Plural of demirep; women of questionable reputation or ambiguous social standing.
Plural form of demirep (demi- + reputation). The plural form appears regularly in 18th-century literature and social commentary as writers discussed the urban phenomenon of women with unclear moral or social status.
18th-century authors loved satirizing 'demireps' and the society men who associated with them—they were fascinating figures because they occupied a social gray zone that formal morality couldn't quite categorize.
Plural of demirep (demi-reputation). 18th-19th century slang targeting women's sexual reputation. Embedded gendered moral judgment about female sexuality.
Avoid; use only in historical analysis. If citing, center the judgment structure ('women labeled as...') rather than reproducing the slur.
["women subject to reputation policing","women labeled with compromised status","sex workers"]
This plural form reveals how language systematized exclusion of women from respectability. Women's labor, sexuality, and reputation were publicly codified in ways men's were not.
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