Courtesan-the Italian word "cortigiana", feminine of "cortigiano" (courtier) came to refer to "the ruler's mistress", and then to a well-educated and independent woman of free morals, eventually a trained artisan of dance and singing, especially one associated with wealthy, powerful, or upper-class men who provided luxuries and status in exchange for companionship.



The first time I knew I wanted to be a Courtesan was in my French Renaissance class in college. It seemed so exciting, I had never heard of such things. Really, people in the class were not very excited about how much I like talking about it. One girl narrowed her eyes and said they were simply whores like girls in music videos and groupies. Whores? They were smart, classy, sophisticated, trained and talented; they were so beyond what women are today in that category.
The “Video Vixens’ of today (and yes I read the book) are no more then booty shaking, uneducated women, who drop it like its hot for a few seconds before they are dumped for a hotter girl. It doesn’t take much to catch a man’s attention. It takes seduction and allure to keep men when there are so many beautiful women.
Courtesan’s in popular culture is a bit offensive. Nicole Kidman played one in the disaster known as ‘Moulin Rouge,’ the TV series ‘Firefly (character named Inara Serra)’ was just as bad and there was Sophia Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’ as the mean and nasty Madame du Barry. We are not mean and nasty, we aren’t wispy dyeing, unsexy redhead things.
I became, I suppose, an official Courtesan when I graduated college. Unable to find a job in my field and after a rather bad interview, I took myself out for a drink. Sitting in a low lit, hotel bar (they stay open late and never give you a limit since you can say you’re staying at the hotel). I was fumbling for a lighter for my cigarette to accompany my whiskey, when a strong hand tapped my shoulder with a lit match in front of my face. I purred thanks and inhaled looking at him. Handsome, older, fit, tall and slight accent. Checked shoes, Italian, watch was vintage Cartier, and of course a wedding ring. My stomach dropped a little, boys my age couldn’t do it for me like this man was about to.
After some small talk I suggested we go someplace else, with a slightly raised eyebrow, meaning upstairs. We were together for 3 years before I upgraded to his business partner. He had a new girl by the end of the week but he always tried to win me back.