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==Modern views== According to Avaren Ipsen, from [[University of California, Berkeley]]'s Commission on the Status of Women, the myth of sacred prostitution works as "an enormous source of [[self-esteem]] and as a model of [[sex positivity]]" to many [[sex worker]]s.<ref name=Avar>{{harvnb|Ipsen|2014}}</ref> She compared this situation to the figure of [[Mary Magdalene]], whose status as a prostitute, though short-lived according to Christian texts and disputed among academics, has been celebrated by sex working collectives (among them [[Sex Workers Outreach Project USA]]) in an effort to de-stigmatize their job.<ref name=Avar/> Ipsen speculated that academic currents trying to deny sacred prostitution are ideologically motivated, attributing them to the "desires of [[feminist]]s, including myself, to be 'decent.'"<ref name=Avar/> In her book ''The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect of the Feminine'', [[psychoanalyst]] Nancy Qualls-Corbett praised sacred prostitution as an expression of [[female sexuality]] and a bridge between the latter and the [[divine]], as well as a rupture from mundane sexual degradation. "[The sacred prostitute] did not make love in order to obtain admiration or devotion from the man who came to her... She did not require a man to give her a sense of her own identity; rather this was rooted in her own womanliness."{{sfn|Qualls-Corbett|1988|p=40}} Qualls also equated censuring sacred prostitution to demonize female sexuality and vitality. "In her temple, men and women came to find life and all that it had to offer in sensual pleasure and delight. But with the change in cultural values and the institutionalization of [[monotheism]] and [[patriarchy]], the individual came to the House of God to prepare for death."{{sfn|Qualls-Corbett|1988|p=43}} This opinion is shared by several schools of [[modern Paganism]],<ref name=Avar/><ref name=Pike>{{harvnb|Pike|2004|pp=122, 126β127}}</ref> among them [[Wicca]],<ref name=Wicca>{{harvnb|Holland|2008}}</ref> for whom sacred prostitution, independently from its historical backing, embodies the sacralization of sex and a celebration of the communion between female and [[male sexuality]].<ref name=Pike/> This practice is associated to [[spiritual healing]] and [[sex magic]].<ref name=Wicca/> Within secular thinking, [[philosopher]] [[Antonio Escohotado]] is a popular adept of this current, favoring particularly the role of ancient sacred prostitutes and priestesses of [[Ishtar]]. In his seminal work ''Rameras y esposas'', he extols them and their cult as symbols of [[female empowerment]] and [[sexual freedom]].{{sfn|Escohotado|2018}} Actress Susie Lamb approached sacred prostitution in her 2014 [[performance]] ''Horae: Fragments of a Sacred History of Prostitution'', in which she points out its value to challenge [[gender roles]]. "The idea of sacred prostitution is almost entirely incomprehensible to the modern imagination. It involved women having sex as an act of worship... The relationship between men and women in this ancient tradition is based on respect for the woman. She was seen as a powerful person."<ref name="Hora">{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/sacred-prostitution-an-ancient-tradition-based-on-respect-for-the-woman-1.2975529|title='Sacred Prostitution': An ancient tradition based on respect for the woman|last=Keating|first=Sara|date=20 February 2017|access-date=15 July 2019|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|archive-date=22 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122223006/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/sacred-prostitution-an-ancient-tradition-based-on-respect-for-the-woman-1.2975529|url-status=live}}</ref>
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