No more desirable women

13 August 1927. Benjamin's diary:-

“Am I never again to travel anywhere with a woman I desire?”

The Mysterious Miss L.

From Benjamin’s diary

12 August 1927.

Benjamin is travelling in France.

“The familiar torment of loneliness that afflicts me particularly when travelling has for the first time assumed the features of growing old. L. has not come with me. (L’s identity remains a mystery). The likelihood that this is because of a misunderstanding is no greater than 10%. The likelihood that I have been deceived in the ordinary way is about 90%.If she had come, that would have been the basis for enjoying this trip.

I can be certain that I shall now, alone, find all the places which would have been sheer delight with her. Here I am, for example, sitting in a very quiet and very good restaurant. The table is precisely the right width for sitting opposite someone.”

The University of Muri

As a young man, Walter had an in joke with his buddies about The University of Muri:-

The University of Muri is the fictional creation of Walter and Gershom Scholem. It is presumed to be located in Muri, Switzerland and though it was shut down by Benjamin and Scholem a number of times it is, or was at last report, still "open." In his essay Walter Benjamin and his Angel Scholem writes, "The guardian angel of the Kabbalah from the year 1921 has become the guardian angel of the University of Muri, in whose Transactions a "philosopher" and a "kabbalist"-- who in a traditional sense were neither a philosopher nor a kabbalist-- made the traditional university and its scholars the object of their derision."

While a complete course offering was never really available, Scholem does report that he and Benjamin mutually agreed to put Robert Eisler in charge of a course titled, "Ladies' coats and Beach Cabanas in light of the History of Religion."

Prostitutes of Leeds

Prostitution

With Benjamin's notorious interest in Prostitutes, TheLeedsArcadesProject is often asked questions about prostitution now. We therefor prepared a primer:-

PROSTITUTION WORLDWIDE

In the UK, prostitution itself is not illegal but there are a number of offences linked to it. For example, it is an offence to 'procure' a prostitute or to use premises as a brothel and thereby live off 'immoral earnings'.

Prostitution is sexual activity in exchange for money. The legal status of prostitution varies in different countries, from punishable by death to complete legality.

In some countries the legal status of prostitution may vary depending on the activity; in Japan for example, vaginal prostitution is against the law while oral prostitution is legal, as women who perform fellatio for money are not considered prostitutes in Japan.

In many jurisdictions, the act of obtaining money for sex is not illegal, but many of the activities surrounding it are illegal. For example, in the UK amongst others, activities such as solicitation, pimping and owning or running a brothel are illegal.

In these countries, police often differ in their control of prostitution. In England and Wales for example, local police forces have historically flipped between zero tolerance of prostitution and unofficial red light districts.

PROSTITUTION IN BRADFORD

Vice squad officers are to investigate reports that girls as young as 13 are working as prostitutes in Bradford's red light district.

It comes as a Barnardos-backed project revealed a girl under the age of 12 had been found in the Thornton Road area being `groomed' to work the streets.

The latest incidents centre around a piece of wasteland off Richmond Road, near Bradford University.

Bosses of businesses in Monk Street, Hey Street and Blythe Street, which overlook the Bradford Council-owned site, say they have seen schoolgirls being dropped off in taxis to work as prostitutes.

Vice officers have now discovered a makeshift bed stashed in the centre of the overgrown land which has a dense cover of bushes and brambles.

Well-worn paths littered with scores of empty condoms and discarded wrappers lead to the bed and a nearby foam mattress.

ARGUMENTS AROUND PROSTITUTION

Feminists who believe that prostitution is inherently exploitative, such as authors like Andrea Dworkin herself an ex-prostitute, argued in the 1980s that commercial sex is a form of rape enforced by poverty (and often overt violence by pimps). Proponents reject the idea that prostitution can be reformed.

These feminists believe that the assumptions that women exist for men's sexual enjoyment, that all men "need" sex, or that the bodily integrity and sexual pleasure of women is irrelevant underlie the whole idea of prostitution, and make it an inherently exploitative, sexist practice.

One feminist argument against Dworkin's position is that prostitution, insofar as it colludes with the perception of an inherent 'need' on the part of men for sexual release, is exploiting men more than it exploits women.

"Any man who has enough money in his pocket to spend degrading a woman's life in prostitution has too much money. He does not need what he's got in his pocket. But there is a woman who does." -Andrea Dworkin 'Woman Hating' 1974

"Unless a deliberate attempt is to be made by society, acting through the agency of the law, to equate the sphere of crime with that of sin, there must remain a realm of private morality and immorality which is, in brief and crude terms, not the law's business." -The Wolfenden Committee Report on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution in England 1957

· Is prostitution immoral?

· Is sex the kind of thing that is permissible to sell?

· Everyone trades something about their body for the necessities of living, so why not sexual activity as well?

But sexual relations are so important, so personal, and so private that no one under any circumstances should feel that they have to sell such relations simply to earn enough money to eat and survive.

For example, no one can readily argue that it infringes upon our autonomy that we cannot sell ourselves into slavery. In the process of such a transaction, my autonomy is fundamentally altered - but is the same really true of a transaction which exchanges sex for money or other favors?

