The business of being kept: Elite prostitution as work

Authors

Nina Kushner, Clark UniversityFollow

Document Type

Book Chapter

Abstract

In eighteenth-century Paris, dames entretenues (kept women), alternatively known as femmes galantes, were women who provided sexual and companionate services to men of the elite in exchange for full or partial maintenance. What distinguished these women from the many others who had extramarital affairs for financial gain was what might best be characterized as the “formal informal” nature of their engagements.

Publication Title

Women and Work in Eighteenth-Century France

Publication Date

2015

First Page

52

Last Page

76

ISBN

9780807158326

Keywords

eighteenth century France, sex workers, sex work

Repository Citation

Kushner, Nina, "The business of being kept: Elite prostitution as work" (2015). History. 83.
https://commons.clarku.edu/historyfac/83