Overview

"From the Whore of Babylon to Pretty Woman, the exchange of sex for money is often cited as the oldest profession. Now, eminent historian Nils Johan Ringdal delivers a magisterial, extremely readable world history of this most maligned--and most persistent--form of human commerce. Beginning with the epic of Gilgamesh, the Old Testament, and ancient cultures from Greece to India and beyond, Love for Sale takes the reader on a tour through the entire recorded history of prostitution up to the modern red-light district. It shows how different societies have dealt with prostitutes: ancient Greece, Rome, and India incorporated them into several social echelons, including the priestess class; their close relations with artists in 19th-century Europe made them muses to the modern sensibility; and the Victorians campaigned against them. Love for Sale closes with Sydney Biddle Barrows, the rise of the sex-workers' rights movement and contemporary ""sex-positive"" feminism, and a realistic look at the true risks and rewards of prostitution in the present day."

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9780802141842

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