If prostitution were legal, large companies can become involved with offering sexual services and market them aggressively to the public, "developing brand loyalty, establishing tie-ins to other consumer/entertainment goods, and creating niche markets of under-served sexual needs." However, if enough of the public believes that a legal practice should nevertheless be restricted in how it is marketed, that's easy enough to do - witness the growing restrictions on tobacco advertising.

Prostitution could change the way sex is perceived generally in the marketplace, not just where sex is the primary product being sold. Thus, large companies might require sexual services from employees as a matter of course and welfare agencies might require that the unemployed take sexual work where available or risk losing benefits. Of all the possible problems with legalized prostitution, these provide the most food for thought - but there is also no reason to think that they should happen.

Anderson's scenarios may be very unlikely, but they are also very interesting. Although Anderson's basic purpose is to "maintain a barrier between sex and commerce," the reason why he thinks such a barrier should exist is largely the same as the reason behind all of the more traditional arguments against prostitution: there is something different and special about sex which requires us to treat it with more deference and dignity; thus, we are required to provide it with more protection. Although his examples seem highly implausible, if they are disturbing to us, then they reveal that perhaps we agree with his premise about the nature of sex.

Moreover, it is arguable that there are many possible jobs which no one should have to do merely to survive. Should a person have to join the military and risk dying in a war simply to escape unemployment? Should a person be forced to choose between being able to eat and donating sperm or blood? None of this sounds very appealing, yet no one is prevented from such actions.

If all countries legalised prostitution , the women would be clean and protected thus having a knock on effect. Men wouldn’t be taking home any unwanted STD’s, pimps would have to get a real job, ect ect. After all there will always be men that need their services for whatever reason.

Images of 19th Century Prostitutes. 3

Images of 19th Century Prostitutes. Japanese Prostitutes

Images of 19th Century Prostitutes. 2

Images of 19th Century Prostitutes

Prostitutes in the Arcades Project

In the 1820s and 30s when the majority of arcades were built in France they consisted of a roof of glass in an iron framework, an arched doorway (entrance) made of stone or brick that led through to another street's exitway designed with matching stone arch and decoration. The term "passage" comes closer in meaning to this space's actual use than the name arcade or galerie because in connecting two parallel streets, it affords a covered walkway in inclement weather, and, in most cases, a secure short-cut, especially at night with its gas-lit corridor between buildings. Indeed, as early as 1928, travel guides of the 19th century refer to the passages as "sheltered paths" used strictly by pedestrians going from one street to the next parallel street. Normally, the Passage had shops, boutiques, and cafés along either side of the corridor at the street level: "The stores are bright, well-stocked, but a little expensive". At the same time, the Passage was an ideal location for the entertainment industry, as well as for illicit activities, including brief, casual encounters such as gambling, prostitution, and petty thievery. The passages also offered a variety of other amenities: business offices, maisons et hôtels de passe [brothels and hourly rate hotels], transients' apartments, bathhouses, and eventually restrooms. The new social space created by the Passage is like a public interior for pedestrians outside of their home.

When the public attractions and pleasures of the passages were well-attended, they invited another sort of purchasable pleasure of a somewhat less public nature: that of brothels, massage parlors and gambling halls. And, whereas wealthy Parisian society gathered in the Passage for shopping and pleasure-seeking, there also existed a space for a criminal underworld: small-time con men, swindlers, rogues, and of course, pickpockets. Prostitutes in the Passage had their own hierarchy. By 1805, between 600 and 800 prostitutes worked and lived in the arcades of the Palais-Royal alone.[6] In the alleys were the street-walkers, while call-girls walked inside the arcades; demimondaines or "cocottes de luxe" worked from the outdoor cafés. Prostitutes were ranked in the hierarchy according to where they worked in and around the arcades of the Palais-Royal. Benjamin refers to the top-ranking hirondelles des passages, literally "the birds (swallows) of the passages," who lived on the first and second floors "in order to easily spy [passing] clients" from their "love" nests.[7] But the Passage's public walkways provided more than a path for the "fille publique," and all sorts of women and girls from every social strata could be encountered there: "grisettes, cousettes, ouvrières et jeunes filles" [young working women, apprentice dressmakers, working-class women, and girls]. [8] In his history of the arcades, Jonathon Friedrich Geist implies that "rain showers began many adventures," ungenerously suggesting that chance meetings and adventures with any one of these women was just as likely or possible as with a prostitute. Although Moncan and Mahout argue that prostitution didn't appear in passages other than those around the Palais-Royal, the presence of prostitutes is documented (albeit somewhat elliptically) in the 1830 proscription which prohibited their appearance in the passages as well as in public gardens and on the streets.

Part of the attraction of the Passage for prostitute and flâneur alike is the intimate juxtaposition of illicit commerce and other mercantile and capitalist ventures. In "Prostitution and Gaming" Benjamin observes: "The love that we have for the prostitute is the apotheosis of identification with commodity" (528). [10] The salon and boudoir quality of the Passage is forfeited to the commercial necessity of the street.

