The intellectuals, sex, and revolution: Prostitutes and singles of the nineteenth century

Paris in the nineteenth century was a fertile ground for bachelorhood and prostitution, full of cafes, nightlife venues, and theaters. At that time, acting was closely linked to prostitution, which led the Paris police officer to manipulate prostitutes of all kinds, from licensed brothels to those practicing clandestine prostitution. According to Katsaru, the bourgeoisie classified prostitutes and bachelors as suffering from "moral leprosy," thus rejected and marginalized, and their fate was considered to be determined by "disease, misery, or early death." While everyone cursed them, the bachelor exercised his right and enjoyed the freedom to dismiss bourgeois opinions behind his back. His prostitute partner was also seen as a provocation to the bourgeoisie, described as making her body into an provocative and barbaric artistic material "which contradicts the monotony of ordinary black clothing and delicate dresses." Meanwhile, young bourgeois men would go to prostitutes to practice sex before marriage.