The Sexual Question Part 28

Under certain circ.u.mstances, for instance at the time of conscription for recruits at Brussels, the brothels are besieged to such a point that one man has hardly time to finish coitus before another comes to take his place. It is obvious that such "file firing" greatly increases the danger of venereal infection, since a single infected person is sufficient to contaminate innumerable clients (even without the woman herself becoming infected).

It is often denied that the brothel is a prison, yet this fact has been often demonstrated. When, as in France, the police can arrest a prost.i.tute at pleasure--often a virtuous young girl who is taken for such--and put her on the inscription list, the thing is obvious. I have treated a girl who became the mistress of a police agent in Paris under the threat of being inscribed as a prost.i.tute.

Again, besides the debts we have spoken of, the proxenets have many other ways of keeping prost.i.tutes under their dependence. It is very difficult for ignorant girls, placed under the ban of society, to return to a free and virtuous life. But if a girl shows signs of wis.h.i.+ng to leave a brothel, heroic measures are adopted, in the form of international exchange. A girl who is unacquainted with the language of the country is naturally more incapable of gaining her freedom than one who does. This is one of the reasons why the brothels of different countries exchange their women.

This expedient, which also satisfies clients who desire a change, leads to the exportation of women from one country to another, under false pretenses, such as the promise of lucrative and easy situations.

In this way young Swiss girls are exported to Hungary, Hungarians to Switzerland, Germans to France, French to England, Europeans to Buenos-Ayres, creoles to Europe, etc. For example, if a young French girl has been exported to Buda-Pest or Buenos-Ayres, we may be certain that she will lose all inclination to run away; for what can she do--a stranger without a cent, with her ignorance and want of character, alone in the streets, when she does not understand a word of the language?

=White Slavery.=--The modern commerce in female slaves of civilized Europe destined for prost.i.tution is closely connected with the facts we have just described. The manner in which brothels exchange their merchandise only concerns one side of the question. The princ.i.p.al art consists in obtaining young girls, of twelve to seventeen years of age, for the brothels. This traffic is formally prohibited by most laws; but what are laws made for, if not to be broken? There are so many means of training children under some pretext or other, before they are independent enough to escape this life of infamy. There are so many depraved or hungry parents who are ready to sell their children if, in hypocritical but transparent language, a good situation is promised them with payment in advance.

During a railway journey, I was myself a witness of the manner in which a young girl of twelve was sold in this way and sent to Pressburg. I was also simple enough to try and appeal for the intervention of a consul and an amba.s.sador to prevent the perpetration of the crime. They only replied by shrugging their shoulders. How could I prove the matter before a tribunal? The child was accompanied by a woman who admitted to me that there could hardly be any other question than the sale of the child for prost.i.tution. She had only been ordered to take the child to Vienna, where they would come and take her. This shows the impotence of any person who tries to prevent such infamies.

During the last few years an international organization has at last been formed to combat white slavery; but so far it has not obtained much result. By the aid of depraved parents and all their criminal system of seduction, the proxenets always find a way of attaining their object. Moreover, it is difficult to see how the State can prevent proxenetism from obtaining its merchandise, so long as it tolerates and licenses it. We must remember that very young girls, almost children, are the most easy to seduce and the most sought after.

=The Training of Prost.i.tutes.=--The most repugnant aspect of proxenetism is the seduction and systematic training of the girls. The desire for money and fine dresses, the promise of good situations, and especially alcoholic intoxication, all play their part in the diabolical art of proxenetism. Many young girls, frivolous and fond of pleasure, but not wis.h.i.+ng to go any further, are easily seduced under the influence of wine. As soon as some protector has succeeded in seducing a girl, he trades on her shame and fear of discovery, adding threats and blackmail. When she has become sufficiently accustomed to s.e.xual intercourse, she is initiated into the high-school of vice, and systematically instructed in exciting the s.e.xual appet.i.tes of men by all possible means, natural or otherwise. She is first of all taught how to simulate the venereal o.r.g.a.s.m by her movements, breathing, etc.; to practice _coitus ab ore_, etc.; to conform to the pathological requirements of m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.ts, s.a.d.i.s.ts, etc., (Chapter VIII). Girls who have been seduced and abandoned, and those who have had illegitimate children, are the most suitable objects for exploitation by the jackals of proxenetism. If it is objected that the majority of prost.i.tutes have a bad hereditary taint, and that their frivolity and idleness incline them from the first to their trade, I reply that frivolity and love of pleasure are not at all the same thing as the ign.o.ble slavery and disgusting life of a prost.i.tute in a brothel.

The part played by alcohol in prost.i.tution has not been estimated at its true value. The coa.r.s.er and more degraded forms of prost.i.tution would not be possible without it. It is by the aid of alcoholic orgies that most girls are seduced, and by chronic drunkenness that they sustain themselves in their degradation.

