Red light (prostitution)

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Typical red light lighting in a brothel

Red light is a synonym for prostitution and related issues such as red light district , red light district , red light affair and others.

Origin of the term

The connection between the term red light and prostitution goes back to the red lanterns that used to hang over the entrances of brothels , and also to the red interior lighting of these places. The journalist Dana Grigorcea pointed out the pleasant aesthetics of traditional red lighting: the “object of desire” is “wrapped in warm, soft contours” by the red. (On the other hand, Grigorcea observed in Zurich in 2009 that prostitutes on advertising posters were recently shown brightly and against a blue or white background.)

Word usage

In the context of prostitution, according to a dissertation by Caroline Kaufmann , red light is almost always used in a compound together with an appended noun ( red light bar, red light scene, etc.), while independent use occurs much less often. In newer dictionaries such as B. Duden, German Universal Dictionary (2001), the “single” term red light is not assigned to the area of ​​prostitution.

Nevertheless, numerous uses of the term red light can be identified. Some examples:

  • Soko red light - name of special commissions , e.g. B. in Vienna and Hamburg
  • In the red light - title of a book by Ariane Barth about the Hamburg “brothel king” Stefan Hentschel (2005)
  • Red light - title of a book by Nora Bossong about sex and prostitution (2017)
  • Between red light and rampage - title of a television report about the Davidwache in Hamburg
  • New rights don't help whores: red light remains red light - headline of a newspaper report (2006)
  • Red card for the red light: Augsburg's fight against brothels - headline of a newspaper report (2017)
  • Red light instead of customs office: Why there are so many brothels in the Innviertel - headline of a newspaper report (2018)

Red light also symbolizes prostitution in some other languages. For example, the familiar English language the red-light district and the Italian language the quarters a luci horses , in each case a literal corresponding to red light area and red light district .

Semantic aspects

In addition to its general signaling effect, the color red is psychologically often associated with love and passion , but also with danger and sin . As the color of eroticism and sexuality , and even the immorality , the color red is also prostitution associated . According to the writer Dana Grigorcea, the color symbolism includes further aspects: “In terms of cultural history, red is the color of women and is often associated with fire, blood and ripe fruits. Red is the color of the skin on the intimate parts of the body. Red is the signal color, the color of the warning against spoilage and the color of spoilage itself. "

According to Kaufmann's semantic treatise, the adjective red is understood in connection with prostitution as a reference to a certain milieu . In the meaning of "erotic, concerning prostitution", the red color has a rather negative connotation , which is due to the general disdain for this area. A red light affair (such as that of a celebrity) is mostly perceived as a "disreputable", particularly embarrassing affair. The negative connotation is also based on the connection between the red light milieu and organized crime , which is expressed in the term red light crime . A red light district is usually considered a "bad" area.

Vernacular

Anonymous: "The red light doesn't always keep what it promises to the hiker."

literature

  • Eva Heller: How colors work. Color psychology, color symbolism, creative color design . First edition, illustrated, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-498-02885-5 . (Standard work of color psychology; the 12th unchanged edition was published in 2004)
  • Caroline Kaufmann: On the semantics of the color adjectives pink, pink and red. A corpus-based comparative study based on the color carrier concept . 1st edition, Herbert Utz Verlag, Munich 2006, series: Munich contributions to linguistic and literary studies, ISBN 3-8316-0652-8 . (Dissertation, PDF ; 1.9 MB)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Marcel Feige: The Lexicon of Prostitution. The whole ABC of lust . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89602-520-1 , p. 551.
  2. See Duden: German Universal Dictionary . 4th ed., 2001, p. 1326.
  3. a b c Dana Grigorcea: The end of the milieu color red, article in the NZZ , July 14, 2009.
  4. a b Caroline Kaufmann: On the semantics of the color adjectives pink, pink and red. A corpus-based comparative study based on the color carrier concept. Dissertation, Munich 2006 ( PDF ; 1.9 MB), p. 208 f.
  5. Duden, German Universal Dictionary . 4., rework. and exp. Ed., Dudenverlag, Mannheim [u. a.] 2001, ISBN 3-411-05504-9 , p. 1326
  6. Soko Rotlicht in use as of now wiev1.orf.at, March 28, 2007.
  7. ^ Police found Soko "Rotlicht", Abendblatt.de, March 20, 2008.
  8. Ariane Barth: In the red light. The explosive life of Stefan Hentschel . Ullstein Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-548-36769-0 .
  9. Nora Bossong on prostitution: A woman urges a review on spiegel.de, February 22, 2017.
  10. ^ Police operation in Hamburg: Between red light and rampage spiegel.tv
  11. The Prostitution Act of 2002 is largely ineffective / New rights do not help whores: red light remains red light berliner-zeitung.de, December 20, 2006.
  12. Red card for the red light: Augsburg's fight against brothels eveningzeitung-muenchen.de, June 21, 2017.
  13. Red light instead of customs office: Why there are so many brothels in the Innviertel nachrichten.at, September 6, 2018.
  14. Lighter: How colors work . 1989, pp. 49-68.
  15. Lighter: How colors work . 1989, p. 63.
  16. a b Caroline Kaufmann: On the semantics of the color adjectives pink, pink and red. A corpus-based comparative study based on the color carrier concept. Dissertation, Munich 2006 ( PDF ; 1.9 MB), p. 208.
  17. Example: SPD hopefuls stumble upon red light affair welt.de, December 12, 1998. Quote: "After his embarrassing red-light affair, they plunged [him] politically into the abyss."
  18. ^ Red light and organized crime article from Die Kriminalpolizei (journal of the police union), June 2011 edition.
  19. Cf. Markus Stupphann: The Stuwerviertel as a new, student "in quarter"? Master thesis, University of Vienna, 2017 ( PDF ), p. 81 f. Associations with the Stuwerviertel in Vienna were recorded and categorized. The associations “prostitution / red light”, “crime / drugs” and “bad neighborhood” were combined into “red light and crime image”.