OF BERLIN PROSTITUTION IN THE 1900S: A STUDY by Dr. Wilhelm Hammer (compiled by Stephen Carruthers).“The conduct of the women was strictly regulated. They had to present to designated clinics until cured and follow orders of the medical authorities.” That sounds like us. And “They had to wear simple and proper clothing.” THE WEARING OF MEN’S CLOTHING IS FORBIDDEN (Regulation 4). At this point, we don’t have any regulations about what kind of clothing we wear. Oh, wait a minute — we do have to wear masks. And: “The conduct of the women was strictly regulated.” Well, that’s true today, our conduct is certainly strictly regulated. ON THE STREETS AND IN THE SQUARES OF THE CITY YOU MAY NOT BY YOUR BEHAVIOR ATTRACT ATTENTION TO YOURSELF. IN PARTICULAR YOU MAY NOT STAND OR SIT ON STREETS, DOORWAYS, BUILDING ENTRANCES, OR PAVEMENTS, NOR ARE YOU ALLOWED TO STROLL UP AND DOWN IN A CERTAIN AREA OR IN AN OFFENSIVE MANNER PARADE YOURSELF…OR FROM A DISTANCE GIVE A WINK OR OTHER SIGN TO MEN TO FOLLOW OR SPEAK TO YOU. (Regulation 5) Again I certainly don’t think they authorities have gone that far in the case of COVID-19. Or — yes, maybe they have. I remember a sign a bar (in those days when we could go to bars): “No dancing, no singing, no moving around.” YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO SHOW YOURSELVES AT YOUR OWN OR ANOTHER’S WINDOWS. DURING A VISIT FROM A MAN THE WINDOWS OF YOUR DWELLING MUST BE SHUT AND COVERED WITH CURTAINS SO AS TO PREVENT ANY VIEW INTO THE DWELLING. IT IS FORBIDDEN TO PLACE A LAMP, A LIGHT, OR ANY OTHE SIGN AT THE WINDOW, OR IN ANY OTHER MANNER, FROM THE WINDOW OR THE HOUSE ENTRANCE, SEEK TO ATTRACT MEN. (Regulation 12) Well we don’t have to worry about that, we can parade about naked in front of windows if we want to. FINALLY, IT IS PROHIBITED FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR DWELLING WITH ANOTHER PERSON WHILE YOU HAVE A VISIT FROM A MAN.(Regulation 15) Well it is true that during some lock downs the police apparently did have the right to come into your house and tell you that you had too many people in it. “The head doctor could decide without consultation on their treatment and impose harsh punishments.” Dr. Fauci, anyone? And to top it all off — “Despite this strict control regime, each adult male in Berlin had on average 1.2 venereal diseases.” This statistic blows me away -- although I dislike statistics, as they can be manipulated to prove anything you wish -- all this regulation of women did nothing to stop men from contracting venereal disease. But even more interesting -- why was it only women who were being regulated? Well really, it’s not for us to say is it? The medical authorities are the ones who know — they have the scientific knowledge the ‘science.’ We don’t. And Public Health are the only ones — besides the government — who are able to regulate how and where you walk, if you can run a business, or the people that you have in your home. Well you may say that the regulation of prostitutes was not absolutely necessary, whereas regulations during COVID-19 definitely are. But there was no penicillin back then, and venereal diseases were often lethal. But what interests me is control -- i.e. power, the access to it, how enjoyable it is to wield it, and also, believe it or not, to submit (this also interested Foucault, he wrote one or two books about this). Rules are rules, and we must follow them, are obligated to follow them, feel guilty if we don’t, must care enough about others to obey, must confess our contriteness if we have done wrong, must change our ways -- as apparently so many COVID-19 ‘deniers' do not do so on their deathbeds, but instead expire in their little dream worlds — 'so sad, so very sad' -- the pretty ladies on TV news tell us. I don’t know if you know a COVID-Nazi, but they turn up in the most surprising places. People quite rebellious -- many of them -- before COVID-19, are now quite very happy to be tell you what to do, or loudly disapprove of you, or not allow you in their own homes. It's not so much about whether or not you like to be in charge, as about the sexiness of power itself; ultimately there is as much joy to be had in rigidly obeying rules as in making them up out of thin air, and even of course -- much joy to be had in flaunting them. There are good homosexuals and bad homosexuals. Believe it or not I am a good homosexual, trying to be a bad one (right now I’m not doing very well at that). This is relevant — why? Because there are those of us who were good octopuses as children and those of us who were bad octopuses. The good octopi were ‘browners,’ and obeyed all the rules. The bad octopi stole eyeliner from Shoppers Drug Mart and got expelled. But these are two sides of the same coin. It’s not so much whether you are good or bad, it’s the unendurable longing to be have rules in place, to feel the effects of power -- and most of all to live in fear; for fear paralyzes, and it is safe there, because we cannot move.