=Localized Prost.i.tution.=--In certain towns, Hamburg for instance, an attempt has been made to establish an organization intermediate between the brothel and private prost.i.tution, by compelling all prost.i.tutes to inhabit certain special streets which are reserved for them, at the same time being inscribed by the police. The result has been deplorable, and these streets have become uninhabitable. It must be borne in mind that the owners or managers of these houses become from this fact more or less a.n.a.logous to proxenets. Whoever lets his house for such an object must possess very little sentiment of modesty and duty, for he lives indirectly on the produce of prost.i.tution.

=Clandestine Brothels.=--Besides the official brothels, of which we have spoken, there are a number of secret organizations of all kinds, which the State is the less able to prevent as it organizes and tolerates prost.i.tution and proxenetism on its own account. A number of taverns possess secret chambers which are only small brothels, in which the servants act at the same time as prost.i.tutes.

It is the same with many small shops (gloves, perfumes, etc.), whose innocent appearance only serves as a blind. A number of _cafes chantants_ are also connected with prost.i.tution and proxenetism.

Certain tobacco shops, etc., sell obscene objects such as p.o.r.nographic pictures. All these things act especially on youth and become disseminated in colleges.

=The Number of Prost.i.tutes.=--The number of prost.i.tutes has been estimated at 30,000 in Berlin, 40,000 in Paris, and 60,000 in London.

It can hardly be a.s.sumed that all these women have a pathological heredity. As soon as the State recognizes the right of existence of this dung-heap, by its toleration and organization, corruption hitherto hidden and ashamed raises its head and becomes more and more bold, even dragging public organs into its sink. It is the public especially, but also the authorities and the doctors who become corrupted by contact with official proxenetism, which confuses the ideas of morality in every one's head (vide _La Maison Tellier_, de Maupa.s.sant). They shut their eyes to the haunts of vice. The proxenets feel that they are important personages, and the more enterprising of them very often enjoy secret favors and receive visits from State officials, and even married persons of high position. It is not difficult for any one who reflects a little to see what this state of things leads to.

=Prost.i.tution and the Police.=--The police know very well that in certain brothels prost.i.tution is not only a.s.sociated with alcoholic excess, but that certain houses become the haunts of criminals. They even regard certain low-cla.s.s brothels and taverns frequented by prost.i.tutes as very useful for the discovery of criminals. Spies of all kinds are met with in these places, from the secret agent who tracks a criminal and flirts at the same time with the prost.i.tutes, to the counter-spy employed by the proxenets to watch the secret agent.

It is here that the criminal world acquires its rakish manners, but its weakness for women and alcohol cause it to fall early into the traps of the secret police. It is here also, as well as in the salons of high-cla.s.s proxenetism, that we meet with those indefinable individuals who are to-day secret agents of the government, to-morrow false n.o.blemen or criminals, and the day after proxenets, and whom a former minister of the German Empire designated by the euphemistic term of "non-gentleman."

=The Psychology of Prost.i.tutes and the Cause of Prost.i.tution.=--The psychology of prost.i.tutes is a difficult and complicated subject.

According to the point of view of those who judge them, they are considered as women of evil and incorrigible instincts, or as the victims of our bad social organizations. These two a.s.sertions are by their exclusiveness equally false. Urged by Christian charity, many societies for the improvement of morality have attempted to rescue fallen women; but, as might be expected, the results have not been satisfactory. In fact, the mind of woman is quite differently dominated by s.e.xual ideas and their irradiations than that of man. It is also less plastic, and becomes more easily the slave of habit and routine. If, therefore, a woman has been systematically trained in s.e.xual aberrations from her youth upward, all her ideas are concentrated on debauch and s.e.xual intercourse, so that it becomes impossible later on to restore her to a life of serious social duty.

Rare exceptions confirm this rule. Moreover, s.e.xual excitation in women awakens s.e.xual desire, which becomes exalted by repet.i.tion and habit.

On the other hand, it is necessary to recognize that girls who are idle, of weak character, hysterical, easily suggestible, coquettes or nymphomaniacs, are subjects specially disposed to become seduced.

Lastly, poverty is one of the most powerful auxiliaries of prost.i.tution. I do not wish to be sentimental, nor to give too much weight to the well-known statement that a poor woman prost.i.tutes herself to appease her children's hunger, or her own. No doubt this happens among the oriental Jews and among the proletariat of large towns, but it is, on the whole, exceptional.

Poverty acts indirectly in a much more intense and efficacious manner.

