“By the daily practice of their profession for many years their eyes acquire a piercing, rolling expression; they are somewhat unduly prominent in consequence of the continued tension of the ocular muscles, since the eyes are principally employed to spy out and attract clients. In many the organs of mastication are strongly developed; the mouth, in continuous activity either in eating or in kissing, is conspicuous; the forehead is often flat; the occipital region is at times extremely prominent; the hair of the head is often scanty—in fact, a good many become actually bald. For this reasons are not lacking: above all, the restless mode of life; the continued running about in all weathers in the open street, sometimes with the head bare; the often long-lasting fluor albus from which theysuffer;[289]the incessant brushing, manipulation, frizzling, and pomading of the hair; and, among the lower classes of prostitutes, the use of brandy.
“By the daily practice of their profession for many years their eyes acquire a piercing, rolling expression; they are somewhat unduly prominent in consequence of the continued tension of the ocular muscles, since the eyes are principally employed to spy out and attract clients. In many the organs of mastication are strongly developed; the mouth, in continuous activity either in eating or in kissing, is conspicuous; the forehead is often flat; the occipital region is at times extremely prominent; the hair of the head is often scanty—in fact, a good many become actually bald. For this reasons are not lacking: above all, the restless mode of life; the continued running about in all weathers in the open street, sometimes with the head bare; the often long-lasting fluor albus from which theysuffer;[289]the incessant brushing, manipulation, frizzling, and pomading of the hair; and, among the lower classes of prostitutes, the use of brandy.
“The rough voice is the physiological characteristic of the woman who has lost her proper functions—those of the mother.”
“The rough voice is the physiological characteristic of the woman who has lost her proper functions—those of the mother.”
However, themajorityofyouthful prostitutesexhibit purelyfemininecharacteristics; it is only late in life that the above-describedtype becomes predominant, and this shows us that the masculine characteristics are the result ofobjectiveinfluences. From five to ten years bring about a notable difference. In the year 1898 I treated a maidservant for syphilis. At that time she was of an elegant, genuinely feminine appearance. Seven years later, in the year 1905, I saw her once more. What a change! Her face was bloated and widened; her eyes, once so bright and clear, had become cloudy and expressionless; her voice was rough; all the specific feminine forms and characters had been obliterated by extreme corpulence. It was no longer a woman, it was a “prostitute,” a special type of humanity, but one which had beengradually produced, and as a result of no more than six years of the practice of professional prostitution.
These facts do not by any means exclude the existence ofgenuine degeneratesamong prostitutes in a greater percentage than amongnon-prostitutes;[290]nor do they exclude the existence of genuine homosexuals among prostitutes. To this extent Lombroso’s theory contains a nucleus of truth; but it concerns only a fraction of the entire world of prostitutes. Lombroso has himself been repeatedly compelled to recognize the frequency with which he has encountered among prostitutes women of normal appearance, and even beautifulwomen.[291]
Finally, the doctrine of the “born prostitute” is contradicted by the fact that the same types of degenerate which are described by Lombroso among prostitutes are found also among women who are notprostitutes.[292]In fact, Lombroso has been led to this view by the recognition of an “equivalent of prostitutes among the upper classes”; but in this way he has only proved that thesamemoral degeneration that is encountered in a certain proportion of prostitutes is also seen in misconducted women of other and higher classes. There are, in fact, prostitute natures among the “upper ten thousand.”
The best limitation of the general value of the doctrine of the “born prostitute” is the concluding chapter of Lombroso’s bookupon “Occasional Prostitutes.” He begins with the pertinent remark:
“Not all prostitutes are ethically indifferent—that is to say, they arenot all born prostitutes; in this provinceopportunityalso plays its part.”
“Not all prostitutes are ethically indifferent—that is to say, they arenot all born prostitutes; in this provinceopportunityalso plays its part.”
Lombroso proceeds to develop this thesis, thus markedly limiting the application of his own theory, and recognizing that, in addition to natural predisposition, quite other causes and influences come into play in the production of prostitution.
Above all, theeconomicfactors are of greater importance in the genesis and growth of prostitution, even though their influence is not an exclusive one.
I distinguish here betweenreal, genuine poverty(lack of food, proper housing accommodation, etc.) and merelyrelative poverty. Hitherto, in considering the economic causes of prostitution, these two elements have not been distinguished with sufficient clearness.
