5 Prostitutes Who Changed History

5 Prostitutes Who Changed History

1. The Empress Theodora

Theodora was the wife and “co-ruler” of the great Justinian, the most lauded ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire. What you probably didn’t learn in history class is that Theodora wasn’t born an Empress. Theodora’s father died, this left her, her mother and two sisters broke and homeless. Hard up for money, Theodora’s mother put her daughters on the street to join the other prostitutes. During this time poor women had very few options. They either became entertainers who sang and danced, or they became prostitutes. The historian of the time by the name of Procopius was quoted as saying that, “Theodora gave her youth to anyone she met, in utter abandonment.” In laymen terms this meant that she let men have more turns than a door knob.

In other writings by Procopius he mentioned things like Theodora having sex with up to 30 men at the same time. The status of the man made no difference to Theodora she had sex with everyone from royalty to slaves. Eventually Theodora landed a man that she wanted more than just a one night stand with. As “luck” would have it this man was Emperor Justinian. She eventually became his co-ruler and was looked at by the people as being an equal partner in the ruling of the Empire.

During her years at the top, the scarlet-woman-turned-Empress cracked down on forced prostitution, made rape punishable by death and helped establish basic property rights for women across the Eastern Empire. Despite her lofty status, Theodora never forgot her humble roots. She was considered a friend to the poor, and one of the greatest women's rights reformers in history.

2. Georgina Beyer

Born George Bertrand, Georgina worked as a transsexual prostitute who eventually changed her name to Georgina Beyer. After being raped and beaten, Georgina left Australia and headed for New Zealand. In 1984, Georgina completed her transformation by undergoing a sex change. She began to work heavily as an actress, and then as a radio host. Finally, in the early 90s, she got into politics.

She became the world’s first transgendered mayor in 1995, a feat which was only eclipsed by her surprise 1999 election to the New Zealand Parliament.

 Georgina spent eight terms as the world’s first transgendered Mayor and retired in 2007. She is still an active force in the fight for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered rights worldwide.

3. Nell Gwynn

Nell Gwynn was the daughter of an alcoholic brothel owner that was doing bad financially. To help out her family she would give hand jobs to aristocrats in the back of the theater.

As fate would have it, Nell met King Charles II during a play. The King was so impressed with her wit and moxie that he invited her back to the castle. As their relationship grew Nell became a frequent visitor to the castle. The downside was, the King had many other women visiting him. He also had a wife. But, Nell had something that the others didn’t, she was street smart. She outsmarted the other sex workers by poisoning them with laxatives, and managed to become the King’s most beloved prostitute.

Nell’s street smarts and fast wit made her popular with all of the King’s people. She used her body to convince the King to give her son a position as a Duke, and convinced him to build a Royal Hospital for ex-servicemen.

4. Aspasia

Aspasia’s story begins from the date of birth. She was born into a bad situation because she was a foreigner in Athens. This meant she had little to no civil rights and could not marry. The only area of Athenian society that was more open for women than men was in Athens’ brothels. Prostitution was an everyday thing and considered to be a part of life. Both men and women had the right to be a prostitute if they wanted to. The exception to the rule was men had to quit once they became an adult.

Aspasia took advantage of her situation and became a hetaera, which was considered a high class hooker. Hetaeras were generally well-educated and under law, they were independent from any men, and were even allowed to pay taxes and own property. Before long Aspasia was at the top of the hooker hierarchy and her name was known throughout all of Athens.

 Aspasia knew she was considered to be an extremely attractive woman and she used that to her advantage. Soon, she began to court Pericles, the First Man in Athens (a leader of sorts). As time went on, Aspasia did get married and she and her husband became the center of a great group of philosophers and thinkers from all across the city. She not only knew Socrates, but many with being one of his teachers.

5. Rahab, The Harlot

Rahab lived during the 1400's BC. She came from a middle class family in Jericho. She was said to have been extremely intelligent, independent, and in those days there was only one profession for a girl like her to get into. A married woman was a slave to her husband, however a prostitute lived her own life and made her own decisions.

Back in 1422 B.C., the Israelites were living on a barren tract of land appropriately named, Shittim. Joshua, king of the Jews, didn't really like living in a place that reminded him of his own bowel movements, so he set his sights on the city of Jericho.

Joshua sent out two spies to scout out the defenses. The young Jews did their job and then sought "refuge" at Rahab's place. The Bible doesn't state why they chose to stay there.

The King of Jericho sent his men out to look for the two Jewish spies skulking around his city. Rahab hid the young men, and convinced the king's soldiers that the spies were hiding elsewhere. Because of Rahab's kindness, Joshua's spies survived and were able to bring back crucial information that lead to the conquest of Jericho by the armies of Israel.