Sex, prostitutes and brothels: the old West

Sex and prostitutes in the old West. 

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

We can highlight at first, the prevailing double morality around the world of sex. On the one hand, it is inevitable to encounter the "Anglo-Saxon puritanism of the first American settlers." It is a "puritanism that censored everything related to the sex out of wedlock." A whole moral weight that fell especially on certain women considered "honest" as carriers of this Puritan morality. Of course in contrast to the prostitutes, women of the brothels. These women were therefore relegated to domestic and family reproduction roles that determined a form of sociability of the time. They had to raise and care for children who would later grow up to function as a labor force that would keep turning the wheel of the economy. These women with this particular role "should behave and dress decently, that is, the more covered the better."

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

Some forms of sex and prostitution

Of course sex, prostitutes and brothels they took their place in any town or city that corresponded to the far West. These sex workers were known by a variety of nicknames, such as “injured pigeons" either "sorority women”. The cinema always reminds us of these brothels in a particular way: led by a madam, old prostitute. These were dedicated to administration and generally had good intentions and a big heart. 

In the old west, different ways of prostitution. For example, some prostitutes walked through the streets carrying only a simple blanket, which would act as a primitive shelter to carry out the sexual act. Probably running into some alley, or hiding within the public realm. 

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 some greater prestige, could coexist in large brothels, some also very luxurious. In general, these large brothels, as we find in Hollywood movies, were run by prestigious madames. 

Beyond sex, prostitutes and brothels: charity

Some famous cases may be those of Julia Bulette and Rosa May. “Julia Bulette was one of the first women to set foot in the Virginia City that ran the first brothel from the city". He earned the respect of the entire community from his brothel "before his charitable gestures with the sick in the city." This woman effectively fulfilled a beneficial role in the community through care and charity for the weakest.

Rosa May on the other hand, also lived as a sexual companion which at the end of the 19th century, also in Virginia City, was in charge of a plurality of charitable works. She cared for the sick of a powerful epidemic that was ravaging the region, to which unfortunately, she too would succumb. 

Indeed, the birth of the American nation was forged hand in hand with the ancient trade of sexual companions and the proliferation of brothels. .”From the red-light neighborhoods of San Francisco to the large brothels that have sprung up in Virginia City (NV), passing through the mobile wagons of Fort Dodge. All this 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 the border towns that were places that welcomed the settlers. They could be mining camps, army training posts, or railway workers' quarters. “That is why they were places that were characterized by good food, whiskey and friendly girls who attended to the needs of travelers.”

If you are wondering about the origins of brothels, it is necessary to think about the constitution of the famous border towns. They were urban centers built with private money. They could have multiple goals. For example, welcoming the new settlers who arrived from the east, serving as a nerve center for the mining camps. These "were located in the surroundings (where there was gold, to be more specific)". 

They functioned at the same time as "outposts for the army and, among many other things, serve as housing for railway workers who sought to spread civilization by rail and locomotive."

What role did sex, prostitutes and brothels occupy then? It is thus that all these workers did not stop attending these spaces of sexual freedom offered in the typical towns of the «Far West». The workers would no doubt go "in search of a good meal, a shot of whiskey." They would certainly look for a kind and sweet girl as a sexual companion, with whom not only to hang out, but to satisfy their needs in order to return to the hard working day.

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

Of course, its price of labor power varied according to how beautiful it was considered, but other factors also play a role. Such as nationality or ethnic origin. 

Sexual partners and economy

Prostitutes and brothels fulfilled, as we have indicated, a fundamental role in the development of the United States of America. They had a good functioning in these first communities. Also being "its activity, a clear stimulus for the revitalization of its economy."

It has been insisted on showing brothels many times as true dens of perdition and the perverse. Or the prostitutes like alcoholic girls who because of their addiction would be willing to offer any sex favor. There are, however, many more nuances that reveal to us, 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 the utmost importance. In fact, many times, the sexual companions "did not practice oral sex because they considered it a unseemly behavior typical of French women”. We find in this statement some bad faith in the sense that this was not happening due to a mere morality or pose, or due to 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 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 the one that had been established in a society." Well, "despite the fact that the girls of the night were viewed in a derogatory way, they were also tolerated as a "necessary evil" by the women of the villages"

Sex workers were seen as fulfilling certain needs that diverted evil flows. They diverted attitudes that could extend to forms of sexuality that disrupted the order of functional social relationships. In other words, having prostitutes and sexual activities located in particular areas such as brothels, sexual venting and "lascivious desires" with the daughters of the town's inhabitants were avoided.

That is to say that the brothels fulfilled the function of naming, locating, and containing, practically institutionalizing sexual practices within the brothel. 

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