The fact that real, absolute poverty and lack of the necessaries of life drives many girls to a life of prostitution can, in view of recent statistical data, no longer be disputed.More exact material dealing with this subject is to be found in the above mentioned writings of Blaschko, one of the principal advocates of the economic theory of prostitution; also in the works of GeorgKeben,[293]OdaOlberg,[294]AnnaPappritz,[295]Pfeiffer,[296]PaulKampffmeyer,[297]E. vonDüring,[298]and many others. Here we have a superabundant material, a quantity of distressing and tragical individual data and proofs of Gutzkow’s thesis, thatthe material evils of society always and everywhere undergo transformation into immorality. Here unquestionably must wefirstapply the lever for the removal of this economic predisposing condition of prostitution.Hic Rhodus, hic salta!I am myself firmly convincedof this fact, although I donotconsider that the causes of prostitution are to be foundexclusivelyin economic conditions—an opinion which Anna Pappritz, for example, maintains in the most extreme form. It is quite true, however, that our entire sexual life at the present day is so intimately connected with thesocial questionthat the reform of the sexual life demands as an unconditional preliminary a reform of economic conditions. Prostitutionon the large scale, as it manifests itself in modern days, and itscontinuous increaseto an extent quite unparalleled in former times, is only explicable by the rapid transformation of economic conditions—as, for example, by the concentration of population in large towns, by the industrial revolution, and by the development of great aggregations of capital, by the consequent greatly increased severity of the struggle for existence, the postponement of marriage, and the ever-increasing number of individuals who are not economically and professionally independent. The increase inchild-labour(naturally we refer especially to children of the female sex) has also to be considered as a remarkable phenomenon of modern industrial life; but, above all, we must take into account the fact thatwoman’s workis on the average regarded at a very low valuation, and is paid accordingly.
The insufficiency of their earnings is the immediate cause of the fact that so many women and girls seekaccessory earningsin the form of prostitution. It is well known that employers reckon on this fact in drawing up their pay-lists, and frequently are so brutally cynical as to point out to their female employees the possibility of increasing their earnings in this manner—one very convenient to the employer!
TheReichsarbeitsblatt, No. 2, of the year 1903, publishes a very remarkable account of the conditions of work and life of theunmarried female factory employeesin Berlin. It is based upon the reports of the professional factory inspectors in Berlin, who have access to material affording them accurate information regarding the mode of life of factory women. The reports concern 939 unmarried factory hands, and include all occupations in which in Berlin a considerable number of women were employed. The average age of the women who came under observation was 221⁄2years; the oldest was 54 years; 53·5 % of the whole number were over 21 years of age; 42 % were between 16 and 21 years of age; 4·5 % were below 16 years of age. The average number of hours of daily work was 91⁄2; 3·2 % of all the women worked from 71⁄2to 8 hours; 37·2 %, 8 to 9 hours; 47·7 %, 9 to 10 hours;and 11·9 %, 10 to 11 hours. The weekly wage amounted on the average to 11·36 marks (shillings); individually, the wages were very variable; 4·3 % of the women were paid less than 6 marks (shillings); 1·1 % were paid from 20 to 30 marks (shillings).In a very large majority of instances the wages varied between 8 and 15 marks.Supplies from a source independent of their wages, in the form of money, clothing, and means of subsistence, were received, according to their own statement, by 88 of the women; among these, 41 were assisted by parents, 4 by other relatives, 3 in other ways; 542 of those examined lived with their parents, 57 with other relatives—that is, altogether 64·2 of the total number—21·5 % lived in common lodging-houses, 14 % in their own rooms. The worst-paid workwomen lived chiefly with their parents; as soon as the wage sufficed to support them away from home a great many left their parents’ houses. The housing accommodation was ascertained in 846 instances; in 758 of these a single room constituted the dwelling, in 82 cases a kitchen, in 2 cases an attic, in 3 some other room. In isolated cases quite unsuitable places were used to sleep in.Speaking generally, the conditions were worsethan appears from the above figures. Of 832 workwomen, only 169 had a room to themselves; 193 slept in a room with one other person, and 470—that is, 56·6 %—with several persons. With regard to the cost of their dwellings, there were 464 reports; the average payment was 1·79 marks (shillings) per week. The cost of the food (dinner and lesser meals) amounted on the average, in the case of 568, to 6·77 marks (shillings); of these, 205 paid less than 6 marks (shillings), 109 more than 8 marks (shillings) per week. The total cost for lodging and food amounted in the case of 867 workwomen on the average to 7·62 marks; 44·7 % had their principal meal at midday; 55·3 % in the evening; 79·4 % took it at home; 9·4 % in the factory; 11·2 % in a public kitchen, a cooking-school, or an eating-house. With regard to the expenditure for clothing, etc.,very scantydetails were obtained—too scanty to be worth recording. Of the 939 workwomen of whom inquiry was made on the point, 197, or 21 %, contributed money to the education or support of relatives or children; about 10 % paid (direct) taxes, with a mean expenditure of 8 pfennige (one penny) per week. For amusement, 233 women recorded an average weekly expenditure of 1 mark (shilling). To a considerable number of those examined it was possible to put a little money by; in most cases the amount averaged from half to one mark (sixpence to one shilling) per week; in many cases, however,the money savedwas spent at some other time during the year, in consequence of diminished earnings or illness. The figures obtained, although in many cases they require further examination, elaboration, and illustration, still suffice to show that much remains to be done for the improvement of the conditions of life of female factory employees.
