting clients. The visitor was taken to the hall where he could choose the young lady he liked. Usually they expected him topless. IN expensive houses they undressed completely. The vast majority of brothels were small - 3-5 young ladies, in large cities - 7-10. The life of the brothel itself was not too long - 5–10 years. Although there were older ones, they were few.
Moscow. House on the corner of Plotnikov Lane. His bas-reliefs depict Russian writers attracted by priestesses of love. But if in relation to Pushkin (1799–1837) the plot looks quite natural, then how Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) and Gogol (1809–1852) got here is a mystery. Both were high and sincere moralists. Thus, the hero of Tolstoy’s “Kreutzer Sonata” (1889) recalls his visit to a brothel: “I remember that immediately, there, without leaving the room, I felt sad, sad, so that I wanted to cry, cry about the death of my innocence, about forever ruined attitude towards women. Yes, sir, the natural, simple attitude towards women was ruined forever. Since then I haven’t had and couldn’t have a pure relationship with a woman. I have become what is called a fornicator."
Oh, this is not an easy job...
The class of the brothel depended on the level of service: the number of ladies “in the juice” (from 18 to 22 years old), the presence of “exotics” (“Georgian princesses”, “marquises of the times” Louis XIV", "Turkish women", etc.), as well as sexual delights. Of course, the furniture, women’s outfits, wines and snacks were different. In the first category brothels, the rooms were covered in silks, and the workers were wearing sparkling rings and bracelets; in the third category brothels, the bed had only a straw mattress, a hard pillow and a washed blanket.According to Dr. Ilya Konkarovich (1874–?), who studied prostitution in the 19th century, in expensive houses prostitutes “are forced by their mistresses to the most refined and unnatural debauchery, for which purpose in the most luxurious of such houses there are even special devices, expensive , but nevertheless always finding buyers. There are houses that cultivate one type of perverted debauchery and have become widely known for their specialty.” These brothels catered to a small number of wealthy regular clients.
There is an opportunity to talk in more detail about one of the ideas of expensive brothel houses. It's about about rooms decorated with mirrors. Several couples gathered there, lit alcohol lamps, and began drinking. After some time, the courtesans began to dance and undress... in the end, it all ended in an orgy, repeatedly reflected in the mirrors in the flickering light of alcohol lamps. They say the “attraction” was popular.
The daily “norm” of prostitutes in first category brothels was 5–6 people per day. The second category is 10–12 and the lowest category is up to 20 (!) people. Thus, the “average” prostitute earned up to 1,000 rubles a month. But she gave ¾ of them to madam, with whom she stayed on full board. However, even with this, the earnings of 250 rubles were very considerable (a unpaid prostitute earned half as much and also shared with the pimp). For comparison, a servant received 12 rubles, a textile factory worker received 20 rubles, a worker of the highest category received 100 rubles, and a junior officer received 120 rubles. Of course, prostitutes with their psychological characteristics did not even think of leaving their profession while their breasts were high.
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Renting linen in a brothel. 1894
However, such a more or less comfortable existence was sent to them for quite a long time. short term. Sexually transmitted diseases, alcohol and age were their destructive companions. According to statistics from medical committees, in late XIX century, at least 50% of prostitutes were sick with syphilis, which, due to the lack of antibiotics, was incurable, although doctors knew how to slow down its development. Almost no one could escape this infection. Sooner or later, the disease brought its owner to a hospital bed, and from there there was only one way - to the slums, to live out her short life. It is surprising why the medicine of that time did not recognize the need to use condoms, which already existed and were called condoms.
Alcohol also contributed to the early aging of prostitutes. Former peasant women were especially partial to him, most of whom, after 10 years of work, turned into alcoholics. Their status decreased, they moved from brothels of the highest category to lower ones and eventually died, thrown out onto the street.
The tradition of hanging red lanterns on the facade of a brothel dates back to ancient times, only then instead of a lantern there was a red phallus. According to the same Yuri Angarov, the entire Nevsky Prospect should have been illuminated with red lanterns. In the evenings, “whole crowds of idle people prone to debauchery go there. Flirting girls […], St. Petersburg Nyushas who want to get a profitable job on their pay […], ladies in mourning are malingerers. To some they say that their husband has died; others lie that they have lost their fiancé, and then go to a restaurant.”
