Prompt: This text offers accounts of cultural encounters. Drawing from your readings in Cultural History *or* Colloquium, offer a reflection on the account of non-Western "others" in this text.

There was a queen of the realm who contacted Marco Polo through writing. This is awesome for many reasons, but #1 is that she's a powerful woman! The amount of women in positions of power who are actually able to do political things is quite low. This queen was proud to show off her city to a man who had almost seen it all. 

The city has a bunch of wide canals a la Venice that just sound really lovely. There are thousands of bridges, bustling marketplaces, a moat, good farmland, fish galore, and bathhouses. It seems like a really good balance of city and rural areas. However, what intrigued me the most was the street full of women (🤨 🏳️‍🌈❓). 

Kinsai has women in their own little area, not confined to any neighborhood, who are allowed to wander all over the city. They're said to be "highly proficient in terms of endearment and caresses," which leads me to believe that this is the absolute nicest way to say 'whore'. Marco Polo writes about how they're so good at their jobs that foreigners never forget them. These ladies have handmaidens, smell of lovely perfume, have pretty fancy apartments, and honestly seem to be living a pretty good life. 

Compare this to the way Roman Ladies (capital L) were treated. It was a good profession for some, but considering the importance placed on virtue and religious chastity, many were frowned upon. There is no mention of religion looking down on these ladies in Hangzhou, and it's called the City of Heaven in part to this street. The difference in religion in morals can be seen in just this small paragraph.