That these wages are quite insufficient is shown by the following table of the daily expenditure of a sempstress for food and lodging (based on the reports of von Stülpnagel):
That amounts per week to 8 marks 40 pfennige (eight shillings and fivepence) for board-lodging. For the rest, clothing, washing, and a little amusement, have to be provided for, and this is only possible in the case of the highest wages, varying from 12 to 15 marks; but this higher wageoften enoughsuffices, as Anna Pappritz herself admits. In many cases the weekly wage is only 5 to 8 marks. In the majority of occupations connected with the manufacture of ready-made clothing, trade is only brisk for four to six months in each year. Thus, there is necessarily a great deal of unemployment.
According to the Statistical Annual for the town of Berlin for the year 1907, theannual wagesamounted:
According to the report of the Statistical Bureau, the average yearly income of women factory employees throughout the German Empire was only 322 marks!
It is, therefore, no matter for surprise that the industrial councillors of Frankfurt-on-the-Main and of Wiesbaden, in their published reports on the wages of female factory employees for the year 1887, state:
“In Frankfurt, at the end of last month, among 226 persons under the observation of thepolice des mœurs(that is, not reckoning secret prostitution), 98 were female factory employees. Since for their necessary bare support (food and sleeping accommodation only), the minimum daily sum needed is 1·25 marks, it appears that the wages which can be earned by female employees of 1·50 to 1·80 marks can hardly suffice to provide for all their needs. It would seem, therefore, that the lowness of their earnings must play some part in the matter under discussion.”
“In Frankfurt, at the end of last month, among 226 persons under the observation of thepolice des mœurs(that is, not reckoning secret prostitution), 98 were female factory employees. Since for their necessary bare support (food and sleeping accommodation only), the minimum daily sum needed is 1·25 marks, it appears that the wages which can be earned by female employees of 1·50 to 1·80 marks can hardly suffice to provide for all their needs. It would seem, therefore, that the lowness of their earnings must play some part in the matter under discussion.”
The reports of the industrial councillors of Düsseldorf, Posen, Stettin, Neuss, Barmen, Elberfeld, Gladbach, Erfurt, etc., have a similar signification.
Important in relation to the incontrovertible connexion between material poverty and prostitution is the fact that in the majority of cases the prostitution of female factory employees is onlyoccasional, and not professional prostitution—that is to say, such women have recourse to prostitution only when compelled thereto by deficient means.
As regards genuineprofessionalprostitution, female factory employees, who live in a state of comparative freedom, contribute a smaller contingent of recruits thanmaidservants, whose position is always amore dependentone, and who are much less experienced in the struggle for existence, although, generally speaking, they live in better conditions. From a computation based upon figures for the years 1855, 1873, and 1898 (those for 1855 and 1898 relating to far too small a number of cases), Blaschko derives the opinion that formerly female factory employees provided a greater number of recruits to prostitution than they do at present; but that, on the contrary, the contribution of maidservants to the ranks of professional prostitution has enormously increased. This assertion cannot pass without contradiction. Gross-Hoffinger, in the work previously mentioned, pointed out that the class of maidservants was the true nucleus of prostitution, and devoted to this fact a long and illuminating chapter of his book. And at about the same time (1848) Lippert also wrote (op. cit., p. 79): “The principal sources of prostitution aremaidservants, sempstresses, flower-girls, tailoresses, hairdressers, shop-girls, and barmaids.” (Gross-Hoffinger himself emphasizes the word “maidservants.”)
We see, therefore, that the preponderance of ex-maidservants in the ranks of professional prostitution is by no means a new phenomenon, although, possibly, that preponderance is evengreaternow than it was in former times. And though in isolated instances it may happen that simple poverty forces a maidservantto become a prostitute, this explanation does not suffice for the generality of cases. The same reservation must be made in respect of seduction and illegitimate motherhood as causes of prostitution. And in so far as poverty is a cause, we must speak rather ofrelativepoverty, poverty which has more of a subjective than an objective character.
Schiller rightly remarks, in his admirable essay on the “Prevention of Prostitution,” that in respect of prostitutes who have been maidservants, in the majority of cases there can be no question of insufficient wages and actual poverty (if we except the badly paid servants in public-houses, laundry-maids, and a few others), since the maidservant receives, in addition to her wages, free board and lodging, and therefore is in a much better position than the majority of female factory employees and of women engaged in home industries. Notwithstanding this, maidservants supply the largest proportion of prostitutes.
