Belly Dance Forums - View Single Post - Debunking Sacred Prostitution myth--new book

Andrea Deagon · 01-09-2008, 03:02 AM

I'm looking forward to seeing this book. It is really about time. A lot of scholars have argued this in many different ways over the past 15 years or so, and I think what this book will offer is the interface between this academic material and the world at large. Also, a lot of scholars realize that the information in thier own discipline is skewed, but accept the existence of sacred prostitution in other areas/times/places. (For example, an Egyptologist saying, "Though it did exist in MEsopotamia, it didn't in Egypt.") This book should fix that problem.

There are actually two threads in the "myth" -- the author may have a more complex interpretation, of course. One of them is the story in Herodotus that all the virgins of a city have to prostitute themselves, waiting to be hired for whatever a man chooses to give her, at his pleasure. There's a lovely note about how some virgins have to sit around for ages because they're ugly and undesirable. This was reported by Herodotus third-hand and as a custom of the past, so it's clearly an urban legend by folklore standards. It is also a story designed to present women in a humiliating way that underscores their lack of control over their own sexuality and defines them as open to humiliation because of it. Women's sexuality is literally owned by men, and maybe it's only worth a dime. Most of the Western Christian denouncements of sacred prostitution come from this story.

The other, I think, arises from the late 19th/early 20th century mythmaking in which a number of scholars created the idea of primitive matriarchy, which of course existed to give way to the glories of modern patriarchal society. In this intellectual climate a lot of Middle Eastern texts were deciphered for the first time, and since the only way to determine the meaning of them was by context, if you misunderstood the context, you misunderstood the term. For example, an Egyptian term (khener) formerly thought to mean "harem" is now known to mean "troupe of musicians and dancers." Ooops. And in the heady turn of the century matriarchal myth-making, the idea of sacred prostitutes influenced the readings of the newly discovered texts from Sumerian and Babylonian temples, so that a lot of terms were taken to mean prostitute that really meant something far different. I recently read an article about Sumerian temple personnel, in which the old-school author defined nearly every female sacred office as "prostitute," even those whose duties were listed as wet-nursing infants (for example).

It always amazed me that in the early days of New Age / Woman centered spirituality, the idea of the sacred prostitute was thought of as a good thing (as it supposedly reunited sex and religion, split apart in the Judeo-Christian tradition). Yeah, but you're glorifying *prostitution.* Why should *paying* for sex in unequal patriarchal relationships be glorified? Well, we'll hopefully soon be shed of a myth we can do without.

I only hope this book means that I can now tell people "go read it" instead of having to argue it out myself, as I am obviously experienced at doing ... :-) I am interested to see how she works with (and without) ideas of orientalism, too. Should be a good read.

Joy in dance,

Andrea

01-09-2008, 03:02 AM	#7 (permalink)
Andrea Deagon Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 123	I'm looking forward to seeing this book. It is really about time. A lot of scholars have argued this in many different ways over the past 15 years or so, and I think what this book will offer is the interface between this academic material and the world at large. Also, a lot of scholars realize that the information in thier own discipline is skewed, but accept the existence of sacred prostitution in other areas/times/places. (For example, an Egyptologist saying, "Though it did exist in MEsopotamia, it didn't in Egypt.") This book should fix that problem. There are actually two threads in the "myth" -- the author may have a more complex interpretation, of course. One of them is the story in Herodotus that all the virgins of a city have to prostitute themselves, waiting to be hired for whatever a man chooses to give her, at his pleasure. There's a lovely note about how some virgins have to sit around for ages because they're ugly and undesirable. This was reported by Herodotus third-hand and as a custom of the past, so it's clearly an urban legend by folklore standards. It is also a story designed to present women in a humiliating way that underscores their lack of control over their own sexuality and defines them as open to humiliation because of it. Women's sexuality is literally owned by men, and maybe it's only worth a dime. Most of the Western Christian denouncements of sacred prostitution come from this story. The other, I think, arises from the late 19th/early 20th century mythmaking in which a number of scholars created the idea of primitive matriarchy, which of course existed to give way to the glories of modern patriarchal society. In this intellectual climate a lot of Middle Eastern texts were deciphered for the first time, and since the only way to determine the meaning of them was by context, if you misunderstood the context, you misunderstood the term. For example, an Egyptian term (khener) formerly thought to mean "harem" is now known to mean "troupe of musicians and dancers." Ooops. And in the heady turn of the century matriarchal myth-making, the idea of sacred prostitutes influenced the readings of the newly discovered texts from Sumerian and Babylonian temples, so that a lot of terms were taken to mean prostitute that really meant something far different. I recently read an article about Sumerian temple personnel, in which the old-school author defined nearly every female sacred office as "prostitute," even those whose duties were listed as wet-nursing infants (for example). It always amazed me that in the early days of New Age / Woman centered spirituality, the idea of the sacred prostitute was thought of as a good thing (as it supposedly reunited sex and religion, split apart in the Judeo-Christian tradition). Yeah, but you're glorifying prostitution. Why should paying for sex in unequal patriarchal relationships be glorified? Well, we'll hopefully soon be shed of a myth we can do without. I only hope this book means that I can now tell people "go read it" instead of having to argue it out myself, as I am obviously experienced at doing ... :-) I am interested to see how she works with (and without) ideas of orientalism, too. Should be a good read. Joy in dance, Andrea __________________ "I am not contradictory, I am dispersed." (Roland Barthes)