Vénus au bordel

Description

VENUS IN THE BROTHEL Who lies within this brothel: a Pandora’s box giving free rein to every fantasy? Or more precisely, the objects of fantasies… those of the young virgin who must overcome his clumsiness to become a fully-fledged man? Or indeed the old pervert attempting to rekindle his ardour using subterfuges when he is only fooling himself? It would seem that these two extremes come together there, amongst a great many others. But how can this mystery be unravelled nowadays without falling victim to apparent certainties? French law closed down the “maisons closes” from 1946 - a tautology, quipped the actress Arletty at the time – but did nothing to address the multitude of questions posed by the workings of mercenary love. Today three generations have never experienced the activities of brothels, which were managed by various secular institutions whose official publications -we are referring solely to French territory here- date back to St. Louis (1214-1270). This lack of experience and visibility opens the door to all sorts of misinterpretations. However, the documentation exists. For anyone researching the life of brothels from 1870-1940 -the decades covered by the photographs in this book- hundreds of publications are available constituting an extremely thorough inventory.