The majority of maidservants come from the country, where lax views prevail regarding sexual relationships. In addition, girls usually come to town when still very young. The want of education and experience of life is, in their case, very striking; and this is increased by their permanently dependent position, in contrast with the early independence of the town factory-women, who are speedily initiated into all the possible evils of town life. In addition, there comes into the question an influence which hitherto has been underestimated: thelove of finery. Among maidservants this is especially powerful, since, in this respect, they are continually exposed to suggestive influences, arising from the clothing of their mistresses. This love of dress, in association with a far greater unscrupulousness in sexual matters than exists among workwomen, drives many servant-girls, evenwithoutreal poverty, to prostitution. After they have lost their place, after they have acquired a distaste for work, have given birth to an illegitimate child, or have been infected with venereal disease, they very readily enter the ranks of professional prostitution.
Thissubjective psychologicalfactor plays nearly as great a rôle as the economic factor. Blaschko himself draws attention to the fact that, in proportion to the hundreds of thousands of women who are compelled to earn their bread by hard, badly paid toil, the number of those who ultimately become prostitutes is really almost infinitesimally small; and that, therefore, we must regard as accessory causes of prostitution, defective will-power, want of industry, of perseverance, and of moral instincts, and, finally, also—and here Lombroso is justified—congenital deficiency. Hellpachis right when, in his most readable essay on “Prostitution and Prostitutes” (Berlin, 1905), he lays the principal stress on this “social-psychological” explanation of prostitution, and regards the purely economic factor as “the ultimate turning-point” in the fatal road that leads to prostitution. (Earlier than Hellpach, Anton Baumgarten attempted to give a social-psychological explanation of prostitution. See his essays, containing much valuable material, “Police and Prostitution,” and “The Relations of Prostitution to Crime,” published in the eighth and eleventh volumes respectively of the “Archives of Criminal Anthropology.”)
We must, therefore, hold firmly to the fact that the mostdiverseandheterogeneousvital conditions may ultimately lead to prostitution. Among these,lack of education,premature habituationto sexual depravation bycasual observationand bydeliberate seduction, play an important rôle. And these causes are themselves to a large extent secondary to themiserable housing conditionsin great towns, recently so dramatically described by von Pfeiffer and Kampffmeyer.
“It is easier,” says Pfeiffer, “to thunder against immorality from the top of a lofty tower, than it is to resist every allurement in dull, narrow dwellings, in the midst of poverty and deprivation.... The lodger flirts with the wife; the married or free-loving pair, also living in the house, do not wait to begin their caresses until the children are out of the way. The children are witnesses of many scenes which are little adapted to the preservation of pure morals; they see things which they later come to regard as matters of course, and when they have the opportunity they act in the same way themselves, for they have not learned otherwise, and they think that every one does the same....“The servant-girl becomes pregnant; no one knows what has become of her child’s father. Driven out of her place, she remembers that she has a married sister, and after long search she finds her in a damp basement dwelling. This dwelling consists of a single room and a dark kitchen; three shivering, dirty children are playing on the floor; the husband is out of employment; but still they can find room for this sister-in-law and her illegitimate child. Then perhaps there are better days for a time. But within the narrow limits of the one-roomed dwelling the association is too intimate, and the sister-in-law again becomes pregnant, and ultimately in the same week both the sisters are delivered as the result of impregnation by the same man. When we think how all this has taken place in theonlyavailable room, we can understand that the children must have seen a great deal little suited to childish eyes.”
“It is easier,” says Pfeiffer, “to thunder against immorality from the top of a lofty tower, than it is to resist every allurement in dull, narrow dwellings, in the midst of poverty and deprivation.... The lodger flirts with the wife; the married or free-loving pair, also living in the house, do not wait to begin their caresses until the children are out of the way. The children are witnesses of many scenes which are little adapted to the preservation of pure morals; they see things which they later come to regard as matters of course, and when they have the opportunity they act in the same way themselves, for they have not learned otherwise, and they think that every one does the same....
“The servant-girl becomes pregnant; no one knows what has become of her child’s father. Driven out of her place, she remembers that she has a married sister, and after long search she finds her in a damp basement dwelling. This dwelling consists of a single room and a dark kitchen; three shivering, dirty children are playing on the floor; the husband is out of employment; but still they can find room for this sister-in-law and her illegitimate child. Then perhaps there are better days for a time. But within the narrow limits of the one-roomed dwelling the association is too intimate, and the sister-in-law again becomes pregnant, and ultimately in the same week both the sisters are delivered as the result of impregnation by the same man. When we think how all this has taken place in theonlyavailable room, we can understand that the children must have seen a great deal little suited to childish eyes.”
