An old-fashioned or literary term for a prostitute or a woman considered promiscuous.
From Old French 'harlot' originally meaning a male vagabond or disreputable person, only later applied specifically to women. The gendered shift shows historical bias in language.
The word 'harlot' reveals bias in how languages treat sex work—there's no equivalent male term with the same negative judgment, showing how vocabulary itself can reflect and reinforce double standards about morality!
Medieval/Biblical term for sex workers, almost exclusively applied to women. Entered English with moral condemnation embedded—men in same role were 'clients' or remained unnamed, centering male judgment of female sexuality.
Avoid entirely. Use 'sex worker,' 'prostitute,' or historical context like 'woman accused of sexual transgressions' if discussing period bias.
["sex worker","prostitute","woman in survival trade"]
Women in survival economies have been systematized as moral failures; historians now recover their agency and economic constraints.
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