The dream behind the whore

In the book I am writing about female sexuality, there is a chapter about three prominent archetypes for the feminine created by patriarchy: the virgin, the whore and the women's union. Since starting this chapter I have been on a fascinating journey of discovery around the dreams underlying each of these shadow archetypes. And so it comes that I am reading Love for Sale. A global history of prostitution by Nils Ringdal. I want to share with you a bit of what I am discovering here.

History, of course, is always a matter of interpretation but still the following tales have been inspiring to me.

In India, the highest class of prostitutes were called ganika. Ringdal writes that the most prominent woman amongst the followes of Gautam Buddha was a ganika called Ambapali. She was a wealthy and highly educated woman. Ambapali contributed large sums of money to the neew Buddhist movement, while, of course, continuing her profession.

The contrast between the life of a married woman in India and that of a ganika was stark. Ganikas were the only women in India who got an education. Ganikas' services were legally recognized. They could hold money and possess land and slaves.

In Greece, the counterparts of the ganikas were the hetearas. There were few of them - an Athenian cencus of 400BC records 135. Hetearas were considered by some to be the leaders amongst all women. While Greek wives lived lives of obscure seclusion, hetearas had the same freedom as men. They roamed the streets, attended theatrical performances, joined in public processions and even made their mark on politics.

The woman poet Sapphy ran a school for women on the island of Lesbos. It is most likely that many, if not most, of her students were hetearas, as these were about the any women in Greece who were able to live a free life.

It is said that the heteara Hermione had the following words embroidered on a belt that she always wore: "Love me for all eternity, but do not be jealous of others do the same."

One of the most famous heteara was called Asparia. She grew up in the local temple of Aphrodite where she served as a temple priestess. Temple training in the temple of the love goddess included sexual service. Later Asparia became a heteara in secular life. She was beautiful, a master of rhetoric, witty and highly knowledgeable. She had as visitors many of Athens' leading citizens. Pernicles, one of Athens' greatest statesmen, left his wife to be with Aspasia. Records of the time have it that Aspasia had a radical influence on the political decisions Pernicles made since then.

After the death of Pernicles, Aspasia took as lover Lysicles, another prominent politician. She taught philosophy and rhetoric for young women at a school that she founded. in these years, Apsasia could be found in the social circles of Socrates and Plato, who lived with the heteara Arcanessa. Socrates accepted Aspasia and another well schooled heteara named Theodota as discussion partners.

And here, one final lovely tale about a heteara. Her name was Phryne and her beauty was legendary. As happens with people who are idealised, Phryne at some point fell out of favour with the masses and was charged with impiety. The question in the trial was whether her beauty would be construed as witchcraft or divine emanation.

Hyperides, a famous orator, undertook her case. Ringdal (66)writes:

"At one surprising moment in court, Hyperides went right up to the Phyne and began to remove her clothing, garment by garment, just as she herself had done during the previous year's Elysian mysteries. While people sat transfixed, he went ahead with his defense. "The judges were so seized by holy awe at the sight of the divinity that they did not venture to kill the prophetess and priestess of Aphrodite," wrote the historian Athenaeus. Suddenly, the conclusion was clear: Phryne had not commited blasphemy but given expression to a religious feeling in the hearts and souls of most Greeks."

There are many more tales about heteara who reached into the highest echelons of state. The point is clearly made: History suggests that one of the dreams behind the shadow of the whore is the woman who can stand fully in the power of her sexuality, who is free - a free citizen, who possesses herself and is not possessed - who can think for herself, and whose presence invokes both respect and adoration from society. In fact, as in the case of Phryne, she can be seen as an embodiment of the Goddess.

The position of the heteara and ganika stood in sharp contrast to that of wives in Greece and India. In fact, it was the wives who were possessed and indeed treated as the possessions of men, not the sex workers.

There is a poignant metaphor here. In my experience, women in our society who carry the prostitute archetype most strongly are often married. By prostitution I mean trading in sex. So many women, even women from the wealthiest and noblest circles, are oblidging their husbands sexually though they have no desire to do so. They trade their sexuality for the financial and social security that they get through their husbands.