The housing statistics of Berlin for the year 1900 give horrible reports regarding this, and even much worse conditions—conditionswhich are sufficiently explained when we consider how often families living in a single room take in amaleor afemale lodgerfor the night. One-roomed dwellings in which from four to seven sleep every night are common; those in which eight to ten sleep are by no means rare!
After what has been said above, no elaborate demonstration is needed to show thatalcoholismeverywhere, in the most diverse conditions, prepares the soil for prostitution. Kräpelin and O. Rosenthal have thoroughly exposed this intimate connexion between prostitution and alcoholism.
An even more important source of prostitution is to be found inprocurementand in thetraffic in girls—this grave social evil of our time. How often are children initiated into the practice of prostitution, for the sake of pecuniary gain, by their own parents, or by some other individual devoid of all moral feeling, and taught to serve as mere instruments of earning money by lust! Paris offers more examples of this traffic than any other European city, but London is not far behind, as was proved by thePall Mall Gazettescandals of 1883, to which we shall return in another connexion. In Berlin itself in recent years the number of half-grown, and even childish, prostitutes has enormously increased. Prostitutes from thirteen to fourteen years of age are no longer rare.
An even sadder phenomenon is the moderntraffic in girls, a characteristic product of the age of commerce, although earlier times were, indeed, familiar with it, especially France in the eighteenthcentury,[299]witness more especially the accounts of the celebratedParc-aux-Cerfs.
The modern traffic ingirls[300]is intimately connected with thebrothel question. We can, in fact, assert that if there were no brothels there would be no traffic in girls. This is proved also by thegrowing disliketo brothels felt by prostitutes, who prefer a free life. For this reason, it becomes more and more difficult for the keepers of brothels to obtain inmates, and the international traffic in girls attempts to fill the continually increasing deficiency in the number of girls entering brothels.
The traffic in girls is to-day almost exclusively recruited from Eastern Europe. As regards its original sources, we find that Galicia—i.e., Austrian Poland—supplies 40 %, Russia 15 %, Italy 11 %, Austria-Hungary 10 %, Germany 8 %, of the “White Slave Trade.” Most of the girls are transported to the Argentine, where we find them in thebrothels.[301]
The traders in girls, or “kaften” as they are called in Brazil, are, for the most part, Polish Jews. Rosenack shows, in his report on the campaign against the traffic in girls (a campaign actively taken up by the Western European Jewish Unions, and especially by the Jewish Association for the Protection of Girls and Women), that five out of six of the Galician Jews engaged in this traffic are what are called “Luftmenschen” (men of air)—that is, men without any definite or secure means of livelihood—and that only an improvement in their social conditions can put an end to the traffic in girls. As regards that part of the world, he considers that the measures resolved upon by theNationalandInternational Conference for the Suppression of the Traffic in Girls(Berlin, 1903; Frankfurt-on-the-Main, 1905) are not adapted to offer any important hindrances to the traffic. More effective has been the work of the Jewish Branch Committee in Germany for the suppression of the Galician traffic in girls. Dr. Rosenack, Berta Pappenheim, and Dr. Sera Rabinowitsch, in furtherance of the work of the committee, studied the local conditions; the population was instructed verbally and by leaflets and pamphlets. Endeavours have been made to improve the economic condition of the workwomen of Galicia. For this purpose, instructed female assistants are sent from Germany to Galicia. It has been possible to awaken in Galicia generalinterest in the work of the suppression of traffic in girls. In a Conference held at Lemberg, the Galician clubs and Jewish committees made representations to German and other societies, in order to formulate a plan, and to devise measures for the improvement of Galician conditions.
In Buenos Ayres, the principal town of entry for Galician girls, a committee has been formed to oppose the traffic in girls, the members of this committee being of all religions and nationalities. This has had one good effect—that the traders in girls have become alarmed; they no longer practise their profession so openly as before. The Argentine police are also taking an active part in the fight with the traffic. Not more than two of the judges at Buenos Ayres were found to make common cause with the “traders,” and to discharge them on receipt of large bribes. A law has been drafted for the punishment of those engaged in this traffic, by imprisonment for six years and confiscation of their property.
The traders in girls constitute an international ring, and the centre of their organization is in Buenos Ayres.
In Berlin, since 1904, there has existed acentral police organizationfor the suppression of the international traffic in girls, the activity of which extends throughout the Empire. Every case of this traffic which comes to the notice of the police in Germany is reported to the central police organization. This draws up a list of all the traders in girls whose names are definitely known. It has started an album containing photographs of traders who have been punished, and it exchanges experiences with the police of other countries. It is to be hoped that in comparison with the other countries of Europe the number of German girls exported to brothels abroad will continually grow smaller, and that the local measures undertaken in Galicia and the Argentine will have a good effect in limiting, and ultimately suppressing, this traffic.