Halo of suffering
Well, now let’s return to the conversation about the asexuality of Russian culture, which we started in the first paragraphs. The view of Russian visitors to brothels on its inhabitants was radically different from the European one. Thus, the French bon vivant looked at courtesans as slaves who were obliged to do for the buyer everything that his sophisticated sexual fantasy required. In Russia, lovers of sexual delights were not very common as a percentage of all brothel visitors. Moreover, in the eyes of the main brothel clientele - students and officers who visited prostitutes primarily out of “natural need” - the sophistication of voluptuousness seemed something low. For example, there is a known letter from Chekhov (1860–1904), a frequenter of brothels, in which he very irritably characterized the work of Emile Edouard Charles Antoine Zola, 1840–1902, calling him a “gastronomer and connoisseur of fornication”, ready to use a woman “in 33 ways, almost on the edge of a knife.”In the end, the Russian intelligentsia turned prostitutes into another source of their guilt complex towards the people. Known at the time literary critic Alexander Voronsky (1884–1937) summarized:
The image of a prostitute seemed to have absorbed, in the eyes of an intellectual, all the injustices, all the violence committed over the centuries against human personality, and became a kind of shrine.
The image of Sonechka Marmeladova alone is worth it! After all, for a Russian intellectual, if someone suffers, he is already a half-saint. Going to a prostitute for him is not only sex, he also needs to talk about life, to console the immaculate soul of the brothel young lady, hidden behind visible corruption. This idea of courtesans was in most cases a fantasy. Yes, they had to endure a lot of suffering, but with this suffering they only paid for the desire to live beautifully.
V. Makovsky. Consecration of the brothel 1900
No sex!
The social-idealistic period in the history of Russian sexual culture comes to naught at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the era Silver Age who finally paid attention to the passion of love itself, to pleasure beyond any complexes. The essence of this transformation was well expressed by Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866–1949): “All human and world activity comes down to Eros. There is no longer either aesthetics or ethics - both are reduced to eroticism, and every boldness born of Eros is sacred.But the process was interrupted by the events of 1917. The revolutionary government banned brothels and sent prostitutes to Siberia for settlement. By the mid-1930s they were finished. Only a few remained to serve Soviet elite and foreigners (usually for intelligence purposes). But Soviet people I didn’t regret closing the brothels at all, Soviet culture she was still distinguished by the same asexuality - there was nothing to regret.
The ringing of a bell and the subsequent exclamation of the girl “Visitor!” calls on a group of girls in their underwear to come out and greet the client.
This is one of the traditional moments when prostitutes line up in front of the client. The girls form a semicircle, according to the rules of Madame Suzette, or otherwise “Mommy,” who is in charge of all affairs here. The client is given a huge choice for every taste: blondes, brunettes, girls with small breasts, or, conversely, with large ones, black, white, young and not so young (the youngest girl is 18 years old, the oldest has already reached retirement age).
What services do the girls provide? A huge selection, ranging from the most popular fellatio followed by copulation to the “Neapolitan orgy” (sex with three girls at once: a blonde, a brunette and a redhead). The competition among girls is very high. One by one the clients are introduced: Coco, Kitty, Britney, Sabrina, Logan, Abby, Sunny, Brooke, Alexis, Heidi, Amy "Air Force", etc. the rules establish that while the client is choosing a girl, any flirting is prohibited, be it a wink or even a flirtatious smile.
Madame Suzette invites the client to choose a girl, after which she gives a short tour of the house. The brothel consists of a small smoking and relaxation room “Bunny Bar” and 30 rooms in which girls live and work. Tim, 27, came from Alaska to attend the annual hunting club convention. Due to the lack of other entertainment, several participants at this convention visited the Moonlite BunnyRanch.
Sex in these places is a huge business. Since 1992, the owner of this brothel has been Dennis Hof (Moonlite BunnyRanch celebrated its 53rd birthday in 2008), who traded his business in San Diego for the sex business in Nevada. This is the only state in America where brothels are legal, and then only in those populated areas, where the population does not exceed 400,000 people. Ironically, in Las Vegas, where it thrives, it is illegal. In the USA, a country known for its strict morals and laws, Nevada is considered a promiscuous state. In 1860, there were 65 men for every woman in Nevada, so prostitution quickly became a profitable business. In cities where gold mining was carried out, such as Golden Field (now dead cities), almost 500 women sold themselves. There are currently about 30 legal brothels in the state.
Dennis Hof is quite open, but at the same time prefers not to say much about his business, which has allowed him to make only a few enemies. George Flint, president of the Nevada Brothel Association, does not approve increased attention to the Moonlite BunnyRanch. "The state of Nevada controls our business, but it's not in our interest to make too much noise," Flint insists.
