“Comparing a courtesan to a whore is like a fresco to a chalk drawing.”
- My sister: Do you know what a courtesan is?
- Me: Yes.
- My sister: A high class prostitute.
- Me: Yes.
- My sister: I want to be one.
- Me: ...
- My sister: Oh come on! You don't have to work, but you get nice stuff. *whines* They buy you pretty dresses!
Photographs of dancing girls/courtesans taken during the late 19th/early 20th century demonstrating regional costumes. Lots of anklets:)
Pic 1 is of a Tamil dancing girl (I think the sari was probably a nine yard and the pallu is belted at the waist and allowed to fall); Pic 2 maybe from Bengal (Calcutta was mad for nautch in the 19th century but many dancers came from afar, often the costumes are Northern - though you can count on Kalighat painters for a local flavour), again Pic 3 could be Bombay or Calcutta given the sari and blouse and they do love shoes, Pic 4 is from Maharashtra given the sari style. Pics 5 to 7 are all possibly of Northern/Lucknowi nautch girls. The Lucknow nautch girls deserve an entire post - their photographs indicate that they were every bit as alluring and sassy as suggested by this paper.
For the most part costume is regional (see for example Kashmiri nautch girls or Telugu dancing girls) with sari styles worn in the South and full skirted ghaghra styles in Gujarat and Rajasthan. In the north, there is an astonishing variety in the tunic/trouser kind of dress from very short tunics to voluminous anarkalis to very wide trousers to the outfit we more commonly see today depending on the place and decade.
On Rewatching “Dangerous Beauty”
This is one of my guilty pleasures of historically inaccurate movies. I can stand how it (falsely) portrays the life of the Cortigiana Onesta, but as a historic costumer i cannot stand this:
Pearls! PEARLS ON THE COURTESANS!!!!!!!!
Pearls were forbidden to be worn by ANY courtesan or prostitute regardless of rank. Which is why when you see a modestly dressed women in a painting or print with their neck exposed it’s either bare or with large beads the look like pearls but were likely other gemstones. This has lead to a debate of whether this portrait of (possibly) Veronica Franco and others like it are actually of courtesans:
Source: The Courtesan’s Arts edited by Martha Feldman and Bonnie Goldman
- society: oh you have your period? well you have two options.
- woman: okay.
- society: you can use sanitary pads, which make you feel like you are wearing a diaper, and have the added fun benefit of being extremely uncomfortable and give you the extreme paranoia that they will not be enough coverage and at any moment with any movement or sudden sneeze you'll bleed over onto your clothes and walk around all day with blood stained trousers while everyone points and laughs at you.
- woman: sounds awful. what's my second option.
- society: a penis shaped wad of cotton that you shove uncomfortably inside yourself and it catches the blood before it leaves your body.
- woman: still seems pretty awful.
- society: wait! it gets better! there's the outside chance that using those will kill you!
- woman: well, are they at least free? like how men can have access to free condoms? i mean, it's not like i'm choosing for this to happen.
- society: HAHAHA! that's funny. no, you have to pay for them. and they're really fucking expensive.
- woman:
- society: oh, and if you tell anyone that you ARE on your period, your judgement, opinions, and reactions are going to be dismissed as the crazy ramblings of a lunatic.
- woman:
- society:
- woman: i think i'll go with my third option.
- society:
- woman:
- society: what third option?
- woman: i think i'll bleed on everything you love.
When did social justice go from “feed the hungry, medicate the sick, house the homeless” to “fuck white people, fuck men, fuck christians”?
On the saddest day in history.
spideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey:
i’m like 300 percent done with all people at my school
are u fucking kidding me
perfect
Kittens for Feminism.
I’m going to print this on cards and pass them out to people instead of engaging in yet more fruitless explanations about what feminism is.
Damn you, Daily Mail!! *shakes fist*
Whenever I hear about people who get off on 50SOG or Anita Blake, I smile sadly and think about accidepurposefully hooking them up with Venus In Furs, Philosophy In The Bedroom, The Kama Sutra, Fanny Hill, or Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and having a comfy vantage point and some popcorn on hand for when they run away screaming.
best entertainment in my book.
Personal Experiences with Rape Culture: Isn't it funny that we only do it with rape? →
If I was to steal a chocolate bar because it was sitting at the counter looking all tasty, it’d be theft. Nobody would say but oh, look at the creamy picture on the packaging. It was taunting him. He had no choice. It was instinct. Impulse. Drives and desires beyond his control.
If I walked…
We're All (historic) Prostitutes: On the Term "Ginger" →
I am a natural redhead and a woman (obviously if you’ve seen http://fyeahhistoricmistresses.tumblr.com/post/32961015863) and I absolutely Hate the term Ginger. To me, it is a slur like calling a POC the N word, a mentally disabled person the R word, or caiing a woman the C word. I would like…
The term ‘ginger’ as used to describe people with red hair is old old old. In cock breeding the red males are call ‘ginger’ (I’ll let you draw the conclusion on your own) and have been for as long as anyone can remember. There are mentions of this description applying to a red haired persons in periodicals going back to the Victorian era. Some people think of it as an insult, but I can’t figure that out.
As a woman who was born a ginger and lost the distinction to the effects of genetics and aging, I’m bitter that my bright, copper curls have faded to a dark brown. I’d pay money to have those back, and wear the title ‘ginger’ with pride.
sorry but most of the tme when used towards my self its derogatory, which is why i take offence. PLus I am a natural redhead too, but mine never faded.
Standing Courtesan. Main detail of a hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Mid-18th century, Japan, by artist Yoshikatsu. MFA
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