Prostitutes’ frigidity is a revolt against male domination rather than mere incapacity

Evidence

Nevertheless, the courtesan has the reputation of being frigid. It is useful for her to know how to govern her heart and her sexual appetite: sentimental or sensual, she risks being under the influence of a man who will exploit or dominate her or make her suffer. Among the sexual acts she accepts, there are many—especially early in her career—that humiliate her; her revolt against male arrogance is expressed by her frigidity. Hetaeras, like matrons, freely confide “tricks” to each other that enable them to “fake” their work. This contempt, this disgust for men clearly shows they are not at all sure they have won the game of exploiter-exploited. And in fact, in the great majority of cases, dependence is still their lot. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1686

Categorization

• XREF: Frigidity as a weapon of the dominated parallels the slave’s passive resistance in the master-slave dialectic that structures Beauvoir’s analysis throughout. — connects to: Prostitutes escape male domination despite being most subjected to it.; Supposed frigidity in marriage functions as a covert weapon against male domination — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1304; Female homosexual ties among prostitutes form a counter-universe restoring human dignity — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1676 (+1 more)
• QUESTION: Beauvoir says dependence is still the lot of most courtesans despite pretending to win the exploiter-exploited game — worth chasing how this connects to her broader thesis that woman’s apparent ‘triumphs’ remain within a patriarchal economy.

Broader Connections

• Practices that destabilize male authority need not be motivated by resistance to it #complicates (0.82) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1181