And Hof just creates a lot of noise. "I changed public opinion about prostitution. If earlier this was considered a shameful job, now this is what brings income and fame,” he responds to accusations against the series “Cat House,” which has received increased attention. When Hof hears from a young girl that she has decided to take up prostitution to pay for college, he applauds her courage and offers her a job in his brothel.
Girls have the right to set their own price for services, but they are obliged to give 50% to the brothel, pay for room and board. Hof is nicknamed "Daddy" or "Big D" due to his excess weight. And he calls his girls “workhorses.” “They are professionals and pay taxes just like street prostitutes,” says Hof. "Big D" assures his players that selling sex is the same as selling hamburgers. Only much more profitable.
Brooke Taylor, 27, an attractive blonde from Illinois, Moonlite BunnyRanch star and Dennis' girlfriend, earns $7,500 a month. "I'd rather sell myself than hamburgers," she says. “There are so many men in the world, but only a few can afford to spend time with me,” reads the inscription on the pillow in the room she shares with her Yorkshire terrier Bella. She has her own way of setting prices for her clients. “I always expect them to bring in $5,000.” She jokes that she plans to end her brothel career early and become a lawyer. “After everything I’ve been through, I know how to achieve my goal!”
Many girls who work in the brothel have been subjected to violence. “I’ve never been raped, but I was sexually assaulted once,” Brooke says. “The next day I went online and found Moonlite BunnyRanch, I wanted to be able to control situations. Now I have gained the feeling that I can control my sex life.”
Amy "Air Force" is one of the oldest girls working at the brothel (she declined to give her exact age, but she appears to be around 50). She began making money as a prostitute at the age of 15, then joined the Air Force (hence her nickname). “I served for 5 years, was honorably discharged from the reserve, and again began to earn prostitution,” she says.
Most of the girls ended up in this brothel thanks to the TV, the so-called “Cat House” effect. Madame Suzette said she received thousands of job applications every month. “Supply has outstripped demand, and it's become fashionable to work here,” complains Coco, an attractive brunette mother of two from Texas who left a marketing job for prostitution because she found working in a brothel less stressful. By by and large the job basically involves sitting and waiting for the client. While she disappears for weeks at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, her husband takes care of the children in Texas.
The days are passing slowly. Sex workers are forced to work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, and 14 hours on Friday and Saturday. On quiet days, of which there are many, girls spend time at the computer, gossiping, or simply embroidering. Others do not leave their rooms and watch TV. Some girls remain without clients for several hours or even days. There is essentially nothing to do. Mound House, where the Moonlite BunnyRanch is located, is small town, in which there is nowhere in particular to go. On Wednesday nights the girls go to Dick's, the only local night club, owned by none other than Dennis Hof.
Every Thursday at 16-00 Hof and Madame Suzette organize a tea party with mandatory attendance for all girls (except those who are busy with clients). Girls are required to wear hats during this tea party. “Daddy” and “Mommy” introduce new employees, talk about plans for the coming week, and also highlight the best employees of the week, rewarding them with small gifts: sex toys or coupons for the local shopping center.
In addition, drinking tea is also a time for making comments. “It is forbidden to wear outerwear in the hall, and last night I counted 12 girls who broke the rule,” notes Madame Suzette. Dennis also expressed his dissatisfaction with the girls wearing outerwear. “Men come here to see sexy girls. They don't want girls who look like housewives." The bell at the door rings, this time the girls were lucky and were left without moralizing.
1. Lung girl behavior, who arrived to work at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, passes the gate leading to Dennis Hof's legal brothel in Lyon County. Here and in several other US counties, prostitution is legalized. Girls who come from other states live right in the brothel. Locals are allowed to go home after finishing their shift.
2. Prostitutes stand in front of a client, next to whom is Madame Suzette, manager of the Moonlite BunnyRanch. According to Madame Suzette herself, she runs the brothel using the “carrot and stick” method. The girls call her “Mommy.”
3. Dennis Hof with a cigar and a Swiss watch, surrounded by 3 girls working in his Moonlite BunnyRanch brothel.” The girls call him "Daddy". “Moonlite BunnyRanch” became popular after the series “Cat House,” which aired from 2005 to 2007.
4. Amy "Air Force" counts the revenue with the cashier. Girls are required to give 50% of the proceeds to the brothel.
5. The girl receives the client in the hall.
6. The girl discusses the price with a potential client.
7. The client spends time with two girls at once in the VIP room.
8. Time is money, so Casio watches monitor the time the girls spend with the client.
9. Brooke Taylor, one of the girls working in the brothel, shares a room with her Yorkshire terrier Bella. Brooke is the friend of Moonlite BunnyRanch owner Dennis Hof.
