Reading, Writing, and Rewriting the Prostitute Body

"I found this a fascinating book: wide-ranging, readable." --Alison Jaggar

Bell shows how the flesh-and-blood female body engaged in sexual interaction for payment has no inherent meaning and is signified differently in different cultures or discourses. The author contends that modernity has produced "the prostitute" as the other within the categorial other: woman.

In this volume, Shannon Bell recovers the courtesan of ancient Greece as both sophistic philosopher and erotic teacher.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-222) and index.

SHANNON BELL teaches classical political theory, feminist theory, and legal theory in the Department of Political Science at York University.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. Reading, Writing, and Rewriting the Prostitute Body

2. Reading the Hetairae in Plato's Texts

3. The Making of the Modern Prostitute Body

4. Writing the Prostitue Body: Feminist Reproductions

5. Rewriting the Prostitue Body: Prostitute Perspectives

6. Prostitute Performances: Sacred Carnival Theorists of the Female Body

Conclusion: From Aspasia's Salon to the Sprinkle Salon

Notes

Bibliography

Index