Henne am Rhyn has shown that to and from other countries—for example, from England to Belgium and Germany (Hamburg), from Galicia to Turkey, from Italy to North America, etc.—individual girls are transported. According to Felix Baumann, the number of traders in girls in New York approaches 20,000. They have close relations to the police, and they employ young handsome men, called “cadets,” to attract the girls. The abolition of brothels would here also be the best means of abolishing the traffic in girls.
Having now learned the sources of prostitution, we must proceed to give a brief account of the places in which it is carried on.Here we have first of all to distinguishpublicfromsecretprostitution.
As regards public prostitution, there are onlytwoprincipal varieties to consider: street prostitution, where the women seek their victims in the streets, in order to carry them off either to theirown dwellingsor tohouses of accommodation; andbrothel prostitution. At the present day in most countries public street prostitution is far the most general form, and this is especially true as regards Germany, where in a few towns only brothels continue to exist. In many places this street prostitution—for example, in the Friedrichstrasse of Berlin, and also on the boulevards of Paris—gives rise to conditions which recall the worst days of imperial Rome. Thecontactbetween public life and professional prostitution is unquestionably a great evil. The activity of prostitutes in the open streets, the shameless and lascivious display of their sexual charms, their bold solicitationcoram publico, the stimulating character of professional unchastity—all these poison our public life, obliterate the boundary between cleanliness and contamination, and display daily a picture of sexual corruption—alike before the eyes of the pure, blameless girl, those of the honourable wife, and those of the immature boy. Aptly has thisstreetprostitution been termed thecloacaof our social life, which empties into the open street, whereas at leastbrothelprostitution only represented a hiddencloaca, whose offensive odour need not annoy all the world, as inevitably happens in the case of street prostitution. In addition, we have to consider the serious dangers involved in the practice of professional fornication in private dwellings and houses of accommodation, as they involve the decent families living in such houses. What do the children living in such houses see and hear? Frequently prostitutes are admitted to confidential family intercourse, and they seduce the daughters of poor people to join them in the practice of prostitution, and the sons to a vicious life or to become souteneurs. That the danger of contamination of the lower classes of the population by means of prostitution is by no means imaginary, is clearly shown by numerous examples from actual life. I subscribe to all that the advocates of brothels say in this respect.
And yetbrothelsare astillgreater evil! They constitute an incomparablymore dangerouscentre ofsexual corruption, a worsebreeding-ground of sexual aberrationsof every kind, and last, not least, thegreatest focus of sexual infection. With reference to the last point, the matter will be discussed more fully inthe chapter dealing with the question of regulation in connexion with the suppression of venereal diseases.
The brothel is thehigh-schoolof refined sexual lust and perversity. The detailed proof of this I must leave to the descriptions of the two writers most experienced in the life of brothels, LéoTaxil[302]and LouisFiaux.[303]
It is a fact well known to all that many young men learn in brothels for the first time the manifold and artificial ways in which natural sexual intercourse can be replaced by perverse methods of sexual activity.Here, in the brothel, psychopathia sexualis is systematically taught.And what the old debauchee demands from the prostitute and pays her for, perverse intercourse, isspontaneously offered to the youthful initiate, because competition between the prostitutes, and the hope of a higher payment, lead them to do so. The opinion of the French authors just mentioned is perfectly credible—that there are young men who in this way have learned about perverse sexualitybeforethey were fully acquainted with natural sexuality, and who thus have permanently acquired more inclination for these mysteries of Venus than for a natural and normal sexual intercourse.
“Brothel-jargon,” or “brothel-slang,” contains a number of words almost peculiar to this dialect, by which the contra-natural, abnormal methods of sexual intercourse are denoted in a more or less cynical manner; for example,faire feuille de rose= anilinctus;sfogliar la rosa(to pluck the leaves from the rose) = pædicare;faire tête-bêche= reciprocal cunnilinctus of two tribades;punta di penna= masturbatio labialis;pulci lavoratrici(learned fleas!) = tribades, etc.
A learned investigator like Fiaux is led by his observations of many years to the conclusion thatbrothelsconstitute not only the mostdangerousform of public prostitution, but the most dangerous kind of prostitution that exists at all, and that it is urgently necessary that they should be abolished in all countries as soon as possible.
In addition to the two varieties and localities of “public” prostitution—that is, prostitution carried on under the observation of the police—there is a much more extensivesecretprostitution, in connexion with which, however, the word “secret” must always be accepted with reserve, since in its case also it comes more or less under the eye of the public. This secret prostitutionis, for example, accessible at numerous places, and these are very different one from another. Secret prostitution also has its types, its peculiarities—in short, its definite local colouring, according to the place in which it is practised. Let us give a brief account of the various localities of secret prostitution.
