Contrary to appearances, this is not “the oldest profession in the world.” It is firstly essential to “do research,” a crucial step intended to learn about the places and people involved.
Anthropologist Catherine Deschamps is not exempt from this necessity. Her field study of prostitution actually begins with this underlying question: How do we grasp the paradox of our complete ignorance of a human world that is present and active right before our eyes, in our cities or neighborhoods, perhaps even right outside our doors? Could it be a kind of blindness, a refusal to see when it touches on the realm of sexuality? Before presenting the results of her investigation, she, too, must “walk the streets,” “meet people,” get “recognized,” and “accepted,” all parts of the codes and rituals necessary to hear and understand the reality of the paths of these women and men who exchange a moment of their bodies for a “wage.”
It’s a strange discovery of a similarity between financial and human flows, with the opening of networks and countries which illustrates a sort of absolute manifestation of globalization. But her work also does not fail to probe the inner lives of those who “sell” themselves, just as it sheds new light on those who “buy.” At the intersection of commercial relationships and pleasure, both physical and psychological, prostitution, Catherine Deschamps reminds us in her final reflection, is also a profound distress.
Catherine Deschamps, *Sex and Money on the Sidewalks*, Hachette Literature, Coll. The Docs, 234 pages, €20.50.
Jean-Luc Vannier
Psychoanalyst
jlvannier@free.fr
tel : 06 16 52 55 20
