The Power of Sex: Lessons from a Courtesan

“When we too are armed and trained, we can convince men that we have hands, feet, and a heart like yours; and although we may be delicate and soft, some men who are delicate are also strong; and others, coarse and harsh, are cowards. Women have not yet realized this, for if they should decide to do so, they would be able to fight you until death; and to prove that I speak the truth, amongst so many women, I will be the first to act, setting an example for them to follow.”
—Veronica Franco, from Lettere Familiari 1

I recently came across a movie on Netflix called “Dangerous Beauty.” Now, I can’t say it was the highest quality film I’ve ever watched but it introduced me to the story of an amazing woman named Veronica Franco.

Veronica was the definition of a badass—she grew up in Venice in the mid 1500’s, a time when women were meant to be silent, submissive housewives with little to no access to education, politics, or financial (or otherwise) independence. Yet, Veronica found a way to become educated and influential, becoming an outspoken, famed poet and a female icon of her time.

See, Veronica was a courtesan, or high-end sex worker.

Trained by her mother to be a courtesan, Veronica enjoyed a wealthy, privileged life, owning property, moving freely, and gaining access to some of Venice’s top political and literary figures. Courtesans were encouraged to educate themselves, becoming fully versed in matters of art, science, music, and politics. While bedding Europe’s top politicians, courtesans played an important role in providing advice and guidance on political issues of the time. In fact, one of Veronica’s clients was King Henri III of France, and some attribute Veronica’s influence to the king’s eventual approval to send much-needed troops to Venice’s aid during an Ottoman threat.

Veronica was also able to develop her skills as a poet, becoming involved in a famous literary salon in Venice in the 1570s and positioning herself amongst the region’s most talented poets. The Netflix movie shows Veronica using rhyming and word games to entertain male guests at parties, showcasing her wit and knowledge of the spoken word. She also embraced her talents in the written word, publishing a book of her own poems in 1575, at the age of 29. These poems described her life as a courtesan and normalized prostitution, highlighting the wealth, influence, and knowledge that that lifestyle could bring a woman. Certainly an early feminist, her poems defended women against unwanted advances and abuse and implored women to speak up. She even opened a charity for courtesans and their children and propositioned the city to open a center for poor women, which was unfortunately unsuccessful.

What is striking about Veronica was her unabashed positioning of the erotic and sexual as valuable assets demanding honor and attention. The arts of seduction and passion and pleasure are often undermined at best or considered sinful and “wrong” at the worst. In Veronica’s poems, she is openly, unflinchingly erotic and celebrates her skills to pleasure a man and satisfy his desires. She famously said, “I wish it were not a sin to have liked it so.” Her open exaltation of these skills demand recognition for the female body (and sex workers!) and the value of pleasure and sensuality.

Around the time of the plague outbreak in 1545, Veronica was put on trial before the Inquisition on charges of witchcraft. During a time full of superstition and limited knowledge of diseases, sorcery and witchcraft were the only feasible explanations for such bold, empowered female presence. Veronica defended herself and won her trial, but her reputation was tarnished and she lost much of her wealth when she fled the city to avoid the plague.

Over the course of her life, she had six children from different men, but only three survived past infancy. She died at the age of 45 in 1591.

We still have a lot to learn from Veronica and I believe her story is a powerful one. In this age of the #MeToo movement and the continued attacks on women’s reproductive rights, women still have to convince others that “we have hands, feet, and a heart like yours”. Our bodies deserve recognition. Let’s follow in Veronica’s example and continue defending women’s rights here in this country and worldwide.

If you want to learn more about Veronica, check out “Dangerous Beauty” on Netflix (for a bit of oversimplified eye candy) or if you want a deeper analysis, read Margaret Rosenthal’s “An Honest Courtesan.”

Sources:

https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/IWW/BIOS/A0017.html

https://awomensthing.org/blog/womens-history-month-courtesan-veronica-franco/