Changes

Historian [[Amy Stanley]] argues that this set of attitudes in Edo period Japan represents an ironic reversal from many feminists' attitudes today regarding prostitution. Whereas many feminists today might celebrate a woman's agency, her freedom and power to choose to do what she wishes with her body, it was that self-same agency that made Edo period prostitutes the object of stigma.

Historian [[Amy Stanley]] argues that this set of attitudes in Edo period Japan represents an ironic reversal from many feminists' attitudes today regarding prostitution. Whereas many feminists today might celebrate a woman's agency, her freedom and power to choose to do what she wishes with her body, it was that self-same agency that made Edo period prostitutes the object of stigma.

In the 17th century, prostitution was concentrated chiefly in urban centers, as those cities emerged and grew into some of the largest in the world. The shogunate established licensed quarters in several of the major cities, restricting licensed, legal prostitution to designated areas including the Yoshiwara in Edo, the [[Shimabara (Kyoto)|Shimabara]] in Kyoto, and the [[Maruyama]] district in Nagasaki. All other prostitution in those cities was considered illegal, and was occasionally powerfully suppressed, but continued nevertheless. The [[Kabuki]] theater, as it emerged in the early 17th century, was originally closely connected to prostitution, with most if not all of the performers available for sexual services, and with the dances and skits serving, essentially, as advertisement of their bodies. After women were banned from the kabuki stage in [[1629]] (along with young men in [[1642]], though they were later allowed to return), the theater became more distanced from brothel prostitution, though male-male prostitution continued to be available chiefly through the theater world.

In the 17th century, prostitution was concentrated chiefly in urban centers, as those cities emerged and grew into some of the largest in the world. The shogunate established licensed quarters in several of the major cities, restricting licensed, legal prostitution to designated areas including the Yoshiwara in Edo, the [[Shimabara (Kyoto)|Shimabara]] in Kyoto, and the [[Maruyama]] district in Nagasaki. All other prostitution in those cities was considered illegal, and was occasionally powerfully suppressed, but continued nevertheless. Unlicensed prostitutes in Edo were known as ''kakushi baijo'' ("hidden prostitutes") or simply as ''baita'' (whores), and included women who solicited clients along the riverbanks, or met them out on riverboats. Many of these women were of the most marginal sections of society, and led this life because they had no other choice; they included the daughters of outcastes, prostitutes who had fallen out of more stable brothel work because of their age, illness, or for other reasons, and women who worked for gangsters, gamblers, and the like, often paying a very considerable portion of their proceeds to their pimps.

 

The [[Kabuki]] theater, as it emerged in the early 17th century, was originally closely connected to prostitution, with most if not all of the performers available for sexual services, and with the dances and skits serving, essentially, as advertisement of their bodies. After women were banned from the kabuki stage in [[1629]] (along with young men in [[1642]], though they were later allowed to return), the theater became more distanced from brothel prostitution, though male-male prostitution continued to be available chiefly through the theater world.

In the 18th-19th centuries, with the licensed quarters of [[Edo]], [[Kyoto]], [[Osaka]], and [[Nagasaki]] well-established, the expansion of prostitution was seen mainly in other areas, including [[shukuba|post stations]], port towns, mining towns, regional villages, and so forth, fueled by the growth of travel culture and the expansion of commercial/trading networks.

In the 18th-19th centuries, with the licensed quarters of [[Edo]], [[Kyoto]], [[Osaka]], and [[Nagasaki]] well-established, the expansion of prostitution was seen mainly in other areas, including [[shukuba|post stations]], port towns, mining towns, regional villages, and so forth, fueled by the growth of travel culture and the expansion of commercial/trading networks.