A serious introduction to the profanation of the feminine

Paris

I’m sitting in the San Francisco airport, waiting in the United lounge for my flight to Paris to have its mechanical problems fixed. The current estimate is a six hour delay from the original departure, which will mean we leave at 8:30pm in San Francisco and arrive at 4:30pm Paris time. I feel my patience being tried.

But what does it matter really? I have tickets to Moulin Rouge at 6:45pm (tomorrow) night, just 4 minutes walk from my hotel in Paris. I think Cabaret is not my thing me but I figured that if it is just a 4 minute walk, how can I pass it up? I’m still worried I might miss it because of my flight. I’m in Paris for a business conference on Monday. I thought I would take the weekend before to have fun, but it doesn’t really matter in the end if I am late.

There has been a confluence of events around me on the theme of exploitation of girls and women. Before I left, I thought I would get a guide book, but I wanted something unusual, so I bought a guide that promised to capture art, history, food, fresh air, beaches, wine, and style, 100 Places in France every woman should go, by Marcia DeSanctis, 2014. It describes what it is like to enjoy France and Paris as a woman, so I thought, Wonderful!

And in fact, it is a wonderful book. Her stories are rich and poignant, and give such feeling to the country. The stories also include tragic historical accounts. For example, there is Camille Claudel, who became Rodin‘s mistress as a teenager; or Heloise d’Argenteuil, who fell madly in love with her philosophy tutor when she was 15--with that story leading to his castration and her grief. I did not anticipate these stories when I picked up the book, but they move me.

In a separate event, my friend Bryn has been decrying the Marquis de Sade for relativism and pornography, among other things. I knew nothing about him! Knowing nothing, I was curious. I purchased an electronic copy of the book Justine, planning to read it on this flight to Paris. I didn’t even see the cover. To my pain and horror, it is a study of sexual exploitation of a child.

With some synchronicity, I have been directed to awareness of systematic exploitation of girls. At this time, I don’t know what to do, except wait for the signs to converge into a clear message.

I think one of the reasons why use, abuse, and exploitation exist is because we are blind to it. It is sometimes easier to let our vision lose focus so that we don’t have to see what is around us.

But, I was now in Paris, seemingly distant from these concerns. My hotel was in Montmartre, just a short walk from the famous historical Moulin Rouge cabaret club, another thing about which I knew nothing. I knew there were dancing girls, and I thought since I am there, I should go see a show. What I saw there was another version of soft exploitation -- the show is very much like Cirque de Soliel, with really good acts, but in this case the girls are topless. They’re really beautiful, with thin bodies and perfect breasts; their ribs stand out, and they have wasp waists. There are men in the show as well, but they dress in normal clothes.

This is only soft exploitation, in some ways we are all exploited when we work for money. In this case, it is a normal job, the girls are not legally trapped, and they possibly quite enjoy it. Certainly it seems the men in the show must enjoy it, because it gives them a place to show their skills. I thought it was fine, but I was a little sleepy and I kept winking out. I was kind of glad when it was over.

Afterwards, I went to a jazz club (cave), and this was spectacular, I just loved it. The group was four men, a little older than me, and they were really enjoying playing. The music was fantastic, I loved the ambience, it was exciting. I was not sleepy at all.

After the show was over, I decided to walk around and take some photos of Paris at night. To my surprise, the main boulevard in Montmartre, the Boulevard de Clichy, is a kind of red light district, lined with sex and erotic shops. It is a little different than here -- there are many cafes and normal establishments intermixed with the sex shops, and the mood is not at all lascivious. There are a lot of normal people making their way along the sidewalks.

Still, it feels as if the girls in the theatres, peep shows, and sex shops are being exploited. Perhaps yes, perhaps no -- is it exploitation for a girl to choose this profession willingly? On the other hand, it is hard to imagine selecting this profession willingly, it is more likely that circumstance seemed to give them no other options.

It seems ironic, that in the middle of this sequence of messages about exploitation, that I choose a hotel in this district.

Museums

Louvre

The next day, Saturday, I decided I must go to the Louvre. I like contemporary art, but how can I miss the Louvre, the largest art museum in the world? I happened to wander to the lowest level, where it turned out the art was contemporary! Look at this work by Mark Manders, “Ramble Room Chair.” It moves me powerfully, it is gorgeous, perfectly done. What is the message? This is a powerful connection for me.

Afterwards, I wander to the Egyptian and classical sections, where the work is incredible, the best collection of such art that I have seen.

This is not such a strong connection for me, and I quickly decide to leave and go to the Museé D’Orsay instead.

Museé D’Orsay

I walked to the Museé D’Orsay, where I encountered a shock. The current exhibition is titled Splendeurs et misères, a show of images of prostitution. This seriously freaked me, yet again I am receiving a message about exploitation. Angel is really hammering the message home.

This exhibition is something I think I will carry with me for a long time. I had not fully realized the backstory behind much of the art of the era. Artists were attracted to prostitutes for many reasons. At times, they were attracted to the ambiguity of status during the day, when it is often not possible to distinguish between the respectable women and the prostitute. Also artists can find more willing models when they are hired for pay.

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec was enmeshed in the scene at the time, and portrays it intimately. The following painting is of the Moulin de la Gallete, and you see the two prostitutes in the foreground, bored and slow. Their pimp is next to them, overseeing the action.

There are also many images of courtesans, who held the same status as women of high class, yet were purchased by wealthy and powerful men eager to control her.

Landmark paintings include Manet’s Olympia, which shattered a period in art and ushered in a new era, and Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which did as well. Both images are of prostitutes.

Edouard Manet, Olympia

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

Finally, the painting that struck the deepest chord with me was Rolla, by Henri Gervex. This is a scene of a man about to commit suicide, looking back on the prostitute he shared a bed with the night before. The image here does not do it justice -- the colors are a brilliant, vivid white, the girl is beautiful, but not idealized, the look of the man is intense.

Henri Gervex, Rolla

This exhibition is a synchronicity, what is this purpose of the message? In yet another synchronicity, it turns out that the hangout of the artists of this period is Montmartre, the place where I am staying, and the Moulin Rouge and the nearby red light district are all the subjects of this exhibition.

I return to Montmartre to think it over.