1.Public-houses with Women Attendants, the so-called “Animierkneipen.”—Thewaitress(barmaid) is the true exemplar of the secret prostitute, and further, in consequence of the perpetual association with alcoholism, is the most dangerousvariety;[304]for the barmaid allures the guest even more to the excessive consumption of alcohol than to sexual indulgence. For this purpose barmaids receive a percentage of the receipts from the sale of liquor, and this sum, in addition to free board, is their only wage.
The“animierkneipen”[305]and the restaurants with women attendants can be plainly distinguished from a considerable distance by theircurtainedwindows, and by thered, green, or blue glass panesover the doors of entry. These coloured panes are so characteristic of these places of lust and gluttony that at the last year’s District Synod of the Friedrichswerder section of the town of Berlin the attempt was made (cf.Vossische Zeitung, No. 248, May 30, 1906) to forbid the use of such illuminated panes for the advertisement of the houses of entertainment in Berlin with female attendants. To this proposal the reasonable objection was made that if this distinguishing mark were abolished, there would be no means of recognizing such places, and therefore no warning signal for blameless individuals.
Many “animierkneipen”—the French similarly term the girls in such places “lesinviteuses”[306]—by their mysterious-looking interior; by the heavy curtains, which produce semi-obscurity; by small very discreetchambres séparées, lighted by little coloured lanterns and with erotic pictures on the walls; by their Spanish walls and their enormous couches—obtain the appearance of small lupanars. To these the richer customers and the initiates are brought, whilst the ordinary habitual guests commonly assemble in the larger bars, where also music—it must be admitted verybad music—in the form of a piano- or a zither-player, is not wanting.
The whole shameless activity of these “animierkneipen,” in which alcohol and indecency play the principal rôle, has recently been described by Hermann Seyffert in a manner no less perspicuous than true tolife.[307]The clients of such places are, for the most part, immature lads, who squander here the money of their parents or their employers; but we find there also the habitual guests, usually elderly married men, who find in this atmosphere a welcome variety in comparison with the monotony of their homes. The quantities of alcohol which are consumed in the “animierkneipen,” both by the guests and by the attendants, are enormous. The barmaids must always drink at the cost of the guests, in order that the sales of liquor may be larger. O.Rosenthal[308]speaks of barmaids who consume twenty to thirty glasses of beer a day, and more, without mentioning brandy and liqueurs!
2.Ball-Rooms andDancing-Saloons.[309]—Properly speaking, these are only a sub-variety of the places described in Section 1; they are enlarged “animierkneipen,” with the addition of (better) music and of dancing. But the beautiful days of the Bal Mabille and the Closerie des Lilas, or of Cremorne Gardens, the Portland Rooms, the Argyll Rooms, and the Orpheum have long passed away. The majority of the ball-rooms of Berlin and Paris (in London they disappeared long ago) have sunk to a lower level. Prostitution is now dominant. The “intimacy,” which in the earlier more idyllic ball-rooms felt so much at home, is now no longer to be found there. It is only necessary to visit the celebrated ball-rooms of Berlin—the Ballhaus in the Joachimstrasse, the “Blumensäle,” etc., not to speak of the seats of baser prostitution, as, for example, Lestmann’s Dancing-Saloon—in order to be aware of this fact. Here also the principal thing is drinking, and always more drinking! In Paris, in the dancing-rooms of Montmartre, we can see the “inviteuses” in full cry; some of the French dancing-rooms, however, appear more attractive from the æsthetic point of view than the haunts of Terpsichore in Berlin. A dancing-saloon that was not exclusivelyconcerned with prostitution was that of Emberg in the Schumannstrasse, but in the year 1906 this was closed for ever. Now, similar great ball-rooms exist, properly speaking, only in the suburbs—in Halensee, Grünau, Nieder-Schönhausen, etc. Here also, however, the dance is not the principal thing—procurement and prostitution are widely diffused, as was pointed out fifty years ago by Thomas Bade in his essay, in this respect most convincing, “Ueber Gelegenheitsmacherei und Öffentliches Tanzvergnügen”—“Procurement in Relation to Public Ball-Rooms” (Berlin, 1858).