First of all it compels the proletariat to live in the most disgusting promiscuity. Not only do the father, the mother and the children occupy the same room, but they sleep there, often in the same bed. The children are witnesses of their parents' coitus and become initiated in s.e.xual intercourse, often in its most b.e.s.t.i.a.l form, under the influence of alcohol, for example. Neglected and herded together with other children, most of them as badly brought up as themselves, from their early youth they become acquainted not only with the most gross and filthy things, but also with the most pathological and deformed excrescences of the unhealthy life of towns. In the proletariat of certain towns there are few girls of fourteen years of age who are still virgins.

Again, poverty urges parents to exploit their children, for it is easy to deliver them into the hands of proxenetism. But this is not confined to the poorest cla.s.ses; among small tradespeople, poverty is also an indirect agent of prost.i.tution. Here again the effect of pitiless exploitation is seen; in certain occupations which leave the girls free evenings, and also in certain shops, the proprietor only pays his employes an absurdly small salary, because they can add to it by prost.i.tution. For this reason, many saleswomen, dressmakers, etc., are obliged to content themselves with a minimum wage. When they complain, and especially when they are good looking, they are often given to understand that with their attractive appearance it is very easy for them to increase their income, for many a young man would be glad to "befriend them," to say nothing of other insinuations of the same kind. I have already pointed out how waitresses are utilized as bait in certain taverns, etc. Let us cite a few figures:

About 80 per cent. of the prost.i.tutes in Paris have some occupation besides prost.i.tution.

In factories, shops, etc., the average wage of men is 4 francs 20. per day; that of women 2 francs 20.; but in domestic service it is only 2 francs 10. for men and 1 franc 10., or even 90 centimes for women, even where the latter do the same work! Is it to be wondered that they have recourse to prost.i.tution?

=High-cla.s.s Brothels.=--In these establishments the life of the prost.i.tute is much more agreeable: the goods of superior quality demanded by rich and fastidious clients requires better treatment and special care. I will cite a case published in the annual report of the Societe de Pestalozzi (for cruelty to children) at Vienna:

"In October, 1904, the Tyrolean Society for Abandoned Infancy sent us the papers of a young Tyrolean girl of eighteen, who was found at Venice under police control. Our attention was drawn to the youth of this girl and the incapacity of the father to induce her to reform. We were requested to restore her, if possible, to an honest life.

We made the usual inquiries. Having many brothers and sisters, this girl, at the age of fourteen, obtained a situation at Innsbruck, where she was badly treated. She went away and gave herself gradually to prost.i.tution, latterly at Vienna.

We had an interview with her at our office and ascertained that she had experienced ill-treatment at Innsbruck. She had a modest demeanor and made a good impression. She regarded her future with equanimity, admitting that she was excluded from society, but speaking of her trade as seriously as if it was licit and officially recognized.

She a.s.sured us that her parents, having great difficulty in gaining a livelihood, agreed with her in her choice of a "business." She was on very good terms with them and sent them money.

To obtain a certificate from the police, the consent of her parents was necessary. Her mother had told her that if she remained pious and honest no one could reproach her. She held "Madame" (the proprietress of the brothel) in high esteem, on account of her kind treatment of her "boarders." The house in which she was located was first-cla.s.s, both as regards clients and treatment. There were about a dozen young girls there, most of them younger than herself, all with their parents' consent; and many of them sent home what they earned.

She said that her companions were very happy, being well fed and clothed, and earning from 120 to 240 crowns a month. With much ingenuousness she told us how Madame, whom she greatly respected, had looked after two old "boarders," who no longer had any clients. She also had a protector.

We tried to induce her to commence another life, promising her a situation, but she refused, saying that even if she wished to do so Madame would not let her go; besides, she would always be reproached for her past life, and she did not wish to live with people who would always despise her. She had already suffered enough trouble and did not wish to launch on the unknown.

Moreover, she had lost her former habits and had never learnt anything seriously. In short, she did not wish to give up her pleasant and comfortable life!

This conversation led us to the conclusion that the case in question was not of a nature to justify any action on the part of our society for the rescue of young women.

In spite of her tender age, this girl gave us the impression of mature judgment. It appeared already much too late to attempt to recommence her education. She also showed signs of great anxiety when we spoke to her of leaving her brothel.

This case requires no comment; it gives a good idea of our social condition. The religious piety of this girl, and her profound veneration for "Madame," are typical of the deviation of moral sense by the suggestion of environment.

=Varieties in Prost.i.tutes.=--We thus see that prost.i.tutes const.i.tute a collection of very different individuals. Although it may be true that, on the average, their ranks are recruited from girls who are coa.r.s.e, shameless, depraved and alcoholic, it is no less false to conclude that all are of bad heredity. A considerable number are pathological individuals, including hysterical subjects, nymphomaniacs and other psychopaths. Others again are naturally amoral, stupid, idle and deceitful, or have been accustomed to vicious surroundings from infancy; or else they are of an absolutely indifferent and apathetic nature, or very suggestible and yielding to every seduction and external impulse. The latter perhaps form the largest contingent, because they most easily become the prey of proxenetism.

