The changing feeling in regard to prostitution seems to express itself mainly in two ways.  On the one hand there are those who, without desiring to abolish prostitution, resent the abnegation which accompanies it, and are disgusted by its sordid aspects.  They may have no moral scruples against prostitution, and they know no reason why a woman should not freely do as she will with her own person.  But they believe that, if prostitution is necessary, the relationships of men with prostitutes should be humane and agreeable to each party, and not degrading to either.  It must be remembered that under the conditions of civilized urban life, the discipline of work is often too severe, and the excitements of urban existence too constant, to render an abandonment to orgy a desirable recreation.  The gross form of orgy appeals, not to the town-dweller but to the peasant, and to the sailor or soldier who reaches the town after long periods of dreary routine and emotional abstinence.  It is a mistake, even, to suppose that the attraction of prostitution is inevitably associated with the fulfilment of the sexual act.  So far is this from being the case that the most attractive prostitute may be a woman who, possessing few sexual needs of her own, desires to please by the charm of her personality; these are among those who most often find good husbands.  There are many men who are even well content merely to have a few hours’ free intimacy with an agreeable woman, without any further favor, although that may be open to them.  For a very large number of men under urban conditions of existence the prostitute is ceasing to be the degraded instrument of a moment’s lustful desire; they seek an agreeable human person with whom they may find relaxation from the daily stress or routine of life.  When an act of prostitution is thus put on a humane basis, although it by no means thereby becomes conducive to the best development of either party, it at least ceases to be hopelessly degrading.  Otherwise it would not have been possible for religious prostitution to flourish for so long in ancient days among honorable women of good birth on the shores of the Mediterranean, even in regions like Lydia, where the position of women was peculiarly high.[214]

It is true that the monetary side of prostitution would still exist.  But it is possible to exaggerate its importance.  It must be pointed out that, though it is usual to speak of the prostitute as a woman who “sells herself,” this is rather a crude and inexact way of expressing, in its typical form, the relationship of a prostitute to her client.  A prostitute is not a commodity with a market-price, like a loaf or a leg of mutton.  She is much more on a level with people belonging to the professional classes, who accept fees in return for services rendered; the amount of the fee varies, on the one hand in accordance with professional standing, on the other hand in accordance with the client’s means, and under special circumstances may be graciously dispensed with altogether.  Prostitution places on a venal basis intimate relationships which ought to spring up from natural love, and in so doing degrades them.  But strictly speaking there is in such a case no “sale.”  To speak of a prostitute “selling herself” is scarcely even a pardonable rhetorical exaggeration; it is both inexact and unjust.[215]