And yes, the article in question does have sources, oddly enough. This article (From Salon, of all places!) goes more into direct references detailing child prostitutes;
Indeed, the sheer variety of odd sexual tastes Gordon documents in "Voluptuous Panic" is astonishing. For instance, Gordon identifies 16 different types of prostitutes, including "telephone girls," enormously expensive child prostitutes ages 12-17 labeled "Marlene Dietrichs" or "Lillian Harveys" according to their physical attributes. These girls could be ordered by phone and delivered by taxi to the client. There were also so-called minettes, who acted out S/M fantasies, and "demi-castors" (French slang for "half-beavers"), young women from good families who made extra cash by hooking part time.
...so, uh, yeah. Recent years have seen people comparing modern times to the Weimar era, and there's a very good fucking reason for it.
Of course, they try to deny just that;
But if "Voluptuous Panic" enhances Weimar Berlin's reputation as a 20th century Sodom and Gomorrah unlike any other, its author does take issue with the popular notion that the era's dissolution led inevitably to the rise of the Nazis and Hitler's appointment as Reichschancellor in 1933.
"The reality is that Hitler came to power for all kinds of magical reasons. Hitler's nationalist partners brought Hitler into government to humiliate the Nazis and prove they couldn't govern, and the opposite happened. If you look at the week-by-week or day-by-day description of how the Nazis came to power, it had nothing at all to do with the social life of Berlin. It had to do with all these economic factors and political maneuverings that even the Nazis couldn't foresee," Gordon says.
"It was important to me to disprove this idea that decadence leads to fascism."
Hah. Color me fucking skeptical.
This is the sucky part of scrounging up references; a part of me wants this book just for offline archival/historical purposes, but holy hell would I probably get put on a watch list for ordering the damn thing.
Just a little bit.
And yes, the article in question does have sources, oddly enough. This article (From Salon, of all places!) goes more into direct references detailing child prostitutes;
...so, uh, yeah. Recent years have seen people comparing modern times to the Weimar era, and there's a very good fucking reason for it.
Of course, they try to deny just that;
Hah. Color me fucking skeptical.
This is the sucky part of scrounging up references; a part of me wants this book just for offline archival/historical purposes, but holy hell would I probably get put on a watch list for ordering the damn thing.