differences from modern/Western discourses on sex, is that in early modern Japan, prostitution was

not stigmatized for the same sorts of reasons that it has historically been (and still is) in our own
society. Japanese did not see sex itself, female sexuality, or promiscuity, as inherent evils. That a
woman was unchaste, or even promiscuous, was not seen to make her dirty or otherwise
undesirable, let alone sinful. What was seen as dangerous, distasteful, and problematic, on the other
hand, was women acting independently, for their own personal monetary benefit. This was seen as
posing a threat to the patriarchal social order, to Confucian relationships, and thus to community and
society itself. Stanley asserts that it was only in late Tokugawa that the stigmatization of prostitution
first developed, as part of a new discourse that emerged as a reaction to widespread anxiety produced
by socioeconomic change: [A]nxiety surrounding female agency actually created the negative value
judgment attached to the act of exchanging sex for payment (7).but as distant sex workstripped
prostitutes of family ties and paternalistic protections, they began to be perceived as independent
actors exercising their agency by working for selfish economic gain

Printre diferenele dintre discursurile dintre vestul modern i Japonia, referitor la gen se numr i
faptul c n la nceputurile Japoniei moderne prostituia nu era stigmatizat datorit faptului c a existat
i exist din punct de vedere istoric n societatea noastr. Japonezii nu vedeau sexul, sexualitatea
feminin sau promiscuitatea drept nite aspecte intrinseci. Faptul c o femeie nu era cast sau era
promiscu, nu era vzut drept murdar, nedorit sau evitat. Ceea ce era periculos, problematic, era
o femeie care acioneaz independent pentru propriul su beneficiu financiar. Acest fapt a fost vzut
drept o ameninare a societii patriarhale, a ordinii sociale, a relaiilor confucianiste, i astfel duna
societii si comunitii. Stanley afirm c doar n ultima perioad Tolugawa aceast stigmatizare a
prostituiei a cunoscut o dezvoltare, ca o parte a noului discurs care a aprut drept o reacie la
rspndirea anxietii produse de schimbrile socio-economice. Anxietatea aprut n rndul femeilor
a creat valori negative asociate cu actul de a presta servicii sexuale pentru bani, dar i cu faptul c
sexul distaneaz prostituatele de legturile cu familia, de protecia patern, iar astfel, ele ncep s fie
percepute drept actrie independente care i practic meseria pentru un ctig economic propriu.