Quote

In a second-class courtesan house, the courtship was much briefer. It could even be one night; usually it went on a little bit longer. But as the years went by, that period of courtship was shorter and shorter.

I was shocked, and I ended up contacting three academics to find out if it could possibly be that my grandmother was a courtesan.

I read academic books on courtesan culture at the turn-of-the century in Shanghai such as Gail Hershatter's 'The Gender of Memory'. The diaries were mostly in the form of letters from courtesans to a lover who had disappeared or taken their savings.

I think I'm living in the wrong century. I would have made a great courtesan. Not a mistress - I could never be kept - but a courtesan with my own rules.

In the U.S., with very few exceptions, actresses older than 35 are simply discarded.

Its not age as much as the experiences I have had.

My mom had me when she was 19 or 20. And my father was 22 or something. They were working on whatever they could, both of them aiming to be actors in theater.

When my mother passed away I was 20.

A woman has the age she deserves.

Twenty-three is old. It's almost 25, which is like almost mid-20s.