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Red Light Districts?

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punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#1: May 27th 2011 at 8:19:31 AM

One of my more prominent sub-settings in my fanfiction is a Red-Light District where one of the viewpoint characters works, unhappily. She, however, is not a geisha, or any graceful courtesan - she's considered a Disposable Sex Worker, a common prostitute belonging to a brothel and . It's a case of I Did It For The Money (and her underlying desire for wealth and emotional security that she associates with it, and underneath that, an intense fear of starvation and a will to survive.)

However, in the same environment are high-class women, in-demand male prostitutes and young, feminine boys, and a wide variety of patrons - with a very rare, always rich, female clientele for female prostitutes.

I've tried to make my Red-Light District so that it doesn't fit any of the three usual portrayals. Research on prostitution in that particular historical period (pre-Tokugawa and Edo-period Japan) has been difficult, but interesting, and rewarding when I have found things. I've enjoyed crafting the Red-Light District, both from what I learned and some things I either made up or infered from reading.

Does your story have a Red-Light District? If so, how did you portray it, and who in your story is a part of it? Is it based on a historical area/actual place or entirely your own creation - if it's the former, how much research did you do?

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