History Literature and pop culture like to portray the Victorian era as the golden standards of sophistication class and Prudence but often the cleanest cloth is hiding the dirtiest secret today the oldest trade in the history of humanity is perceived as a great social Evil by many but that Infamous tag worn by the brothel industry was bestowed upon it only in the 19th century there were more brothels in schools in London during the Victorian era the propaganda led by newspapers and pamphlets against the industry gave the workers of the trade a bad name this resulted in
a hostile environment and a bad repute that resulted in cases like the infamous Victorian Jack but did Victorian brothels deserve such hatred welcome to nutty history and today let's find out how filthy brothels were during the Victorian era foreign fifty Seven report few odd characters of the London streets Henry Mayhew mentioned that around 8 600 women were working the trade in London it was an estimation and a wrong one by Miles his estimation was based on how many women were known by the police to be in this line of work but the actual number was
far far greater eighty thousand eighty thousand women in London were occupied in the oldest profession known to mankind during the year 1857 the peak of the Victorian era the popularity of the trade makes sense during Victorian times because the brothel industry had enjoyed a golden age during the 17th and 18th centuries and it was still right in the high despite changing perceptions of society I mean there was no better place to earn the money for the fair agenda say you are a well-educated woman at the height of the times when another prominent woman was ruling
your country and you were given ample opportunities to learn and be productive and Society however there was a catch your gender still determined your wage and not your efforts women who learn high level skills in college like typing in shorthand because let's be honest who are we kidding this is a 19th century and we set ample opportunities not the best opportunities because of gender bias even the women who made it to the top possible positions in reputable establishments only made an average of 25 Shillings per year it was nowhere close to supporting themselves or their
children and they were still largely dependent on their husbands wages in stark contrast brothels offer them shorter hours and higher wages and they were paid in cash if you hit the genetic jackpot and happen to have good looks this profession will offer a much better out of success in a short time brothels didn't just offer better working conditions but also Independence and that's what made them so lucrative while in modest London you could only be a street vendor or shop girl and if you are very very lucky you may end up as a household whole
servant to a lord or their lady but in brothels even a low-class woman could find enough income to live like a lady herself well not everyone but they still could have a good life without being dependent on a male figure so how could one become as successful as a lady while working in the profession of the skin well as we mentioned not every woman in this profession could accomplish that status in fact there were three classes of Professionals in the industry during the Victorian times to achieve a lavish lifestyle like the nobility of the 19th
century the very first qualification in the brothel industry was to be really attractive we're talking about Bella Hadid and Lupita nyango's level of beauty here now that was an exaggeration but you see what I'm saying right these women served only the elite Nobles and aristocrats the members of the parliaments people related to the royal family the Lords the generals and the cream of the crop of industrialists those sorts of wealthy people some were even exclusive working only with single clients as these courtesans would often end up as Mistresses living with their clients families or sometimes
they would end up marrying the clients too oh happy endings hmm yeah in more than one way these were of course the highest rated courtesans the middle class of brothel workers like the high-level courtesans didn't actually work in brothels they were the women who preferred to work freelance they would have their own apartment to serve a variety of clients and some would also work on the streets as well it came with the independence of choosing their clients and not having a boss but on the flip side there was no job security or protection that brothel
workers had they were quite prone to both infectious diseases and insane clients this is why perhaps this class included a lot of married women whose husbands would work as their agents and protectors yeah it may be a culture shock for our time but this was a thing in Victorian London a lot of Street vendors had their wives working as cheap courtesans to make extra money to match the ever-growing demand for household expenditures I mean just look at Victorian fashion even Rags during that age would have caused a fortune some wives readily agreed to work in
the field while others were forced by their husbands and if you are a low-class single woman this was the only way to stay afloat until you found a husband not to mention the profession helped with that as well it was pretty much similar to how a lot of people these days have an entertainment account only for their fans if you know you know the lowest class of brothel workers were the women who actually worked in brothels they were forced to be with the men that Madam selected for them and they weren't allowed to deny services
the working living conditions were poor filthy and unkempt but madams also tried their best to keep their health in check to save them from venereal diseases as these ailments were not only dangerous for the women's longevity as a worker but also brought distribute to the establishment [Music] on the surface high-class courtesans two low-class brothel workers may have had their work cut from the same cloth but not everybody likes to order vanilla when they go to an ice cream parlor isn't that the truth some people have a more exotic taste like Rocky Road and British glow
ice cream and some may not say it publicly but could be closet gluttons for Wasabi ice cream or ketchup flavored ice cream oh ketchup well we better not judge others and neither did the brothels of the Victorian era in fact they looked at it as an opportunity and provided those exotic flavors as we all know Victorian times were quite prudent and judgmental expecting everybody to behave and desire in a certain manner many men didn't get what they wanted from their significant others in their marriage most of them weren't even bold enough to mention it to
their wives and a certain number of them had desires that their wives were just biologically incapable of fulfilling during the Victorian era women were not allowed to have a liberal mindset when it comes to bedtime so that explains a lot of stuff we just mentioned but brothels were a place where there was no judgment regarding one's inhibitions and one could get what they wanted given they were in the right place brothels understood that and they began dealing in expertise establishments that would offer exclusive services that were in demand themed brothels also had these establishments to
keep their client list private and avoid risky vagrants brothels would also publish their sporting guides or catalogs featuring their products these books detailed brothel workers profiles for the prospective clients to browse and choose women from the luxury of their homes before visiting an establishment profiles included ages fiscal descriptions personality types and the cost of their service one of the most famous guides was the swells guide through the Metropolis in 2018 an extremely rare first edition of his guide was on Earth it provides an eye-popping insight into the brothels of Victorian London the 19th century may
have been conservative in many ways but it was liberal when it came to women's education even brothel workers received a formal education however the education for women was still limited to skills that made them attractive for marriage not to enable them to actually earn a living the majority of working-class women were unable to read or write according to Henry Mayhew only five percent of the low-class brothel workers were literate they usually would ask their clients to read newspapers to them so they could stay up to date on current events higher class courtesans however were skilled
in many ways like etiquette dancing drawing and playing piano but as they spent most of their time with members of parliaments and such onward they outgrew domestic Homemaker women in terms of becoming more cultured and knowledgeable of the world around them another challenge as a brothel worker was the infectious diseases that were most commonly spread through young men in the military venereal disease was so common in the 1800s that it killed just as many military men as go into battle this led to the passing of the contagious diseases act in the British Parliament any woman
suspected of dealing in coital Services could be summoned to undergo an unavoidable medical examination if it was discovered that she was infected she would be forced into Rehabilitation for the Fallen women for up to three months although the risk of Contracting venereal diseases was high in this industry women working in brothels were actually much healthier than average working-class women because they did not have to endure a grueling 14-hour work day factories so what do you think could you have survived Life as a woman in the Victorian era we hope you enjoyed the video please share
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