Jezebel: Prostitutes

Cranky Eighteenth-Century Johns Deemed Prostitutes Old, Money-Grubbing, And Illiterate

Charlotte Shane — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:50:00 EST

Harris's List is an 18th century catalog of London prostitutes complete with (real) names, addresses, and descriptions of each, and it proves to me just how much men throughout the ages have loved reviewing prostitutes. They love it today, they loved it 250 years ago, and my guess is that even most Egyptian hieroglyphics and ancient animal cave paintings will one day be recognized as elaborate codes indicating who gave the best BJ in exchange for some fruit. Not that it's all about crude physical congress; Harris's List attests that johns have always valued good education, witty conversation, and pleasant demeanor in their paid companions while frowning upon arrogance and high prices. There's also an astonishing amount of sexism on display with the regular endorsement that if she weren't such a fallen slut, Suzy Hooker would have been a proper lady. ("Notwithstanding the unfortunate bent she has taken;" "if she had not quitted the path of virtue.") More »

College Professor Accused Of Running Prostitution Website

Anna North — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:45:00 EDT

Authorities have dropped charges against a University of New Mexico professor suspected of helping run a prostitution website. But he could still face prosecution. More »

New Law to Clear Prostitution Convictions for Human Trafficking Victims

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:31:00 EDT

As of the beginning of next year, Illinois victims of sex trafficking will have the opportunity to legally expunge their records of convictions related to their being forced into prostitution. More »

Berlusconi Denies Paying Lots Of Underage Prostitutes

Anna North — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:33:00 EST

Silvio Berlusconi is now accused of consorting with multiple prostitutes — but he says his steady lady-friend would never allow that kind of behavior. More »

Why Aren't We Talking About Sex Workers' Safety?

Anna North — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:02:00 EST

When sex workers talk about their needs, safety usually tops the list. So why aren't we paying attention? More »

Canadian Conservatives Will Appeal Prostitution Ruling

Anna North — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:30:00 EDT

Conservatives in the Canadian government announced they would appeal an Ontario court's decision to overturn bans on brothels, pimping, and soliciting. Says one official, "There's a lot of victims in that industry and we need to protect them." More »

Fighting Prostitution Through Compassion

Tara Murtha — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:20:00 EDT

This isn't the first time Kristen Simmons (not her real name) has stood before a judge in Philadelphia's criminal court. In the 26 years she's worked as a prostitute, she's been arrested 16 times and served four stints in jail. More »

Sex Workers' Rights Are Rights For All Women

Anna North — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:20:00 EDT

Prostitution is a pretty vexed issue among feminists, but maybe it shouldn't be — as Thierry Schaffauser points out in the Guardian, many freedoms sex workers need for their jobs are the same rights that all women deserve. More »

Laura Bush Supports Choice, Gay Rights • Support Hillary, Win A Date With Bill Clinton

Katy Kelleher — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:30:00 EDT

• Former first lady Laura Bush appeared on Larry King last night where she finally admitted that she doesn't agree with her husband on abortion and gay rights. Even though she could have taken a stronger stance: good for her. More »

Heart Breakers

Katy Kelleher — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:20:00 EST

In attempts to save older customers from dying during copulation, Swiss brothel owners are training their prostitutes to operate defibrillators. "Having customers die on us isn't exactly good publicity," remarked the owner of a sex club. [Telegraph] More »

Surface Tensions

Anna Holmes — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:10:00 EST

[Port-au-Prince, January 24. Image via Getty]

Women May Play In NBA Within A Decade • Prostitutes Offer Free Sex In Protest

Katy Kelleher — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:40:00 EST

• NBA Commissioner David Stern says in the next decade women may join the NBA: "I don't want to get into all kinds of arguments with players and coaches about the likelihood, but I really think it's a good possibility." More »

PETA Asks School To Replace Mascot • Lawyer Denounces Knox As She-Devil

Katy Kelleher — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST

• PETA has found a new calling and this time it's the University of Georgia's mascot, Uga. They say that the bulldog is being exposed to inhumane risks from the hot and humid air. • More »

Belle De Jour On Why Some Men Visit Prostitutes

Anna North — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST

"[M]y clients were men who were addicted to success. They knew I, as a call girl, would respond positively to their advances, whereas outside of the transaction a woman like me might not." — Belle de Jour/Brooke Magnanti [NYT] More »

Superfreakonomics Authors Ask: Why Aren't More Women Prostitutes?