Causes of Prostitution in 19th Century Paris

Much of the Arcades Project is concerned with Prostitution in 19th Century Paris, something that clearly obsessed Benjamin. Let us have a little look into the background of this phenomenon.

Causes of Registered and Unregistered Prostitution in 19th Century Paris

The majority of women who were forced into prostitution did so because they were alone and impoverished, or had a family to support and no immediate job prospects. This chart, compiled from Alexandre Parent-Duchatelet's famous study of prostitution in Paris in the early 19th century, shows a more detailed breakdown of why women went into this dishonored, stigmatized line of work. Alexandre Parent-Duchatlet noted that often, prostitutes were unfit to do any sort of menial labor, which may have been why they chose prostitution.

Doctor Miracle

From Benjamin's Notebooks

“On pale-coloured wallpaper full of figures shone a gas lamp. By its light an old woman sat reading. They say she has been there alone for years and collects sets of false teeth “in gold, in wax, and broken.”

Since that day, moreover, we know where Doctor Miracle got the wax out of which he fashioned Olympia. They are the true fairies of these arcades which bore in their arms a doll-sized basket out of which, at the salutation of the minor chord, a lambkin poked its curious muzzle.”

Copy and Paste

Benjamin repeatedly treated the elements of his text according to the principles of building blocks: he copied them out, cut them out, stuck them on new pieces of paper and arranged them anew, long before such procedures became established in electronic word processing under the name “copy and paste”.

Benjamin’s idea of composing a work entirely of quotations ensures that the material within the collection can remain mobile; elements can be shifted at will. At the outset all material is of equal value: knowledge that is organised in slips and scraps knows no hierarchy.

Benjamin, Studied at University

An account from a collegue at the University:-

“I have a seminar where people come in and talk about what they are studying for a thesis or for their doctoral program. Basically if you can give a shred of a reason why you are studying something you are allowed to pursue it. On Thursday we had someone that was studying Walter Benjamin, she is taking his works and creating different digital art in as her response to some of his pieces.

For those of you who don’t know who Walter Benjamin is I can some up his entire life for you in one sentence. Born to a rich Jewish family (so he never had a real job because he was rich, not because he was Jewish), spent his life studying at different universities, smoked a shit ton of hashish, wrote a lot about different things, and then killed himself when the Nazis took all his books. The woman presenting her thoughts on Benjamin basically touted him as a genius and that he was rooted in her soul… she went on to use really big words and fawned over him. In fact the more she talked about him the more I thought she was going to take my pen out of my hand and do nasty things with it, in fact if that happened it would have totally saved the lecture.

At one point she handed out some photo copies of his “essential” readings. One of the readings were his observations while on hashish, she pointed to one quote and basically wet herself over it. Here is the quote:

“Oven turns into cat. The word ‘ginger’ is uttered and suddenly in place of the desk there is a fruit stand, in which I immediately recognize the desk.”

She touted it as being poetic and totally genius.”

Benjamin's Book List

Walter kept a list of Curious book titles. Here's a couple of examples:

'The sacrosanct foreskin of Christ in the cult and theology of the papist church Berlin 1907'.

'Whether animals are Satan?'

A Dream

Another account of a dream by Walter Benjamin

"On my way to the Seligman’s a woman came out of a side street towards me, and as she passed she whispered, as quickly as she was walking, “I’m going to tea, I’m going to tea”. I did not yield to the temptation to follow her but instead went to the Seligman’s, where an unpleasant scene took place, in the course of which their son pulled me by the nose. Protesting vigorously I slammed the door behind me. Scarcely was I outside again, than the same woman darted up to me with the same words, and this time I followed her. To my disappointment."

Oriental Cultural Differences

From Benjamin's Notebooks:-
"In China the inner person is "devoid of individual character, as it were. The idea of the wise man, of which Confucius is the classic incarnation, blurs any individuality of character; he is the truely characterless man - namely the average man. What distinguishes a Chinese is something quite different from character: a very elemental purity of feeling."

One Hundred Lines

We have looked before at Benjamin's love of small stuff including his obsession with that grain of wheat which someone had written a whole Hebrew Text on. He loved really, really small writing. Indeed one of his “never-realized ambitions was to get a hundred lines onto an ordinary sheet of notepaper.”

Land of the Sailor

Benjamin: “Memory does this: lets the things appear small, compresses them. Land of the sailor.”

Walter writes a poem

Walter Wrote the odd poem here and there. Heres one:-

When I begin a song

It sticks

And if I become aware of you

It is an illusion

And thus love wanted you

Humble and small

So that I win you

With being alone

Therefore you slipped from me

Untill I learnt

Only flawless petitions

Betray nature

And only enraptured steps

The blessed trace.

Benjamin's Feeling Romantic Again

Benjamin got all Romantic over Julia Radt-Cohn, but she found him kinda creepy and disgusting and couldn't imagine any woman having sexual feelings about him. Nether-the-less, this didn't stop Walter from writing her little love notes about how he likes to write small:-

“I have once more entered a period of small writing, in which, even after long intervals, I always find some kind of home again, and into which I should like to entice you. If you perceive this little box as homely, then nothing should prevent you from becoming its Princess.”