A brothel, also known as a bordello or whorehouse, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sex with the clients. In some places, licensed brothels are legal (see prostitution), and in many countries, places such as massage parlors are allowed to function as brothels, with varying degrees of regulation and repression. Depending on zoning, brothels may be confined to special red-light districts or 'tolerance zones'. Whore redirects here. ... Whore redirects here. ... A massage parlor is a place where customers can receive a massage. ... A typical zoning map; this one identifies the zones, or development districts, in the city of Ontario, California Zoning is a North American term for a system of land-use regulation. ... The De Wallen red-light district in Amsterdam A red-light district is a neighborhoooood where prostitution and other businesses in the sex industry flourish. ...

Etymology

The word brothel is from Middle English, and stems from 'brothen', the past participle of 'brethen', meaning 'to waste away' or 'to go to ruin', showing the low regard brothels and prostitution have been held in throughout much of history.^[1] Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... In linguistics, a participle is an adjective derived from a verb. ...

Other (older) names for brothel are 'cathouse', 'bawdyhouse', 'house of ill repute', 'house of prostitution', 'knocking shop', 'pleasure house' or 'sporting house'.^[2]

History

Brothels have been known for most of recorded history. Early incidences include temple prostitution in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. Religious prostitution, the vulgar epithet for hieros gamos, is the practice of having religiously motivated sexual relationships. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

By the time of the ancient Grecian and Roman civilizations, brothels were established and sometimes licensed institutions, with the latter first being recorded in Athens in 594 BC. Public sources of the time applauded the installation of said brothel by Solon, as this was deemed to reduce the disruptions caused by sexually unfulfilled transients (sailors, workers), as well as bringing money into the public purse. This first official brothel was soon followed by many others, and also influenced the creation of special schools in which various classes of prostitutes (from slavegirls to future courtesans) were trained for their profession.^[3] The Temple of Athena, the Parthenon Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around nine hundred years. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Athens (Ancient Greek: αἱ Ἀθῆναι (plural), evolving into the modern Αθήναι in Greek until recently, and Αθήνα nowadays (IPA ); is both the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. ... For other uses, see Solon (disambiguation). ... Transient means passing with time. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock... A courtesan in mid-16th century usage was a high-class prostitute or mistress, especially one associated with rich, powerful, or upper-class men who provided luxuries and status in exchange for her services. ...

Business models

Brothels use a variety of business models.

• In some, prostitutes are held in involuntary servitude without the option to leave,^[4] receiving only a small portion (or none) of the money paid by the patron. This is typical where human trafficking procures a large percentage of prostitutes, and is common in (though not limited to) countries where prostitution is forbidden or repressed. In some cases, prostitutes are bought and sold by their keepers, reducing them to a state of chattel slavery. All of these are illegal in most jurisdictions.

• In others the prostitutes are employees, receiving a small fixed salary and a portion of the money spent by the customer. (Maison close French for "closed house")

• In still others the prostitutes pay a fee for use of the facilities, with the brothel owner not being involved in the financial transaction between prostitute and client. (Maison de passe, French for "trick house")
  • In those countries which restrict or forbid prostitution, the latter provides some level of plausible denial to the facility owner, who often (thinly) disguises the brothel as a massage parlor, bar or similar facility. Allowing such brothels may also be a form of face-saving by politicians who are unwilling or unable to fully enforce laws against prostitution.

Involuntary servitude is the condition of a person laboring to benefit another against his will due to coercive influence directed toward him. ... Trafficking in human beings (or human trafficking) involves the movement of people (mostly women and children) against their will by means of force for the purpose of sexual or labor exploitation. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into slavery. ... A Senate committee, the Church Committee in 1974-1975 conducted an investigation of the intelligence agencies. ... A massage parlor is a place where customers can receive a massage. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Military brothels

Further information: Comfort women, Bordels Mobiles de Campagne, and Forced prostitution in German armed forces