Anna North — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:30:00 EDT

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Sure, authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner acknowledge, streetwalking is tough work. But being a high-end escort is big fun, just like being a trophy wife without the marriage. So why don't more women do it? More »

Brazilian Prostitutes Model Their Fashion Line

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Last night in Rio, prostitutes modeled the new collection for Daspu, a clothing line designed by prostitutes. "When my hooker girlfriends parade pretty and proud, they are speaking about themselves and become revolutionaries," says founder Gabriela Leite. [Sydney Morning Herald] More »

Serial Killer Suspected In North Carolina After 9 Women Vanish

Margaret Hartmann — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:20:00 EDT

Six women have been found dead on the side of the road in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and three are missing. Residents suspect a serial killer, but say police aren't investigating properly because the women were prostitutes and addicts. [AP] More »

Blaming And Shaming: "The Whore Memoir"

Sadie Stein — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:30:00 EDT

These lurid 18th century tell-alls were a valuable weapon for women of ill-repute. More »

Notes On A Scandal

Anna Holmes — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:10:00 EDT

[Hanover, July 24. Image via Getty]

Sex Workers Are Different — Similar - The World Over

Megan Carpentier — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:20:00 EDT

Prostitution is often referred to as the world's oldest profession, but it's also one of the most common occupations held by women — and men — throughout the world.

Escort-Addict More Interesting, Less Nauseating Than Expected!

Sadie Stein — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:40:00 EDT

"I have to confess to knowing the truth about this sordid profession - because eight years ago, I succumbed to the lure of paying for sex." And - oh yeah - the lure of being Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. More »

Fame/Whores

Anna Holmes — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:10:00 EDT

[Sydney, June 2. Image via Getty]

You will be shocked to learn that the parents...

Maria — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:40:00 EST

You will be shocked to learn that the parents of Ashley Dupre, the prostitute whose involvement with Eliot Spitzer was a factor in his resignation, were very upset to find out that their daughter was secretly working as a sex worker. In a 20/20 interview that airs tomorrow night, Dupre reveals how her mother and stepfather reacted when they found out she was working as a hooker ("disgusted" but not willing to kick her out). Dupre also discusses her wish to become a singer and "follow [her] music." Good luck with that! [NY Post] More »

Cheap Rubbers

Maria — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:30:00 EST

The Safe4Now Foundation in the Netherlands has begun a new campaign to distribute cheap condoms to sex industry workers. According to a recent study, 7% of prostitutes in large cities in the Netherlands are infected with HIV and only 82% of all Dutch prostitutes use condoms on a regular basis. Although condoms are necessary in their line of work, most prostitutes have to pay a high price for condoms either through their bosses or by paying the high private consumer price. Safe4Now hopes that if condoms are offered at a reduced price, more prostitutes may be encouraged to use condoms more often. [UPI] More »

In an effort to shut down the red light...

Margaret Hartmann — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:40:00 EDT

In an effort to shut down the red light district in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, the city is offering prostitutes "credits" for good behavior that can be used to buy designer clothes or furniture. The vouchers, which the Dutch media has mockingly dubbed "whore miles," will be awarded for every step sex workers take to get out of the lifestyle. Another plan in the works involves creating a fashion label designed by prostitutes, based on a similar program in Amsterdam. So far the plan is being lampooned in the media and the sex workers are not very enthusiastic about it. "This is fine if they actually want to move on to something else but some might not want to," said Metje Blaak from a Dutch Prostitutes' Union. "At the end of the day, this is a step towards making street prostitution illegal, and what will happen to the women then?" [The Independent] More »