3.Variety Theatres, Low Music-Halls, and Cabarets.—The principal object of these places, so characteristic of our time, is “to kill time” in as amusing a manner as possible, “amusement” being what the “average sensual man” of to-day, dull and empty-headed, demands. What he wants is the satisfaction of his desire for sensations by the appearance of more or less décolleté singers, dancers, acrobats, male and female, by the representation of tableaux vivants in which the parts are played by beautiful women, by the kinematograph, or by pantomime, by spicy songs, by the performance of clever jugglers, by wrestling and boxing matches between men and women, by juggling, and all kinds of spectacles, etc. In short, the most diverse “varieties”—hence the name—of amusement are offered here, and it is significant that these places of pleasure first appeared in the great seaports of Liverpool, London, Hamburg, and Marseilles, where the sailors, after the weary monotony of long sea voyages, found satisfaction in the variegated display of enjoyment offered to them in such places. Now the monotony, the emptiness of their life, drives innumerable crowds of townsmen to the variety theatres, which, even though as little as the drinking-saloons can they be called true “places” of prostitution, still serve as localities in which prostitutes meet their clients; and in this way evening after evening a large number use them as the field of their activities.
The lowest class of variety theatre, the “Tingel-Tangel” (low music-hall), also euphemistically called “Academy of Music,” is, in fact, nothing more than a brothel, the only difference being that the actual sexual intercourse does not take place in the house itself, as so often occurs in the similar “animierkneipen.” The singers appearing in these “tingel-tangel” are all low-class prostitutes. In most cases, whilst one of their number is practising the “art of song” (sit venia verbo), the others, sitting about the hall in shameless décolleté, display their charms, and incite(“animieren”) the visitors to drink. Clerks and students form the indulgent audience; in seaport towns the audience consists generally of sailors. Who is not familiar with the most celebrated tingel-tangel streets in the world, the Spielbudenplatz and the Reeperbahn, in St. Pauli, near the docks of Hamburg? In these streets we see one variety theatre after another, and all are crowded by a smoking, drinking audience, taking part in the choruses of the songs. A peculiar kind of these places of pleasure is constituted by the so-called “Rummel,” a speciality of Berlin. Wherever, within or without the town limits, by the demolition of old houses or in any other way, a large area remains free from building for a considerable time, these tingel-tangel proprietors invade the place, erect merry-go-rounds and cake-stalls, and there develops in the place a manifold activity, in which the lower classes of the population exclusively share. Here the very lowest types of prostitute seek their prey, and find it.
4. “Boarding-Houses” (“Pensionate”)and Maisons de Passe(Houses of Accommodation).—Anyone walking through the streets of Berlin will not fail to notice boards at the doors of certain houses, bearing the inscription, “Here rooms can be hired by the month, week, or day.” I do not assert that this announcementalwaysrepresents an invitation to fornication, or the provision of an opportunity therefor; but in many cases these announcements serve as indications of the “intercourse” obtainable in such dwellings. Often several stories, or even the entire house, is devoted to this purpose. It professes to be a “Private Hotel” or Furnished Lodgings; but in reality it is a masked brothel, a “house of accommodation” for prostitutes and their clients, a place in which the landlord—in most cases the landlord is of the female sex—has for principal occupation the practice of procurement. Other dwellings,withoutthese sufficiently well-known and suspicious boards attached to the door-posts, passing under the less striking name of a “pension,” are adapted rather for the exquisite and artificial enjoyment of the richer classes, and are employed for sexual orgies of a more extensive character, for the procurement and seduction of young girls, and for the assignations of the higher classes of the demi-monde and their clientèle.
5. “Massage Institutes.”—To these distinctly modern establishments, which mainly subserve the purposes of masochistic prostitution, we shall return in the chapter on masochism. Many prostitutes have some knowledge of massage, and masquerade as “masseuses”; their supplementary profession is ordinary prostitution,and for this reason we are justified in alluding to them in this section.
6.The Weibercafés.—These are found in all the large towns, especially in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Buda-Pesth, and they serve as the principal places in whichprostitution is carried on by day. Prostitutes sit here in great numbers hour after hour, and wait for their clients, who, of course, must pay for drinks which are consumed. Certain cafés in Berlin—as, for example, the “Café National,” the Café Keck in the Leipziger Strasse, etc.—are typicalnocturnal cafes, in which from the onset of darkness until early in the morning prostitutes await their clients.
Naturally, the above classification does not include all varieties of modern prostitution, which exhibits many other modes of activity. Most of these others, however, have some sort of relationship to the varieties already described, and it is, therefore, unnecessary to deal with them all at length. Prostitution can, of course, be practised anywhere; and its allurements are found in all places in which great numbers of human beings come together.
To prostitution in the wider sense of the term belongs also the “half-world” (“demi-monde”), under which name, first used by the younger Dumas, we include the various categories of “mistresses,” femmes soutenues (kept women), lorettes, cocottes, and fast women.
Alexandre Dumas, in the celebrated passage of his play “Demi-Monde” (Act II., Scene 9), gives by the mouth of Olivier de Jalin the following definition of the half-world: