Celebrating prostitutes in song, litterature and art

[joeblow]

Prostitutes and sex workers in general have long been celebrated in music and litterature. As a tribute of sorts to all the lovely ladies that make our dreams come true, let's try to compile here the works that best portray them.

I'll start with the low-hanging fruit...

By Sting/The Police:

Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light
Those days are over
You don’t have to sell your body to the night
Roxanne, you don’t have to wear that dress tonight
Walk the streets for money
You don’t care if it’s wrong or if it’s right


And there's also Tina Turner's:

I’m your private dancer
A dancer for money
I’ll do what you want me to do
I’m your private dancer
A dancer money
Any old music will do

I wanna make a million dollars
I wanna live out by the sea
Have a husband and some children
Yeah I guess I want a family
All the men come in these places
And the men are all the same
You don’t look at their faces
And you don’t ask their names
Repeat chorus twice

Deutschmarks or dollars
American express will nicely thank you
Let me loosen up your collar
Tell me do you wanna see me do the shimmy again
Repeat chorus

(Credit to Magda for reminding me of that one)

 

[muddy]

Here's a not so happy one, for those who read Spanish:

POBRE LA MARIA (1993)
(Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy)

Olorosa a tabaco y a ron
en un cuarto de una cuartería
llora la María, su melancolía
y en la rockonola se oye una canción de La Sonora

Se vino del campo a la ciudad
una noche Terencio la dejó
por el día cocina, lava y plancha ajeno
vende lotería ahí por Metro Centro
y en la madrugada al mejor postor, alquila su cuerpo

Pobre la María y su fantasía
que la Capital era lo mejor pa’ salir de pobre!

Frente al espejo que compró en el Oriental
se pone su vestido y su collar talvez esta noche no le va tan mal
baja por Tiscapa hacia el Lobo Jack
y en la madrugada un día más vieja regresa a su casa

Pobre la María...

Sus chavalos, cuidan carros,
venden agua, nada comen
huelen pega y dambulan por la calles de Managua
la María se lamenta que su vida nunca va a salir de la miseria!

 

[Magda]

Some of my role models in the industry and their creations:

Ms.Annie Spinkle, PhD:
http://www.anniesprinkle.org/
Ms.Magdalene Meretrix:
http://www.scarletletters.com/current/art.html
Elizabeth Suicde:
http://suicidegirls.com/words/2005+Sex+Workers'+Art+Show/

We would not be complete without the works of Toulouse-Lautrec.
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/toulouse-lautrec/

 

[joeblow]

Inanna and John

http://www.widdershins.org/vol2iss1/Sumerian-small.jpg

Inanna and John - Clay plaque, ca. 2000 B.C.

"The sacred whore appears in the earliest records, integral to society when humans were first gathering in cities and learning to write. The major work of the oldest known author, the Sumerian priestess Enheduanna, is a paean to the hierodule (sacred whore) of heaven, the goddess Inanna, Wendy Mulford writes in Love Poems by Women. In Babylon, center of the Akkadian civilization that adopted Sumer's customs after conquering it, women prostituted themselves to all comers for the glory of Ishtar, a later cognate of Inanna. Still later, in ancient Greece and Rome, temple prostitution flourished. Cultures from Japan to Africa have honored the sacred whore."

 

[Magda]

Hmm, good one Joe.

 

[The Woodworker]

Led Zeppelin, Hey, hey what can I do

Wanna tell you ’bout the girl I love.
My, she looks so fine
An’ she’s the only one that I’ve been dreamin’ of,
Maybe someday she will be all mine.
I wanna tell her that I love her so,
I thrill with her every touch,
I need to tell her she’s the only one I really lo__ve.

I got a woman, wan’ ball all day.
I got a woman, she won’t be true no.
I got a woman, stay drunk all the time.
I said I got a little woman and she won’t be true.

On sunday mornin’ when we go down to church
See the menfolk standin’ in line.
Don’t say they come to pray to the lord
But when my little girl looks so fine.
An’ in the evenin’ when the sun is sinkin’ low
Everybody’s with the one they love.
I walk the town, keep-a searchin’ all around,
Lookin’ for my street corner girl.

I got a woman, wan’ ball all day yeah.
I got a woman, she won’t be true no, no.
I got a woman, stay drunk all the time.
I said I got a little woman and she won’t be true.

An’ in the bars with the men who play guitars,
Singin’, drinkin’ and rememberin’ the time,
A-my little lover does a midnight shift,
She fool around-a all ’a’ the time.
I guess there’s just one thing then left for me to do:
Gonna pack my bags an’ move on my way
A-’cause I got a worried mind sharin’ what I thought was mine.
Gonna leave her where the guitars play.

I got a woman, she won’t be true no, no.
I got a woman, wanna ball all day-yeah-yeah now, now.
I got a woman, stay drunk all the time.
I got a little woman and she won’t be true.

Hey, hey what can I do?
I said she wont be true no. yeah-no, yeah-no,
Whoah-ho what can I say?
Yeah-no, yeah-no. [ ahhh__ ]

Hey, hey what can I do?
[ __hhh__ ] keep ballin’, keep ballin’, keep ballin’,
&nbspkeep ballin’, keep ballin’, keep ballin’, keep ballin’.
Whoah-ho what can I say?
[ __hhh. ] she wanna ball.

Hey, hey what can I do?
A-keep ballin’, keep ballin’, keep ballin’, keep ballin’,
&nbspkeep ballin’ yeah, yeah.
Whoah-ho what can I say?
A-boogie, a-boogie chillun’. a-boogie, a-boogie chillun’.

Hey, hey what can I do?
Hahh-yeah, ah-yeah, ah-yeah, ah-yeah.
Whoah-ho what can I say?
Hey, hey what can I do? I got a woman, she won’t be true.

Hey, hey what can I do?
Ah-whoah~whoah~whoah hear what I say.
I got a woman, wanna ball all day.
Whoah-ho what can I say?
Keep ballin’, keep ballin’

Who__ahhh-ho-ho-ho-ho.
Hey, hey what can I do?
Ooh.

 

[Techman]

Irish folk tune...a warning to us all


Black Velvet Band


Her eyes, they shone like the diamonds.
You'd think she was queen of the land,
And her hair hung over her shoulders,
Tied up with a black velvet band.

In a neat little town they call Belfast, apprentice to trade I was bound.
And many an hour of sweet happiness I spent in that neat little town.
'Til bad misfortune came o'er me, and caused me to stray from the land
Far away from my friends and relations. They follow the black velvet band.

Her eyes, they shone like the diamonds.
You'd think she was queen of the land,
And her hair hung over her shoulders,
Tied up with a black velvet band.

Well, I went out strolling one evening, not meaning to go very far,
When I met with a frolicksome damsel who was selling her trade in the bar.
When a watch she took from a customer, and slipped it right into my hand.
Then the law came and put me in prison.
Bad luck to her black velvet band!

Her eyes, they shone like the diamonds.
You'd think she was queen of the land,
And her hair hung over her shoulders,
Tied up with a black velvet band.

Next morning, before judge and jury, for trial I had to appear.
And the judge, he says "me young fellow, the case against you is quite clear.
And seven long years is your sentence. You're going to Van Diemen's Land,
Far away from your friends and relations. They follow the black velvet band."

Her eyes, they shone like the diamonds.
You'd think she was queen of the land,
And her hair hung over her shoulders,
Tied up with a black velvet band.

So, come all ye jolly young fellows, I'll have you take warning by me.
And whenever you're out on the liquor, me lads, beware of the pretty colleens.
For they'll fill you with whiskey and porter, til you are not able to stand.
And the very next thing that you know, me lads, you've landed in Van Diemen's Land.


Her eyes, they shone like the diamonds.
You'd think she was queen of the land,
And her hair hung over her shoulders,
Tied up with a black velvet band

 

[muddy]

Sorry, I keep thinking of non-English songs. Here's one of my favorites:

Geni E O Zepelin
Chico Buarque

De tudo que é nego torto
Do mangue e do cais do porto
Ela já foi namorada
O seu corpo é dos errantes
Dos cegos, dos retirantes
É de quem não tem mais nada
Dá-se assim desde menina
Na garagem, na cantina
Atrás do tanque, no mato
É a rainha dos detentos
Das loucas, dos lazarentos
Dos moleques do internato
E também vai amiúde
Co'os velhinhos sem saúde
E as viúvas sem porvir
Ela é um poço de bondade
E é por isso que a cidade
Vive sempre a repetir
Joga pedra na Geni
Joga pedra na Geni
Ela é feita pra apanhar
Ela é boa de cuspir
Ela dá pra qualquer um
Maldita Geni

Um dia surgiu, brilhante
Entre as nuvens, flutuante
Um enorme zepelim
Pairou sobre os edifícios
Abriu dois mil orifícios
Com dois mil canhões assim
A cidade apavorada
Se quedou paralisada
Pronta pra virar geléia
Mas do zepelim gigante
Desceu o seu comandante
Dizendo - Mudei de idéia
- Quando vi nesta cidade
- Tanto horror e iniqüidade
- Resolvi tudo explodir
- Mas posso evitar o drama
- Se aquela formosa dama
- Esta noite me servir


Essa dama era Geni
Mas não pode ser Geni
Ela é feita pra apanhar
Ela é boa de cuspir
Ela dá pra qualquer um
Maldita Geni


Mas de fato, logo ela
Tão coitada e tão singela
Cativara o forasteiro
O guerreiro tão vistoso
Tão temido e poderoso
Era dela, prisioneiro
Acontece que a donzela
- e isso era segredo dela
Também tinha seus caprichos
E a deitar com homem tão nobre
Tão cheirando a brilho e a cobre
Preferia amar com os bichos
Ao ouvir tal heresia
A cidade em romaria
Foi beijar a sua mão
O prefeito de joelhos
O bispo de olhos vermelhos
E o banqueiro com um milhão
Vai com ele, vai Geni
Vai com ele, vai Geni
Você pode nos salvar
Você vai nos redimir
Você dá pra qualquer um
Bendita Geni


Foram tantos os pedidos
Tão sinceros, tão sentidos
Que ela dominou seu asco
Nessa noite lancinante
Entregou-se a tal amante
Como quem dá-se ao carrasco
Ele fez tanta sujeira
Lambuzou-se a noite inteira
Até ficar saciado
E nem bem amanhecia
Partiu numa nuvem fria
Com seu zepelim prateado
Num suspiro aliviado
Ela se virou de lado
E tentou até sorrir
Mas logo raiou o dia
E a cidade em cantoria
Não deixou ela dormir
Joga pedra na Geni
Joga bosta na Geni
Ela é feita pra apanhar
Ela é boa de cuspir
Ela dá pra qualquer um
Maldita Geni

 

[naughtylady]

Robert Palmer: Simply Irresistible

How can it be permissible
She compromise my principle, yeah yeah
That kind of love is mythical
She’s anything but typical

She’s a craze you’d endorse, she’s a powerful force
You’re obliged to conform when there’s no other course
She used to look good to me, but now I find her

Simply irresistible
Simply irresistible

Her loving is so powerful, huh
It’s simply unavoidable
The trend is irreversible
The woman is invincible

She’s a natural law, and she leaves me in awe
She deserves the applause, I surrender because
She used to look good to me, but now I find her

Simply irresistible
Simply irresistible

Simply irresistible she’s so fine, there’s no tellin’ where the money went
Simply irresistible she’s all mine, there’s no other way to go

She’s unavoidable, I’m backed against the wall
She gives me feelings like I never felt before
I’m breaking promises, she’s breaking every law
She used to look good to me, but now I find her

Simply irresistible
She’s so fine, there’s no tellin’ where the money went
Simply irresistible she’s all mine, there’s no other way to
Go

Her methods are inscrutable
The proof is irrefutable, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
She’s so completely kissable, huh
Our lives are indivisible

She’s a craze you’d endorse, she’s a powerful force
You’re obliged to conform when there’s no other course
She used to look good to me, but now I find her

