Jenny Fuller, Courtesan, specialising in pleasure and sexual healing.

blissed · 11-12-08 23:33:52

Yay!! today I've found the alternative word I’ve been searching for for ages to replace the word prostitute in a contemporary setting, and it's an old word and the word is Courtesan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesan it’s executive, has status and sits happily engraved on a brass plate outside a smart office just as much as the word Lawyer or Doctor or Architect, and the title of this thread is what such a brass plate would probably read. I think it’s a brilliant word and if it found common usage it would change the aura around the profession and thus in time revolutionise the profession itself. Anyway, if no-one else wants to use it right now I'm gonna use it anyway in the bubble that is my own little universe :)

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xxEPxx · 11-12-08 23:50:06

As in the book/film, The Honest Courtesan? Yeah, it's a good word.

xxEPxx

nihpuad · 12-12-08 06:46:18

blissed wrote:

Yay!! today I've found the alternative word I’ve been searching for for ages to replace the word prostitute in a contemporary setting, and it's an old word and the word is Courtesan

It's a delightful word, but I'm not sure it's truly a "contemporary" replacement for "prostitute." The very courtliness that makes the term so appealing also implies a certain class bias in the clientele, and courtesans, as described at your link, seem historically to have also possessed a range of nonsexual social skills and responsibilities, almost as if they were the Western equivalent of geisha, in addition to being prostitutes (geisha themselves aren't prostitutes, contrary to common impressions).

For very high-priced escorts who see only a few upper-class regulars, courtesan might be an appropriate term, but there are plenty of perfectly respectable sex workers -- call girls, escorts, massage parlor workers, etc. -- for whom (and to whom) the term might seem a bit highfalutin'.

I can't help wondering why we need an alternative word: Prostitute is, by my lights, an honest word for an honest profession, and a wise man once told me that whores are magic!

PS: Sorry to be such a word geek. I just can't help myself!

momentextase · 12-12-08 07:58:08

nihpuad wrote:

.... and a wise man once told me that whores are magic!...

Gee, I wonder who that could nave been... for some reason a vague, foggy image of a bunny (of all things) drifts through my mind as I try to remember who that was... hummm, it's on the tip of my tongue... nearly have it...drat!!... its gone.

Darn! Time for more ginko.

blissed · 13-12-08 01:55:29

nihpuad wrote:

blissed wrote:
Yay!! today I've found the alternative word I’ve been searching for for ages to replace the word prostitute in a contemporary setting, and it's an old word and the word is Courtesan
It's a delightful word, but I'm not sure it's truly a "contemporary" replacement for "prostitute." The very courtliness that makes the term so appealing also implies a certain class bias in the clientele, and courtesans, as described at your link, seem historically to have also possessed a range of nonsexual social skills and responsibilities, almost as if they were the Western equivalent of geisha, in addition to being prostitutes (geisha themselves aren't prostitutes, contrary to common impressions).
For very high-priced escorts who see only a few upper-class regulars, courtesan might be an appropriate term, but there are plenty of perfectly respectable sex workers -- call girls, escorts, massage parlor workers, etc. -- for whom (and to whom) the term might seem a bit highfalutin'.
I can't help wondering why we need an alternative word: Prostitute is, by my lights, an honest word for an honest profession, and a wise man once told me that whores are magic!
PS: Sorry to be such a word geek. I just can't help myself!

I think like cunt for most people the word prostitute is so loaded with negativity, and right across all age groups, and in fact quite a few people who appear in erotic images aren't cool with it and offended at the suggestion that they may be a prostitute. Where as whore, tho still carrying negativity has, (probably due to myspace) gained a certain amount of light hearted acceptance among many people. But really I think both words want a slow public makeover, then the word prostitute can be accepted by everyone. It's nice to have a good choice of alternative words too.

Your right about Courtesan, it's just one more word to help remove the stigma and alter public perception to something more accurate. And on the point of accuracy vs wishful thinking This is a field that I'm not very knowledgeable of, but like most men I've bought porn so if a nice mutually happy real experience was available to me I probably would have tried it. Anyway, about the accuracy of my perceptions, many real experiences may be sleazy because I think like porn the expectation of sleaziness feeds back into the real life activity and people provide what they think is expected of them and also like porn where, because of confidentiality all the good news stories are usually secret and all the bad news is public, I would safely assume that's true of the work of a Courtesan too. You see that was quite nice to use just then, in this setting it feels polite rather than high felooting.

momentextase wrote:

nihpuad wrote:
.... and a wise man once told me that whores are magic!...
Gee, I wonder who that could nave been... for some reason a vague, foggy image of a bunny (of all things) drifts through my mind as I try to remember who that was... hummm, it's on the tip of my tongue... nearly have it...drat!!... its gone.
Darn! Time for more ginko.

The bunny loves you too xxx

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#1 11-12-08 23:33:52

Jenny Fuller, Courtesan, specialising in pleasure and sexual healing.

#2 11-12-08 23:50:06

Re: Jenny Fuller, Courtesan, specialising in pleasure and sexual healing.

#3 12-12-08 06:46:18

Re: Jenny Fuller, Courtesan, specialising in pleasure and sexual healing.

#4 12-12-08 07:58:08

Re: Jenny Fuller, Courtesan, specialising in pleasure and sexual healing.

#5 13-12-08 01:55:29

Re: Jenny Fuller, Courtesan, specialising in pleasure and sexual healing.

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