Prostitution’s humiliation is a cultural product of differentiation, not a universal.
Evidence
Now, however, we encounter the striking fact that in many primitive cultures, prostitution is not considered humiliating, nor does it lead to outcaste status. Similarly, in Asian antiquity, girls of all classes prostituted themselves to contribute to the temple treasury or to acquire a dowry, the latter also being the case among some African tribes. The girls, who often include the sovereign’s daughter, do not lose their reputation, nor is their later married life in any way compromised. This opinion, so different from our own, indicates that the two factors—women’s sexual honor and money—are related in a basically different way than they are among us. Among us prostitution is characterized by the unbridgeable gap between these two elements; where a totally different view of prostitution is held, these two elements must be closer together in value. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 370
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s essay on the blasé attitude: Simmel’s differentiation framework is the same lens he uses for urban sensory overload, showing money-mediated detachment as a structural feature of modernity. — connects to: Prostitution reduces sex to species-generic content matched by money — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 360; Camptown sexual exploitation results from deliberate human decisions, not natural male behavior.; Prostitutes’ misery stems from material exploitation, not moral character — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1680
Related
- Prostitution reduces sex to species-generic content matched by money (similarity 0.82)
- Prostitutes’ moral adaptation reflects social demand, not innate depravity (similarity 0.80)
- Prostitutes’ misery stems from material exploitation, not moral character (similarity 0.79)