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Hacks and Harlots

“Art critic Robert Hughes wrote in his opus The Fatal Shore how one in five women transported to the antipodes between 1788 and 1852 were “on the town,” a euphemism for you-know-what. No wonder Australians and Kiwis are, along with South Africans, my favorite people. The French, of course, excelled in the sexual liberation of women while the Americans were still burning so-called witches. From Madame de Pompadour to Madame du Barry, both of whom serviced Louis XV, to the Belle Epoque to Madame Claude, the Parisian grandes horizontales took pride in their vocation and responsibility for their power.”

https://www.takimag.com/article/hacks-and-harlots/