Until recently, in several armies around the world a mobile brothel service was attached to the army as an auxiliary unit, especially in long term deployments abroad. For example, during French and Japanese colonial campaigns of the 20th century such employees were mainly recruited among the local population of South-East Asia and Africa; some were often underage. Because it is a touchy subject, military brothels were often designated with creative euphemisms. Notable examples of such jargon are la boîte à bonbons (French for "the candy box"), replacing the term "BMC". "Comfort battalions" were forced prostitutes captured in China and Korea by the Japanese occupation army, and thus the prostitutes were individually referred to as "Military comfort women" or jūgun-ianfu. Comfort women ) or military comfort women ) is a euphemism for the up to 200,000 women who served in the Japanese armys brothels during World War II. Historians and researchers into the subject have stated that the majority were from Korea, China and other occupied territories and were recruited... A Bordels Mobiles de Campagne or Bordel Militaire de Campagne (both abbreviated to BMC) is a French term for a mobile brothel used to supply prostitution services to French soldiers facing combat in areas where brothels were unusual, such as at the front line or in isolated garrisons during the... There was a forced prostitution in Nazi Germany for sexual gratification of German soldiers and members of other Nazi organizations in occupied Europe during World War II.[1] In combination with bordellos established by the Nazi state for the soldiers in the Wehrmacht, for SS officers, and for foreign laborers... In law, a person who is not yet a legal adult is known as a minor (known in some places as an infant or juvenile). ... Euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener; or in the case of doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker. ... A Bordels Mobiles de Campagne or Bordel Militaire de Campagne (both abbreviated to BMC) is a French term for a mobile brothel used to supply prostitution services to French soldiers facing combat in areas where brothels were unusual, such as at the front line or in isolated garrisons during the... Korea (Korean: 한국 in South Korea or ì¡°ì„  in North Korea, see below) is a geographic area, civilization, and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. ... Comfort women ) or military comfort women ) is a euphemism for the up to 200,000 women who served in the Japanese armys brothels during World War II. Historians and researchers into the subject have stated that the majority were from Korea, China and other occupied territories and were recruited...

Nevada brothels

In the United States, the only state where brothels are legal is Nevada. Brothels are legal in counties with populations of less than 400,000 inhabitants. County governments license and regulate brothels within their boundaries. Brothels have existed in Nevada since the old mining days of the 1800s and were first licensed in 1971. As of 2007, thirty brothels existed in Nevada. The legendary Mustang Ranch operated from 1971 through 1999, when it was forfeited to the federal government following a series of convictions for tax fraud, racketeering, and other crimes. The Mustang Ranch was a brothel near Reno in Storey County, Nevada. ... This article contrasts tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax resistance and tax mitigation. ... Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ...

Regulation

Various countries have fully legalised prostitution (as opposed to only tolerating it) in the last decades, including countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and New Zealand. Most of these countries seem to favor brothels, at least in theory, as they are considered to be less problematic than street prostitution. Laws regarding prostitution often include strict regulations for brothels, for example specifying that they may not be situated in certain zones (such as in residential areas or near schools) and usually prescribing various forms of health inspections. Actual regulations vary widely.^[5] Street prostitution is a common scenario for prostitution. ...

In popular culture

Movies depicting brothels include:

• Born into Brothels
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
• CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Ending Happy.
• HBO's Cathouse: The Series (Season 1)
• HBO's Cathouse: The Series (Season 2)
• Memoirs of a Geisha(Geishas are not truly prostitutes. They are paid for their dancing and singing skills. They only have one time where their virginity is sold).
• Risky Business

Born into Brothels: Calcuttas Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Calcuttas red light district. ... The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a stage and film musical written by Larry L. King. ... CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ... CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a popular Alliance Atlantis/CBS police procedural television series, running since October 2000, about a team of forensic scientists. ... Ending Happy is the twenty-first episode of the seventh season of the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. ... HBO (Home Box Office) is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner. ... Memoirs of a Geisha is an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning movie adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielbergs Amblin Entertainment and directed by Rob Marshall. ... Spoiler warning: Risky Business is a 1983 film written and directed by Paul Brickman. ...

See also

• Big Sister (a unique 'free' brothel in Prague)
• Fashion health (a Japanese type of brothel)
• Prostitution
• Sex industry
• Comfort women
• Bordels Mobiles de Campagne

Big Sister is a brothel and associated voyeuristic paysite, located in Prague, Czech Republic, where prostitution is not forbidden. ... Fashion-Health Massage, ファッションヘルス, or Health for short, is a form of Japanese brothel that manages to avoid the anti-prostitution law by offering a range of services that stop short of full intercourse. ... Whore redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Comfort women ) or military comfort women ) is a euphemism for the up to 200,000 women who served in the Japanese armys brothels during World War II. Historians and researchers into the subject have stated that the majority were from Korea, China and other occupied territories and were recruited... A Bordels Mobiles de Campagne or Bordel Militaire de Campagne (both abbreviated to BMC) is a French term for a mobile brothel used to supply prostitution services to French soldiers facing combat in areas where brothels were unusual, such as at the front line or in isolated garrisons during the...

Bibliography

• The House of Dolls, Karol Cetinsky

References

1. ^ Brothel (from the Merriam-Webster dictionary)
2. ^ Brothel Synonyms (partly from synonyms.com)
3. ^ Salamis, Tarts, Paedophilia and Pornikotelos - Hellenic Star, Thursday 07 September 2000
4. ^ Liberating sex slaves in India - New Internationalist, Issue 390, June 2006
5. ^ A summary of the prostitution regulations in the EU member states (from the website of the European Parliament)