Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon, originally titled The Brothel of Avignon) is a large oil painting created in 1907 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The work, part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, portrays five nude female prostitutes in a brothel on Carrer d'Avinyó, a street in Barcelona. Each figure is depicted in a disconcerting confrontational manner and none is conventionally feminine. The women appear slightly menacing and are rendered with angular and disjointed body shapes. The three figures on the left exhibit facial features in the Iberian style of Picasso's native Spain, while the two on the right are shown with African mask-like features. The racial primitivism evoked in these masks, according to Picasso, moved him to "liberate an utterly original artistic style of compelling, even savage force." (read more...)

Mug shot of Wuornos in 1991

Aileen Carol Wuornos Pralle (/ˈwɔːrnoʊs/; born Aileen Carol Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer who murdered seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990 by shooting them at point-blank range. Wuornos claimed that her victims had either raped or attempted to rape her while she was working as a prostitute, and that all of the homicides were committed in self-defense. She was convicted and sentenced to death for six of the murders and was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002.

The 2003 film Monster starred Charlize Theron as Wuornos. It chronicles Wuornos' story from childhood until her first murder conviction. The film earned Theron an Academy Award for Best Actress. (read more...)

• ...that 18th century prostitute Sally Salisbury (pictured) was sent to prison after a riot but was released by a judge who was infatuated with her?
• ...that in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal more than 100 women get trafficked to red-light areas in Mumbai and Pune each year?
• ... that the five victims of the Ipswich serial murders are the subject of the 2010 BBC One drama serial Five Daughters?
• ...that 18th century brothel-keeper Jane Douglas sold condoms in silken bags to her customers?

• 10th
  • 1929: Birth of Gerda Munsinger, an East German prostitute and alleged Soviet spy who was the central protagonist of the Munsinger Affair.
• 12th
  • 1937: Birth of Margo St. James, an American self-described prostitute and sex-positive feminist who founded the organization COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics).
• 13th
  • 2012: Death of Robyn Few, an American sex workers' rights activist, founder of the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOP-USA), and co-organiser the annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
• 27th
  • 1927: Birth of Blonde Dolly (Sybille Alida Johanna Niemans), a Dutch prostitute, businesswoman and murder victim.
• 28th
  • 2010: Some of Canada's prostitution laws were struck down by Justice Susan Himel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Canada (AG) v Bedford.
• 30th
  • 1888: Murders of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, prostitutes wotking in London and believed to have been victims of the notorious unidentified serial killer called Jack the Ripper.
  • 1915: Birth of Dorothy Baker, also known as Big Dorothy, an American madam in Helena, Montana.

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