Male Prostitution - History

History

Male prostitution has been found in almost all modern and ancient cultures. The practice in the ancient world of men or women selling sexual services in sacred shrines, or sacred prostitution, was attested to be practised by foreign or pagan cultures in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Male prostitutes are also attested to in Graeco-Roman culture in the New Testament, amongst many other ancient sources. Some interpreters consider that in one of the Pauline vice lists, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, one of the words malakoi ("soft") or arsenokoitai (a compound of "male" and "bed", from whence, "koitai", the word "coitus" originates, through the Latin) refer to male prostitution (or male temple prostitution): this interpretation of arsenokoitai is followed in the New Revised Standard Version.

The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality states that in ancient Greece prostitutes were generally slaves. A well known case is Phaedo of Elis who was captured in war and forced into slavery and prostitution, but was eventually ransomed to become a pupil of Socrates; Plato's Phaedo is told from his perspective. Male brothels existed in both Ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

Court records and vice investigations from as early as the 17th century document male prostitution in what is now the United States. With the expansion of urban areas and the aggregation of gay people into communities toward the end of the 19th century, male/male prostitution became more apparent. Around this time, prostitution was reported to have taken place in brothels, such as the Paresis Hall in the Bowery district of New York and in some gay bathhouses. Solicitation for sex, including paid sex, took place in certain bars between so-called "fairies."

Male street prostitutes solicited clients in specific areas which became known for the trade. Well-known areas for street "hustlers" have included: parts of 53rd Street in New York; Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles; Piccadilly Circus, in London; "The Wall" in Sydney's Darlinghurst; The Drug Store and Rue Saint Anne in Paris; Polk Street Gulch in San Francisco; Willow Avenue and Easton Avenue, County Route 527 in Franklin, New Jersey; and Taksim Square in Istanbul. Bars such as Cowboys and Cowgirls and Rounds in New York, Numbers in Los Angeles and certain go-go bars in Patpong Thailand were popular venues where male prostitutes offered their services.