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Ti Docy

The article discusses red-light districts, areas in urban settings known for legal prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, with Amsterdam's De Wallen being a notable example. The term 'red-light district' has historical roots, with early references dating back to the 19th century, and various folk etymologies explaining its origin. Additionally, the article touches on the terminology used in different cultures, such as 'akasen' in Japan, which denotes legal red-light areas.

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47 views2 pages

Ti Docy

The article discusses red-light districts, areas in urban settings known for legal prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, with Amsterdam's De Wallen being a notable example. The term 'red-light district' has historical roots, with early references dating back to the 19th century, and various folk etymologies explaining its origin. Additionally, the article touches on the terminology used in different cultures, such as 'akasen' in Japan, which denotes legal red-light areas.

Uploaded by

raviaujrengg
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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This article is about the sex industry term. For other uses, see Red Light District (disambiguation).

De Wallen, Amsterdam's red-light district, is


internationally known and one of the main tourist attractions of the city. It offers
legal prostitution and a number of coffee shops that sell marijuana.
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration
of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are
found. In most cases, red-light districts are particularly associated with female street prostitution,
though in some cities, these areas may coincide with spaces of male prostitution and gay venues.
[1]
Areas in many big cities around the world have acquired an international reputation as red-light
districts.[2]

Origins of the term


[edit]

A statue in honor of sex workers in Amsterdam,


Netherlands
Red-light districts are mentioned in the 1882 minutes of a Woman's Christian Temperance
Union meeting in the United States.[3] The Oxford English Dictionary records the earliest known
appearance of the term "red light district" in print as an 1894 article from the Sandusky Register, a
newspaper in Sandusky, Ohio.[citation needed]

Author Paul Wellman suggests that this and other terms associated with the American Old
West originated in Dodge City, Kansas, home to a well-known prostitution district during the 19th
century, which included the Red Light House saloon.[4] This has not been proven, but the Dodge City
use was likely responsible for the term's pervasiveness.[5] A widespread folk etymology claims that
early railroad workers took red lanterns with them when they visited brothels so their crew could find
them in the event of an emergency. However, folklorist Barbara Mikkelson regards this as
unfounded.[6]

An early reference to red-light districts on a January


1901 Judge cover
A commonly repeated, though likely spurious, folk etymology stems from sailors coming back from
sea to Amsterdam (c. 1650): Women working as prostitutes, deprived of proper hygiene and running
fresh water, carrying red lanterns — with their color camouflaging boils, zits, inequalities in the face
and on the skin — made clear they were available as women of pleasure.[citation needed]

One of the many terms used for a red-light district in Japanese is akasen (赤線), literally meaning "red-
line". Japanese police drew a red line on maps to indicate the boundaries of legal red-light districts.
In Japanese, the term aosen (青線), literally meaning "blue-line", also exists, indicating an illegal
district.

In the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the term "sporting district" became
popular for legal red-light districts. Municipal governments typically defined such districts explicitly to
contain and regulate prostitution.[7]

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