A Woman of Independent Means

"In the ancient Judaic culture, the only woman of independence was the prostitute. No other trades were open to women. All professions were filled by men. Everything was owned by men. The only valuable commodity a woman had was her body and her charm. Women became whores because they didn't want to prostitute themselves to one man in marriage. Prostitution was considered not only against the 'natural' order of things; it was also a sacrilege. While it was against religious law (certainly in ancient Judaism), what men really resented about prostitution was the independence. Prostitutes, then, were the lowest of the low, although in many cases they were the only women who had any degree of freedom whatsoever."

Peter McWilliams, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do (1993)