Sex, prostitutes and brothels: the old West

Sex and prostitutes in the old West. 

We always find in the films of the old west the keys to understanding that lost world of ruffians. In these films, of course, the image of the sexthe prostitutes and the brothels.

At the outset, we can point out the double morality that prevails around the world of sex. On the one hand, it is inevitable to encounter the "Anglo-Saxon puritanism of the first American settlers". It was a "puritanism that censored everything related to sex". sex out of wedlock". A moral burden that fell especially on certain women who were considered to be "honest" as bearers of this puritanical morality. In contrast, of course, to the prostituteswomen of the brothels. These women were therefore relegated to domestic and reproductive roles in the families that determined a form of sociability of the time. They had to generate and care for children who would later grow up to function as labour to keep the wheels of the economy turning. These women with this particular role "had to behave and dress decently, i.e. the more covered up the better".

However, the economy also functioned through other forms of sexuality, outside the family role.

Some forms of sex and prostitution

Of course sex, prostitutes and brothels took their place in any town or city that corresponded to the Wild West. These sex workers were known by a variety of nicknames, such as "injured pigeons" o "women of the sisterhood". Cinema always reminds us of these brothels in a particular way: led by a madameold prostitute. They were in administration and usually had good intentions and a big heart. 

In the Old West, different modes of prostitution. For example, some prostitutes would walk through the streets carrying only a simple blanket, which would serve as a primitive shelter for the sexual act. They would probably run into an alley or a hiding place in the public sphere. 

On the other hand, other types of sex workers could be found, who carried out their practices in small one-room houses. Others, perhaps of a higher prestige, could live in large houses. brothels, some of them also very luxurious. In general, these large brothels, as we find in Hollywood films, were run by prestigious madames. 

Beyond sex, prostitutes and brothels: Charity

Famous cases include Julia Bulette and Rosa May. "Julia Bulette was one of the first women to set foot in the city of Virginia, and she ran the first brothel of the city". She earned the respect of the whole community from her brothel "by her charitable gestures towards the sick of the city". This woman indeed played a beneficial role in the community through her care and charity towards the weakest.

Rosa May, on the other hand, also lived like a sexual escort who at the end of the 19th century, also in Virginia City, took on a variety of charitable tasks. She cared for the sick from a powerful epidemic that ravaged the region, to which, sadly, she too would succumb. 

In fact, the birth of the American nation was forged by the ancient craft of the sexual escorts and the proliferation of brothelsFrom the red-light districts of San Francisco to the big brothels that sprang up in Virginia City (NV) to the wagon-mobiles of Fort Dodge, it was a clear reflection of the new society that was being forged in the old West. It was a clear reflection of the new society that was being forged in the old West".

Formation of brothels and prostitution

The expansion of the territory gave way to frontier towns, which were places that accommodated settlers. They could be mining camps, training posts for the army or lodgings for railway workers. "They were therefore places that were characterised by good food, whisky and friendly girls who catered to the needs of travellers."

If one wonders about the origins of brothels, one must think about the constitution of the famous border towns. These were urban centres erected with private money. They could serve several purposes. For example, to welcome new settlers arriving from the east, to serve as a hub for mining camps. These "were located in the surrounding area (wherever there was gold, to be more specific)". 

They functioned both as "outposts for the army and, among other things, as housing for railway workers who sought to spread civilisation by rail and locomotive".

What was the role of sex, prostitutes and brothels? Thus, all these workers did not fail to attend these spaces of sexual freedom offered in the typical "Far West" towns. The workers would undoubtedly go "in search of a good meal, a shot of whiskey". They would of course look for a nice, sweet girl as a sexual companion, with whom they could not only pass the time, but also satisfy their needs to be able to return to the hard day's work.

The majority of prostitutes were, in general, very young women, without much education and, in many cases, illiterate. 

Of course, the price of labour power varied according to how beautiful she was considered, but other factors also played a role. Such as nationality or ethnic origin. 

Sexual escorts and the economy

Prostitutes and brothels played a fundamental role in the development of the United States of America. They functioned well in these early communities. Moreover, "their activity was a clear stimulus for the dynamisation of their economy".

Brothels have often been portrayed as dens of perdition and perversity. Or the prostitutes as alcoholic girls who, because of their addiction, would be ready to offer any kind of sexual favours. There are, however, many more nuances that reveal the aforementioned as particular cases within a wide range of forms of the sex work.

In many brothels, the chivalry and education of the men was of paramount importance. In fact, sexual escorts often "did not perform oral sex because they considered it to be a unseemly behaviour typical of French women".. We find in this statement some bad faith in the sense that this was not merely moral or posturing, or anti-French xenophobia.

Already at that time, certain forms of hygiene could undoubtedly be identified, where oral sex appeared, if not as a danger, at least as something not to be recommended. 

Place of the brothel and prostitutes in the social flow of sexual drives

In the "Wild West" brothels "there was a "double standard" similar to that which had become established in a society". For "although the girls of the night were seen in a derogatory light, they were also tolerated as a "necessary evil" by the women of the villages".

Sex workers were seen as fulfilling certain needs that diverted perverse flows. They diverted attitudes that could spill over into forms of sexuality that disrupted the order of functional social relations. That is, with prostitutes and sexual activities located in particular areas such as brothels, sexual release and "lascivious desires" with the daughters of villagers were avoided.

In other words, brothels fulfilled the function of naming, locating, and containing, practically institutionalising sexual practices within the brothel environment. 

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