Books like Prostitutes, our life by Claude Jaget

A social history of prostitution in New York City that explores the neighborhoods, brothel owners, and women whose lives were shaped by the sex‑work economy.

Annotated bibliography.

Yoshiwara is the first attempt in nearly a century to give a comprehensive and detailed account of Edo-period Japan's legendary pleasure quarter. The book begins with a brief history of prostitution in Japan and follows with a survey of the Yoshiwara from its origins in the early 1600s to shortly after the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Yoshiwara society possessed for most of its history considerable glamour and surface allure, yet, at the same time, it accommodated attitudes and activities that today could only be regarded as exploitative and inhumane. Cecilia Segawa Seigle looks impartially at all aspects of Yoshiwara life, offering much information - the result of painstaking research in primary sources - that will be a revelation to readers in the West. While discussing in depth the highly specialized and idiosyncratic world of licensed prostitution, Seigle also makes the reader aware of the broader impact of this insular entertainment quarter on the manners and mores of other segments of Japanese society, both then and now. Arranged chronologically, Yoshiwara is not so much a history as a companion to studies of Edo-period literature, theatre, and the visual arts. It provides an overview of the social, cultural, and economic influences on and of this microcosm of early-modern urban Japan. An especially engaging feature of this readable text is the liberal use of anecdotes from contemporary sources. Specialists will find particularly interesting the carefully researched and clearly written exposition of the quarter's complex hierarchy and elaborate code of behavior. While always maintaining the distinction between fact and fabrication, this fascinating study seeks to delineate the truths that lie behind the legends.

A sweeping history of prostitution from ancient temples to modern advocacy, arguing for decriminalization and the sexual autonomy of sex workers.

This book is a study of the legal rules affecting the practice of female prostitution in Rome from approximately 200 B.C. to A.D. 250. It examines the formation and precise content of the legal norms developed for prostitution and those engaged in the profession, with close attention to their social context. The main focus of the study is to evaluate the extent to which the legal and political authorities were able to adapt this aspect of the legal system to the needs of contemporary society; in other words, it aims to explore the "fit" between the legal system and the socioeconomic reality. The book also attempts to shed light on important questions concerning marginal groups, marriage, sexual behavior, the family, slavery, and citizen status, especially the status of women. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of classical studies, women's studies, and gender studies.