Simply irresistible
Simply irresistible

She’s so fine, there’s no tellin’ where the money went
Simply irresistible she’s all mine, there’s no other way to go
She’s so fine, there’s no tellin’ where the money went
Simply irresistible she’s all mine, there’s no other way to go

Simply irresistible

 

[protagoras]

Another one by Chico Buarqe

(
Another one by Chico Buarque

Folhetim

Chico Buarque, 1978)
Se acaso me quiseres
Sou dessas mulheres
Que só dizem sim
Por uma coisa à toa
Uma noitada boa
Um cinema, um botequim
E, se tiveres renda
Aceito uma prenda
Qualquer coisa assim
Como uma pedra falsa
Um sonho de valsa
Ou um corte de cetim
E eu te farei as vontades
Direi meias verdades
Sempre à meia luz
E te farei, vaidoso, supor
Que é o maior e que me possuis
Mas na manhã seguinte
Não conta até vinte
Te afasta de mim
Pois já não vales nada
És página virada
Descartada do meu folhetim

 

[protagoras]

Literature

The Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado (1912-2001) wrote at least two novels in which prostitutes are the main characters.

Tieta do Agreste and Tocaia grande

 

[protagoras]

Nelly Arcan, of course...

That's funny because last week the topic of SP who are university student (as well) was discussed on a Brazilian forum. I let my brazilian fellow mongers know that in Québec Nelly Arcan, a former SP and a university student, wrote a novel a couple of years ago.


We should mention this famous book: La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils!

 

[EagerBeaver]

Memoirs of a Geisha

Perhaps the best novel I have read in the last 10 years is "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden, which I believe was published in 1997 or so. It is well researched, well written, and tells a powerful story of tragedy and compassion. It's about a young Japanese girl who is forced into prostitution after a family tragedy. The novel was originally brought to my attention by a ladyfriend of mine and I thought it might be one of those girlie type books, but nothing could be further from the truth. It was a major international bestseller, and my understanding is that Steven Spielberg is or was trying to make it into a movie. IMHO the book is a masterpiece as far as novels go. It would make a great movie if done right and by the right director.

Arthur Golden, as a matter of interest, is a son of the family which owns the New York Times. Although he was worth many millions of dollars the day he was born, he went to Harvard, studied Asian culture and developed a strong interest in Japanese culture. I am not sure what he has been doing since the publication of this novel but if anyone knows I would be interested to hear it.

 

[protagoras]

N.B. A monger is one who sells, not one who consumes. If you call yourself a monger, I can only assume that you run an agency.

Regnad,

No, I don't run an agency (and to tell you the truth I despise them. I prefer to deal with indies because agencies are "pimps" in disguise)

But concerning the meaning of the word "monger" you're right. The usual acceptation of the word "monger" is a dealer in a specific commodity (ex: ironmonger).
However there's a second meaning which goes like this: «a person promoting something undesirable or discreditable».
What are we doing on this board? In a certain sense aren't we promoting SPs we like or we don't like? Aren't we "whoremongers" or "SPmongers"?
Is this type of hobbying discreditable? I let you judge....

http://www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/-monger

By extension the word monger designates a community of person sharing (on the Internet) the same interest on a definite topic. For example we have the expression "Perl monger".


http://www.linux-france.org/prj/jargonf/M/mongueur.html

 

[Touch]

Memoirs of a Geisha

Eager,

I agree, "Memoirs of a Geisha" is a great novel. Real geishas had a hard time believing it wasn’t written by a geisha; that it was written by a North American man is even more astonishing.

According to IMDb the movie, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Ziyi Zhang, is in postproduction.

Touch

 

[Uncle Kracker]

Well, I gotta throw one out for the dancers too... I actually did this Thurs. at karaoke...