10. One of the girls talks to Madame Suzette, the manager of the brothel
11. Shelley, smoking while waiting for clients. Most girls smoke, so the kitchen is the only place at the non-smoking Moonlite BunnyRanch.
12. One of the girls is trying to relax in the kitchen. Prostitutes have to work 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week.
13. Two girls are killing time sitting in the hall, waiting for clients.
14. On Wednesday evening, girls can relax at the Dick’s nightclub, which is located near the Moonlite BunnyRanch. The owner of this establishment is also Dennis Hof.
15. Tea party at Moonlite BunnyRanch. Every Thursday, the girls are required to attend a tea party (unless they are busy with a client), which includes Dennis Hof and Madame Suzette. During it, current work issues are discussed.
16. Tea party at Moonlite BunnyRanch.
17. Angel Britney, a prostitute from the Moonlite BunnyRanch.
18. Angel Britney leaves the brothel in a limousine to meet a client.
19. Every Thursday a salesman comes to the Moonlite BunnyRanch and the girls have the opportunity to buy new underwear.
IN modern world The phrase “house of brothel” is not often encountered. This is a term that was once very common throughout Europe and even in Tsarist Russia. But over time, the phrase has completely fallen out of use and is now found only in literature or feature films. So, what is a brothel?
Meaning of the term
If you carefully leaf through dictionaries, you can find a definition that sheds light on the phrase “house of brothel.” This term characterizes the place where women of easy virtue are found. They make a living by selling their own bodies, that is, prostitution.
House of Tolerance: synonyms
Over the entire history of the existence of the oldest profession, which is prostitution, quite a lot of synonyms have been invented for the names of establishments where women sell themselves. The most common and famous of them are the House of Tolerance. However, still in ancient world there were establishments with their own unusual names where men could spend free time with cheerful and beautiful girls.
A little history of the issue
It is unknown when women of easy virtue first appeared, but most likely they are an invariable attribute of the development of human civilization. After all, even in Egypt, Ancient Greece and in Mesopotamia, prostitution was a well-known occupation to which society was very tolerant. For many ancient civilizations, a brothel was an absolutely natural phenomenon, and even kings and emperors did not hesitate to use the services of corrupt women, who were often among the most educated people in the state.
For example, during the excavations of Pompeii, the ruins of a lupanarium were discovered - a brothel where the city's nobility met with beauties. It is worth noting that the name of the establishment comes from Latin word, which can be translated as “harlot.” It is known that the Romans greatly valued women who knew how to not only please men in bed, but also entertain them with conversation. Typically, such ladies were successful and financially wealthy, as they had one or two wealthy patrons. An interesting fact is that in Ancient Rome Absolutely any woman who declared this in a master's program could become a prostitute. She received special permission to operate and had to wear yellow clothes with red shoes. History knows of cases when even the wives of emperors worked at night as priestesses of love.
In the Middle Ages, the concept of a “cheap brothel” became more widespread, where girls who had no other way to earn a living worked for pennies. The priests actively tried to eliminate prostitution as a phenomenon and sought to completely cleanse the cities of harlots, but they failed to eradicate brothels. They especially flourished in the land of love - France.
French brothels
I would like to clarify that not so long ago the phrase “house of tolerance” appeared in Europe. Definition (though it has a slightly different sound with an identical semantic load) arose during the Great french revolution, when the worldview of society and its attitude to moral standards were actively changing. In the eighteenth century, due to revolutionary ideas The French decided that the country should have a more tolerant attitude towards priestesses of love. Therefore, their activities were legalized, and French residents were obliged at the legislative level to treat them with respect. Brothels were renamed houses of tolerance, which by its name alone characterized how the French should perceive corrupt women.
Houses of tolerance were very common in the land of love and romance; in the eighteenth century, priestesses of love earned fortunes for themselves by working for two or three years. After all, clients often paid them with jewelry looted from the houses of French aristocrats. Many ladies eventually retired and opened their own brothels, as similar establishments were often called in Europe.
What about Russia? How did we come up with the term “battery house”? It's pretty interesting story, deserving special attention. Let's remember her.
Before the war with Napoleon, Russia had its own term that characterized establishments with women lung behavior. They were usually called fornications, that is, places where fornication and debauchery took place. But the War of 1812 slightly changed the attitude of Russians towards such establishments.
It was the French who brought with them the concept of “house of tolerance,” but in Russia it changed a little and acquired a more understandable sound for our compatriots - a house of tolerance. This meant that what was happening outside the walls of the institution was condemned by society, but still took place. We can say that society turned a blind eye to the priestesses of love themselves and their work.