Wednesday 3 March 2021
From THE REGULATION
OF BERLIN PROSTITUTION IN THE 1900S: A STUDY by Dr. Wilhelm Hammer (compiled by Stephen Carruthers).“The conduct of the women was strictly regulated. They had to present to designated clinics until cured and follow orders of the medical authorities.” That sounds like us. And “They had to wear simple and proper clothing.” THE WEARING OF MEN’S CLOTHING IS FORBIDDEN (Regulation 4). At this point, we don’t have any regulations about what kind of clothing we wear. Oh, wait a minute — we do have to wear masks. And: “The conduct of the women was strictly regulated.” Well, that’s true today, our conduct is certainly strictly regulated. ON THE STREETS AND IN THE SQUARES OF THE CITY YOU MAY NOT BY YOUR BEHAVIOR ATTRACT ATTENTION TO YOURSELF. IN PARTICULAR YOU MAY NOT STAND OR SIT ON STREETS, DOORWAYS, BUILDING ENTRANCES, OR PAVEMENTS, NOR ARE YOU ALLOWED TO STROLL UP AND DOWN IN A CERTAIN AREA OR IN AN OFFENSIVE MANNER PARADE YOURSELF…OR FROM A DISTANCE GIVE A WINK OR OTHER SIGN TO MEN TO FOLLOW OR SPEAK TO YOU. (Regulation 5) Again I certainly don’t think they authorities have gone that far in the case of COVID-19. Or — yes, maybe they have. I remember a sign a bar (in those days when we could go to bars): “No dancing, no singing, no moving around.” YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO SHOW YOURSELVES AT YOUR OWN OR ANOTHER’S WINDOWS. DURING A VISIT FROM A MAN THE WINDOWS OF YOUR DWELLING MUST BE SHUT AND COVERED WITH CURTAINS SO AS TO PREVENT ANY VIEW INTO THE DWELLING. IT IS FORBIDDEN TO PLACE A LAMP, A LIGHT, OR ANY OTHE SIGN AT THE WINDOW, OR IN ANY OTHER MANNER, FROM THE WINDOW OR THE HOUSE ENTRANCE, SEEK TO ATTRACT MEN. (Regulation 12) Well we don’t have to worry about that, we can parade about naked in front of windows if we want to. FINALLY, IT IS PROHIBITED FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR DWELLING WITH ANOTHER PERSON WHILE YOU HAVE A VISIT FROM A MAN.(Regulation 15) Well it is true that during some lock downs the police apparently did have the right to come into your house and tell you that you had too many people in it. “The head doctor could decide without consultation on their treatment and impose harsh punishments.” Dr. Fauci, anyone? And to top it all off — “Despite this strict control regime, each adult male in Berlin had on average 1.2 venereal diseases.” This statistic blows me away -- although I dislike statistics, as they can be manipulated to prove anything you wish -- all this regulation of women did nothing to stop men from contracting venereal disease. But even more interesting -- why was it only women who were being regulated? Well really, it’s not for us to say is it? The medical authorities are the ones who know — they have the scientific knowledge the ‘science.’ We don’t. And Public Health are the only ones — besides the government — who are able to regulate how and where you walk, if you can run a business, or the people that you have in your home. Well you may say that the regulation of prostitutes was not absolutely necessary, whereas regulations during COVID-19 definitely are. But there was no penicillin back then, and venereal diseases were often lethal. But what interests me is control -- i.e. power, the access to it, how enjoyable it is to wield it, and also, believe it or not, to submit (this also interested Foucault, he wrote one or two books about this). Rules are rules, and we must follow them, are obligated to follow them, feel guilty if we don’t, must care enough about others to obey, must confess our contriteness if we have done wrong, must change our ways -- as apparently so many COVID-19 ‘deniers' do not do so on their deathbeds, but instead expire in their little dream worlds — 'so sad, so very sad' -- the pretty ladies on TV news tell us. I don’t know if you know a COVID-Nazi, but they turn up in the most surprising places. People quite rebellious -- many of them -- before COVID-19, are now quite very happy to be tell you what to do, or loudly disapprove of you, or not allow you in their own homes. It's not so much about whether or not you like to be in charge, as about the sexiness of power itself; ultimately there is as much joy to be had in rigidly obeying rules as in making them up out of thin air, and even of course -- much joy to be had in flaunting them. There are good homosexuals and bad homosexuals. Believe it or not I am a good homosexual, trying to be a bad one (right now I’m not doing very well at that). This is relevant — why? Because there are those of us who were good octopuses as children and those of us who were bad octopuses. The good octopi were ‘browners,’ and obeyed all the rules. The bad octopi stole eyeliner from Shoppers Drug Mart and got expelled. But these are two sides of the same coin. It’s not so much whether you are good or bad, it’s the unendurable longing to be have rules in place, to feel the effects of power -- and most of all to live in fear; for fear paralyzes, and it is safe there, because we cannot move.