Motley Crue - Girls, Girls, Girls

Friday night and I need a fight
My motorcycle and a switchblade knife
Handful of grease in my hair feels right
But what I need to make me tight are

Girls, Girls, Girls
Long legs and burgundy lips
Girls,
Dancin' down on Sunset Strip
Girls
Red lips, fingertips

Trick or treat-sweet to eat
On Halloween and New Year's Eve
Yankee girls ya just can't beat
But they're the best when they're off their feet

Girls, Girls, Girls
At the Dollhouse in Ft. Lauderdale
Girls, Girls. Girls
Rocking in Atlanta at Tattletails
Girls, Girls, Girls
Raising Hell at the 7th Veil Have you read the news
In the Soho Tribune
Ya know she did me
Well then she broke my heart

I'm such a good good boy
I just need e new toy
I tell ya what, girl
Dance for me, I'll keep you overemployed
Just tell me a story
You know the one I mean

Crazy Horse, Paris, France
Forget the names, remember romance
I got the photos, a menage a trois
Musta broke those Frenchies laws with those

Girls, Girls. Girls
Body Shop. Marble Arch
Girls, Girls, Girls
Tropicana's where I lost my heart

Girls, Girls, Girls

 

[joeblow]

Hooker with a heart of gold

From Wikipedia:

The hooker with a heart of gold (also the whore with a heart of gold or the tart with a heart) is a stock character in which a fallen woman, a prostitute who sells sex for cash or drugs, is in fact a kindly and internally wholesome person. This character is often a pivotal, but peripheral, character in literature and motion pictures, usually giving key advice or serving as a go-between. She is sometimes established in contrast to another female character who is morally perfect but frigid or otherwise unyielding. The stereotype owes a debt to Mary Magdalene, and is pervasive enough in myth and culture that it might be considered an archetype.

A variation on the theme, the stripper with a heart of gold, is a tamer version of the character, a stripper and sex worker but not a prostitute.

Examples
Aldonza in Man of La Mancha
Linda Ash (Mira Sorvino) in Mighty Aphrodite
Donna Beck on All My Children
Calpurnia in I, Claudius
Chandramukhi (Vyjayantimala/Madhuri Dixit) in Devdas
Charity (Shirley MacLaine) in Sweet Charity (scriptwise: "dancer" only)
Gloria (Doris Dowling) in "The Lost Weekend"
Jessica (Bridget Fonda) in Kiss of the Dragon
Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) in Risky Business
Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova (Sonya) in Crime and Punishment
Mercy (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) in The Warriors
Nessie in David Niven's memoir The Moon's a Balloon
Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) in Trading Places
Poppy (Sissy Spacek) in Prime Cut
Rose in the song "Bed of Rose's" by the Statler Brothers
Sahibjaan (Meena Kumari) in Pakeezah
Sera (Elisabeth Shue) in Leaving Las Vegas
Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin) in "Firefly"
Slack (Asia Argento) in Land of the Dead
Iris Steensma (Jodie Foster) in Taxi Driver
Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) in Pretty Woman, that also shares traits of Cinderella and the Pygmalion myth.
Never on Sunday shows a somewhat different character
Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind

All the links here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooker_with_a_heart_of_gold

 

[Touch]

Klute

There is probably no end to a list like yours Joeblow, but it seems a shame to leave out Jane Fonda in the movie Klute even if she didn't exactly have a heart of gold.

Touch

 

[joeblow]

There is probably no end to a list like yours Joeblow, but it seems a shame to leave out Jane Fonda in the movie Klute even if she didn't exactly have a heart of gold.Touch

Agreed. Actually the list is not mine, I just happened to stumble upon it. What strikes me is the sheer number of works that portray prostitutes, with or without hearts of gold, but typically with. The "affection" towards these women seems so ancient and widespread that I'm wondering where the social stigma associated with prostitution comes from.

 

[spindoc]

Elton John (Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics) Sweet Painted Lady

I'm back on dry land once again
Opportunity awaits me like a rat in the drain
We're all hunting honey with money to burn
Just a short time to show you the tricks that we've learned

If the boys all behave themselves here
Well there's pretty young ladies and beer in the rear
You won't need a gutter to sleep in tonight
Oh the prices I charge here will see you alright

So she lays down beside me again
My sweet painted lady, the one with no name
Many have used her and many still do
There's a place in the world for a woman like you

Oh sweet painted lady
Seems it's always been the same
Getting paid for being laid
Guess that's the name of the game

Forget us we'll have gone very soon
Just forget we ever slept in your rooms
And we'll leave the smell of the sea in your beds
Where love's just a job and nothing is said