Red-light district


This article is about the general term. For the Ludacris album, see The Red Light District.
This article is about the general term. For The Adult Entertainment Company, see Red Light District Video.
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Red-light district

A red-light district is a neighborhood or a part of a neighborhood where businesses connected to the sex industry (sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters etc.) exist. In some red light districts, prostitution may legally take place; other red light districts are known for their illegal prostitution scene. The term "red-light district" was first recorded in the United States in 1894, in a newspaper article in The Milwaukee Sentinel of Wisconsin. Other mentions from the 1890s are numerous, from locations all over the United States.

In the 19th century, the term "red light" was associated with the red lanterns carried by railway workers (which the latter left outside brothels when they entered).[citation needed]

Another suggestion for origin were the red paper lanterns (a color associated with sensuality) hung outside brothels in ancient China for identification. The color red has been associated with prostitution for millennia. In the Bible, Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho, aided the spies of Joshua and identified her house with a scarlet rope. This saved her household from the massacre which was usually suffered by a successfully besieged city. During World War I, there were many brothels in Belgium and France; authorities marked them with blue lights for brothels for officers, and red lights for other ranks.

One of the many terms used for a red-light district in Japanese is akasen (赤線?), literally meaning "red-line". (This has independent origins from the same term in English). 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", indicates a non-legal district, also exists.

Still others believe that the term originated from an early 20th century piece of autobiographical writing entitled "Street Walker Unveiled", written by then-reputable New York City high-class prostitute, Nicole Sullivan. In the work she mentions how she would "[walk] about the dim streets in the early morning, red light bathed across [her] face."

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.[1]


See also

References

  1. ^ Woolston, Howard Brown (1921). Prostitution in the United States.. New York: The Century Company. p. 105–107. ISBN 978-0217038577. http://books.google.com/books?id=9ifSrQEcxwcC. 


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