Russia: houses of tolerance
By the way, in Russia, before the 1917 revolution, prostitution was a legal occupation and even gave ladies some advantages and benefits. Of course, each priestess of love had to be officially registered; as confirmation, she received a certificate with a yellow cover. Without him, she could not get a job in any brothel. Thanks to these certificates, the police could easily track corrupt women, and they also had to regularly report to police stations. Medical care in brothels was very poor. high level, because it was also mandatory for ladies working in brothels.
It is interesting that corrupt women in pre-revolutionary Russia they themselves could choose a brothel in any city. They could not be restricted in their movements. Although some other segments of the population were firmly tied to their places of residence. They could also freely come to places of hostilities and were not subject to the law on vagrancy.
It can be said that brothels at the beginning of the twentieth century were an integral part of Russian society, although talk about this in high society was not accepted. It was also prohibited this topic in the presence of ladies and young girls.
Priestesses of love in literature
The theme of prostitution and brothels was very often exploited by writers of different eras. For example, Honore de Balzac in his work “The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans” spoke quite openly for his time about the fate of girls who sold their bodies.
L. N. Tolstoy did not ignore this fertile topic in his novel “Resurrection,” as well as A. I. Kuprin in his story “The Pit.” He wrote on the topic of prostitution to A. Dumas, V. Hugo and Boris Akunin. Until now, stories about fallen women are favorites of writers all over the world.
Cinematography about brothel houses
Writers and directors also could not ignore the theme of brothels and quite often use it in their work. One of the most interesting films this series was released seven years ago. The film with the telling title "House of Tolerance" is a creation French masters. The story falls into the category of "drama" and tells about the difficult fate of girls working in a brothel in a brothel. A whole series of events will unfold before the audience, which will reveal all the secrets of this closed world, where fun should always reign, and main violin rustling bills play.
It is worth noting that the film caused mixed assessment critics and was even nominated for participation in the Cannes Film Festival. Many viewers admitted that it touches the deepest strings of the soul and is extremely pleasant to watch.
Of course, the topic of brothel houses is extremely sensitive. And even in our enlightened age, when almost all prohibitions are erased, it is not customary to talk about this in society. And this can only mean one thing - the term, once introduced into use, turned out to be extremely correct. After all, society continues to tolerate what it does not want to admit and what it does not want to talk about out loud.
A brothel, a mess, a house of fuck; indecent house, den, lupanar, lupanarium, boarding house without ancient languages, fun house, den of debauchery, boarding house for girls without ancient languages, establishment, Chinese monastery, brothel, brothel, house under the red... ... Synonym dictionary
Brothel- PUBLIC, oh, oh; chen, chna. Dictionary Ozhegova. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
Brothel- An establishment where prostitutes live and receive visitors. We came to a brothel. Zarubin, in the loud voice of a regular, began asking the tall, thin, crooked housekeeper: Is Lida healthy? And Capa? (M. Gorky. Life unnecessary person) … Phrasebook Russian literary language
Brothel- A brothel, a mess, a house of fuck... Dictionary of the criminal and semi-criminal world
Brothel- Just kidding. 1. Jarg. stud. Dormitory. 2. Jarg. school School. Maksimov, 115 ... Big dictionary Russian sayings
BROTHEL- Former Leningradsky hostel state university(Moika river embankment, 104). Nowadays there are apartments for university staff... Petersburger's Dictionary
brothel- An establishment where prostitutes live and receive visitors... Dictionary of many expressions
WHOLE HOUSE OF EMPEROR NICHOLAS II- So at the beginning of the 20th century. called the People's House of Emperor Nicholas II in Alexander Park. In Soviet times, it was converted into a Velikan cinema, which now houses the St. Petersburg Music Hall... Petersburger's Dictionary
Bloody brothel- Bloody brothel Bordello of Blood Genre Horror Film Comedy Director Gilbert Adler Producer Gilbert Adler Alexander Collette Dan Cracciolo Screenwriter William Gaines Bob Gale ... Wikipedia
dating house- Brothel... Dictionary of many expressions
Books
- Love joys of bohemians, V. Orion. Brothel, brothel, brothel - whatever it is called - this temple of corrupt women has always occupied a significant place in the history of morals. On the pages of the book, based on evidence... Buy for 500 rubles
- Yama, Kuprin A.I.. A brothel is a completely common phenomenon for Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Women end up here various reasons: someone was sold by their own mother, someone lost faith in God and the church, and...
