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~ The history of prostitution : introduction & Ancient Near East ~ . Prostitution is the practice of engaging a sexual activity in exchange for immediate payment in money or other valuables. Prostitutes may be female, male or transgender, but historically most prostitutes have been women and most clients men. . Perceptions of prostitution are based on culturally determined values that differ between societies. In some societies, prostitutes have been viewed as members of a recognized profession; in others they have been shunned, reviled, and punished. Few societies have exercised the same severity toward clients; indeed, in many societies, clients suffer few if any legal repercussions. In some cultures, prostitution has been required of young girls as a rite of puberty and some religions have required prostitution of a certain class of priestesses. . Sumerian records dating back to ca. 2400 BCE are the earliest recorded mention of prostitution as an occupation. These describe a temple-brothel operated by Sumerian priests in the city of Uruk. This kakum or temple was dedicated to the goddess Ishtar and was the home to three grades of women. The first grade of women were only permitted to perform sexual rituals in the temple, the second group had access to the grounds and catered to visitors, and the third and lowest class lived on the temple grounds. The third class was also free to find customers in the streets. . In later years similar classifications for females were known to have existed in Greece, Rome, India, China, and Japan. Such practices came to an end when the emperor Constantine in the 320's AD destroyed the goddess temples and replaced the religious practices with Christianity. . Painting : Judah and Tamar, School of Rembrandt 🎨 #prostitution #historyofprostitution #antiquity #history #art #arthistory #painting #womenfromhistory

A post shared by ~Women from History~ (@womenfromhistory) on Jan 5, 2020 at 4:44am PST

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~ The history of prostitution : Japan ~ . From the 15th century, Chinese, Korean and other visitors began frequenting brothels in Japan. This practice continued among visitors from the Western Regions, beginning with the Portuguese. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Portuguese visitors and their South Asian (and sometimes African) crew members often engaged in slavery in Japan, where they captured young Japanese women, who were either used as sexual slaves on their ships or taken to Portuguese colonies in Southeast Asia, the Americas and India. For example, in Goa, a Portuguese colony in India, there was a community of Japanese slaves and traders during the late 16th and 17th centuries. Later European East India companies, including those of the Dutch and British, also engaged in prostitution in Japan. . In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo and Osaka. Oiran were courtesans in Japan during the Edo period. The oiran were considered a type of yūjo also known as a "woman of pleasure" or prostitute. Among the oiran, the tayū was considered the highest rank of courtesan available only to the wealthiest and highest ranking men. To entertain their clients, oiran practiced the arts of dance, music, poetry and calligraphy as well as sexual services, and education was considered essential for sophisticated conversation. Many became celebrities of their times and their art and fashions often set trends among wealthy women. The last recorded oiran was in 1761. . Karayuki-san, literally meaning "Ms. Gone Abroad", were Japanese women who traveled to or were trafficked to East Asia, Southeast Asia, Manchuria, Siberia and as far as San Francisco in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century to work as prostitutes, courtesans and geisha. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a network of Japanese prostitutes being trafficked across Asia, in what was then known as the ’Yellow Slave Traffic’. . Painting : An oiran sitting with a client and an apprentice, by Suzuki Harunobu 🎨 #historyofprostitution #japan #history #art #arthistory #painting #womenfromhistory

A post shared by ~Women from History~ (@womenfromhistory) on Jan 15, 2020 at 7:35am PST

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