Male Prostitution/Social Attitudes in London and Nagano 1901-2
I figured that whilst you're all staying so helpful, I'd throw out queries I have about some of my other fiction projects. This is concerning a novel set over the course of three years in three different countries: London, England 1901, Nagano, Japan 1902 and Paris, France 1903. Character A is a seventeen-year-old male prostitute working and living in London, Character B is a Japanese university student studying in London in 1901.
1.) At one point, Character A details how much they cost to hire. What would be a slightly more expensive than usual price in the money of that time? The brothel he's attached to is near the docks, but attracts a mostly middle-class clientèle. He's one of the most expensive prostitutes to hire within the house; B reacts to being told his costs with shock as he's a not-particularly-wealthy student (unlike some of his contemporaries) Edit: By middle-class, I'm saying your average sailor on leave or working-class man couldn't afford A's pricing, but someone of the middle to upper class social strata e.g. lawyers, bankers, doctors could. The appeal of the dockside is they feel like they're 'slumming it'. A large number of the other workers aren't half as expensive as A is supposed to be - they're meant for my example sailor.
2.) Character A also goes to houses of clients. Would there be a system about this e.g. the house knowing where he was at all times, someone following him there and surreptitiously waiting to return him? He also carries a knife at all times, but would a level of protection from the potential of unstable or violent clients be afforded to a high-ranking, high-earning member of a brothel?
3.) He typically has male clientèle, but is it plausible for him to get female clients as well as male ones at this time, albeit in the minority? How would these women arrange to meet him? Edit: I assume they wouldn't directly walk into the brothel, but what if they met A by chance or through an intermediary?
4.) What would the typical social attitude towards B - a successful businessman's son - be, due to his being Japanese? At the time, there was a lot of anti-Asiatic feeling e.g. 'Yellow Peril', but how would this affect him day-to-day? Particularly within the closed word of middle to upper class academia? Is it plausible that he is the only Japanese student there at the time?
5.) In contrast, A eventually travels to Japan alongside B, with his previous social status kept a secret. What would be the reaction in Nagano at that time, given the relatively new nature of foreigners being allowed within the country - towards A as a foreigner, and B as Japanese citizen with newly Westernised appearance and attitudes?
6.) If there are rumours of them potentially being lovers, would this be an issue? How much of an issue? If it was, who would try to speak with B to intervene - his mother or his father? (B. is engaged to be married shortly and to clarify for the position of responses, they are not in a relationship when they arrive, but they are soon after.) My research has suggested that as long as it appeared not to potentially disrupt the marriage, interest would fade away - the most gossip would be about the face A is foreign. Is this correct?
Search terms used: average charge for male prostitute 1901, cost male prostitute 1901, gaijin attitude japan 1902, 1901 male brothel practices, japanese england 1901, gaijin 1901/2, households japan 1901/2, I'm getting a lot about the molly house trials and the aforementioned 'yellow peril', but that's it.
Edit: The brothel A works at is not a majority male-staffed brothel. The majority of the workers there are female; there is only A and another boy who also work there, and they're known of by word-of-mouth. When police raids occur, they pose as potential clients to the girls they, in reality, work alongside.
1.) At one point, Character A details how much they cost to hire. What would be a slightly more expensive than usual price in the money of that time? The brothel he's attached to is near the docks, but attracts a mostly middle-class clientèle. He's one of the most expensive prostitutes to hire within the house; B reacts to being told his costs with shock as he's a not-particularly-wealthy student (unlike some of his contemporaries) Edit: By middle-class, I'm saying your average sailor on leave or working-class man couldn't afford A's pricing, but someone of the middle to upper class social strata e.g. lawyers, bankers, doctors could. The appeal of the dockside is they feel like they're 'slumming it'. A large number of the other workers aren't half as expensive as A is supposed to be - they're meant for my example sailor.
2.) Character A also goes to houses of clients. Would there be a system about this e.g. the house knowing where he was at all times, someone following him there and surreptitiously waiting to return him? He also carries a knife at all times, but would a level of protection from the potential of unstable or violent clients be afforded to a high-ranking, high-earning member of a brothel?
3.) He typically has male clientèle, but is it plausible for him to get female clients as well as male ones at this time, albeit in the minority? How would these women arrange to meet him? Edit: I assume they wouldn't directly walk into the brothel, but what if they met A by chance or through an intermediary?
4.) What would the typical social attitude towards B - a successful businessman's son - be, due to his being Japanese? At the time, there was a lot of anti-Asiatic feeling e.g. 'Yellow Peril', but how would this affect him day-to-day? Particularly within the closed word of middle to upper class academia? Is it plausible that he is the only Japanese student there at the time?
5.) In contrast, A eventually travels to Japan alongside B, with his previous social status kept a secret. What would be the reaction in Nagano at that time, given the relatively new nature of foreigners being allowed within the country - towards A as a foreigner, and B as Japanese citizen with newly Westernised appearance and attitudes?
6.) If there are rumours of them potentially being lovers, would this be an issue? How much of an issue? If it was, who would try to speak with B to intervene - his mother or his father? (B. is engaged to be married shortly and to clarify for the position of responses, they are not in a relationship when they arrive, but they are soon after.) My research has suggested that as long as it appeared not to potentially disrupt the marriage, interest would fade away - the most gossip would be about the face A is foreign. Is this correct?
Search terms used: average charge for male prostitute 1901, cost male prostitute 1901, gaijin attitude japan 1902, 1901 male brothel practices, japanese england 1901, gaijin 1901/2, households japan 1901/2, I'm getting a lot about the molly house trials and the aforementioned 'yellow peril', but that's it.
Edit: The brothel A works at is not a majority male-staffed brothel. The majority of the workers there are female; there is only A and another boy who also work there, and they're known of by word-of-mouth. When police raids occur, they pose as potential clients to the girls they, in reality, work alongside.