Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of many things, including children, sailors, brewers, archers, unmarried people and merchants. And he's also the patron saint of sex workers.
And the story of St Nick giving secret gifts is a story involving sex work...
And the story of St Nick giving secret gifts is a story involving sex work...
The story goes that a father to three daughters had lost his money. Career options for young women in third or fourth century Asia Minor were limited: getting married, or sex work.
The father couldn't afford dowries for his daughters, so marriage was off the table. Hearing of the plight of these young women, Saint Nicholas decided to help.
Night fell, and Saint Nicholas visited the house. He threw a purse of coins through the window. It was enough to pay for a dowry for the first daughter.
When the second daughter came of age, Saint Nicholas pulled the same stunt. Another bag of gold coins lobbed through the window as a dowry so she could wed.
By the time the third daughter came of age, the father was curious about the mysterious benefactor chucking gold into his house. So he stayed up at night to find out what happened.
By some accounts, he caught Saint Nick in the act, and Nicholas ordered him to keep the gifts a secret. By others, he went through more secret means to give his gift of coins, and dropped the purse down the chimney.
The story isn't an especially empowering story towards women - it's a story about men taking it on themselves to help them, but there's a message in the Saint Nicholas story nonetheless:
If you don't want women doing sex work, you have to ensure their material needs are met.
If you don't want women doing sex work, you have to ensure their material needs are met.
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