Many of them have fallen by seduction. Ashamed of their first error, and not having the courage to bear the consequences, they gradually sink into the swamp of prost.i.tution. Illegitimate births play a great part here.

A certain cla.s.s of prost.i.tutes ply their trade simply from poverty and want, being ashamed of it but profiting by it to maintain their family. But poverty acts chiefly in combination with other causes.

There still remains a very limited group formed by individuals who give themselves up to prost.i.tution for love of it. These are generally women with a morbid and violent s.e.xual appet.i.te, joined to want of moral sense. Rich women, even countesses and princesses have been known to become prost.i.tutes.

This diversity among prost.i.tutes explains why there are different degrees in prost.i.tution. Although its depravity is often more or less masked by fine clothes and good cheer, the lowest level is represented by the girl of the brothels, who is little more than an instrument for coitus in the hands of proxenetism (with the exception of certain high-cla.s.s brothels). It is the prost.i.tutes of low-cla.s.s brothels for soldiers who lead the most miserable life. Such houses only keep refuse merchandise, _i.e._, old prost.i.tutes who are no good for anything else. There is no sadder sight than a soldiers' brothel.

The prost.i.tution in _cafes_, scent shops, glove shops, etc., const.i.tutes a slightly higher grade. As regards danger of venereal infection this is as great as anywhere, but the girls are rather more independent and lead a more natural life. It is precisely because these places are not under legal protection, that the patrons or protectors of prost.i.tutes cannot employ the terrorism of licensed proxenets.

The free prost.i.tutes of the streets are about on the same level. They are not dependent on proxenetism, but only on their protector and proprietor, which is a trifle less degrading. What degrades them most of all is police inscription, obligatory medical inspection, and the miserable system of solicitation on the pavement. It is necessary to have lost all feeling of modesty, and to possess a cynical audacity to become a street prost.i.tute.

Prost.i.tutes who only practice occasionally and have not the courage to solicit, nor to be inscribed by the police, belong to a higher level.

But in countries where regulation is in force they always run the risk of being arrested by the police and put on the inscription list. These private prost.i.tutes const.i.tute the intermediate stage between prost.i.tution properly so-called, and venal concubinage, which we shall speak of later.

The army of prost.i.tutes is partly composed of pathological individuals. Alcohol and vicious habits increase their abnormal tendencies, so that their behavior leaves nothing wanting in the way of temper, impulsiveness, cynicism and insolence. This is seen every day in hospitals for venereal disease. As soon as a prost.i.tute finds her physical condition improve after a few days in hospital, s.e.xual abstinence arouses her appet.i.te to such an extent that she indulges in lesbian love with her companions, or shows herself naked at the windows, etc. Some prost.i.tutes of better quality suffer at first from the scandalous tone of the brothel, but they generally become used to it, and end with adopting it themselves. Honest women, infected accidentally or by their husbands, suffer martyrdom when they are sent to the venereal divisions of hospitals.

=The Fate of Prost.i.tutes.=--What becomes of prost.i.tutes in the course of time? They cannot remain very long in the brothels for they only accept young and fine-looking girls. It would be interesting to follow the fate of all these women. At all events nothing is more absurd than the common saying that the suppression of brothels increases prost.i.tution in the streets, and that their introduction suppresses it. It is obvious that, as the women in brothels have to be continually renewed, they must be continually thrown onto the streets.

No doubt many prost.i.tutes die at an early age from the results of alcohol and syphilis. The only resource left to many, when they are ejected from the brothels, is to solicit in the streets or to join clandestine brothels or taverns of the same nature.

The most profligate, those who look upon their profession from the artistic or the commercial points of view, know how to advance themselves and become "Madames"; but these are comparatively few in number. Some end in suicide or lunatic asylums.

As a last resource, when no man will have anything to do with them, many of them take to the lowest occupations, such as cleaning lavatories, etc. At Munich it used to be proverbial that the cla.s.s of "Radiweiber" and "Nussweiber" (old women selling nuts etc., at the street corners) were mostly recruited from old prost.i.tutes.

Occasionally a better cla.s.s prost.i.tute succeeds in getting married.

If we consider without prejudice the miserable life of a prost.i.tute, we cannot hear the term "_fille de joie_" without a feeling of sadness and indignation, for it conveys such bitter and tragic irony. If we could ourselves experience the true state of mind which is hidden behind the smiles and songs of so many miserable singers at cafe concerts, and behind the brazen artifices of many prost.i.tutes; if we could learn their past life and the cause of their fall, no man with a spark of pity or sympathy for his fellows could relish with a light heart a "joy" bought at such a price. For those who read German, I recommend on this subject: _Tagebuch einer Verlornen_, by Marguerite Bohme. (Berlin: Fontane, 1905.)