Traditionally, the term courtesan referred to a prostitute who had rich, upper-class, and/or royal customers. The word courtesan has a historical background, derived from the term courtier, which was someone who frequented the court/royalty or other socially or politically influential persons.
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The phenomenon of courtesans (both male and female courtesans) could be found in many different cultures and civilizations spanning thousands of years, likewise existing in the ancient empires. In the past centuries, courtesans were likewise a common occurrence within “higher-class” circles, with notable examples in Europe (England, Italy, and France) and in Asia (China, Japan, and India).
Mind that a client could “keep” multiple courtesans at the same time, but usually one of those was their favorite. In addition, some types of courtesans would frequent different wealthy and/or royal customers, unless they had vouched for exclusivity with a certain client.
Although courtesans would typically provide sexual services, it was not necessarily (and often not) the only thing they would provide. In fact, there were lower and higher classes of courtesans and they could have different roles — also depending on the era — which included services like social companionship and entertainment.
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For instance, courtesans could likewise be (trained as) dancers, singers, musicians, actors, intellectual sparring partners, and so on. The more artistic, social, conversational, and/or intellectual proficiency a courtesan had (in addition to attractive physical characteristics), the higher their fees or political or social favors expected, and often also the more desirable they were.
The “old style” courtesan may have largely disappeared, yet it made place for the “modern courtesan.” In fact, today there’s an increase in expensive and exclusive intimate and sexual companionship services, typically provided by women. The modern terms for these types of high-end service providers include escort, girlfriend experience provider (GFE), or sugar baby, but some of these providers indeed advertise themselves as courtesan, a phenomenon that’s on the rise.
However, mind that escorts, GFE providers, or sugar babies, and so on, can operate on a lower or higher level. On the “low end” you’ll find those who almost exclusively offer massage and sexual services, but on the high end of the scale you will find many similarities with the “old style” courtesans.
That is, apart from offering sexual services, the “modern courtesan” is well-educated, well-travelled, and classy, and in addition offers experiences like emotional intimacy, interesting and well-versed conversation, meaningful companionship (dinner dating, museum visit, travel companion, hiking partner, etc.), and different forms of entertainment (massage, dance, BDSM play, cooking, and whatnot).