Ladies Of Pleasure: The Lure Of The Courtesan

Sadie Stein — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:30:00 EDT

It seems like our fascination with the idea of "the courtesan" never gets old. The 39th-annual Rencontres d'Arles, France's most famous photography festival, features an exhibit on“Les Insoumises,” the most important courtesans of the 19th century. The show, curated by designer Christian Lacroix, contains 30 calling cards and daguerreotypes of these "insubordinates" who, "unlike common prostitutes, refused to submit to police licensing or conventional morals. They were glamorous, venal and usually ended up badly but while the going was good they were celebrated, from before the Empire and after its end, by writers from Dumas fils to Maupassant and Zola." The images on display are primarily "cartes de visites" photographs, small calling cards that, in the case of the most notorious courtesans also served as souvenirs and, not incidentally, advertising. More »

Born To Give

Sadie Stein — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:20:00 EDT

"Following an undercover operation, Colorado police this month broke up a prostitution operation running out of a massage parlor known as Tokyo Sauna. Broomfield Police Department officers arrested a 54-year-old woman on a prostitution charge and a 65-year-old male customer for patronizing a hooker." The woman who runs the brothel was charged with, um, being a madam. And the lady's name? Mi Sook You. I know. Makes you really consider the ramifications of naming a child, doesn't it? [The Smoking Gun] More »

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Anna Holmes — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:20:00 EDT

"Fergie excited to play a prostitute." [CNN] More »

Retired Escort Has Advice For Hordes Of Wannabe-Hookers

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Meet Amanda Brooks. She was raised in Texas, went to college and graduated with a double degree in photography and English. She entered the workforce, found a job she really enjoyed and then retired... At the age of 29. Her chosen profession? Internet call girl. And like any retired person with valuable advice, Ms. Brooks has written a couple of books: The Internet Escort's Handbook, volumes 1 and 2. The first book deals with "basic mental, emotional and physical considerations in escort work." The second is about advertising and marketing. A little digging revealed that the book has chapters titled "Are You A People Person? How Can You Become One?" and, under "Your Personal Appearance" are sections named "Breasts," "Weight And Proportions," "Hair," "Stretch Marks," "Teeth and Breath," "The Period Question," and, of course, "Ejaculation (Face or Specific Body Part)." Very thorough. Oh! And — here's the difference between an escort and a cheap hooker, in case you were wondering: More »

Telling Mom You're A Hooker Isn't Always So Horrible

Jessica G. — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Yesterday, one of Jezebel's brother sites, Gawker, wrote about "Debauchette," one of the several prostitutes who appeared on the Diane Sawyer 20/20 special about working girls. Even though Debauchette's voice was altered and her appearance masked, her mother recognized her because of the idiosyncratic cadence of her voice and her gestures. "I listened to what you had to say in the interview and I expect you feel you have thought all of this through," Debauchette's mom said. (All things considered, a reasonably calm response.) Karly Kirchner of sex-worker site Bound, Not Gagged recounts a similarly accepting response from her mom, but adds that she wants her mother to start reading her posts on the blog. More »

Oprah Makes Oz A Star; Girl Gangs In Central America; Why Men Are Idiots

maria — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:40:00 EDT

Ed Note: We hear about and see so many stories that we can't find the time to comment on that we're gonna try something new: "Leftovers", a daily "accounting" of the stuff we had to leave behind. Let us know if you like it, and, obviously, feel free to click through on the stories and flesh them out for everybody.

Although Diane Sawyer's 20/20 special on...

Jennifer — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Although Diane Sawyer's 20/20 special on prostitution didn't impart much new information about the oldest profession, here's something that did throw us for a loop: A 13-year-old girl has been arrested in Dallas for pimping other underage, middle schoolers for everything from stripteases and "exotic dancing" to actual sex acts. The 13-year old was luring friends into prostitution by offers of large sums of cash. Says a Dallas police officer involved in the case, "One of the remarkable things we learned through all of this is there's a tremendous amount of money in all this, so a huge demand for young girls in prostitution world." [WFAA] More »

Young Beauty Sells Her Body, Breaks Our Hearts

Anna Holmes — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:30:00 EDT

On Friday night, Diane Sawyer's much-publicized, 2-hour 20/20 "investigation" of the state of prostitution in America aired, and for the most part, it was a disappointment. There was little to no mention of the societal/gender structures that lead to women selling their bodies for money, and the prostitutes featured tended to fall into two camps: Down-on-their-luck, drug-abusing streetwalker types (who hate the situation they are in) or women working in legal Nevada brothels (who, if they hate the situation they are in, are not saying so.) One of the most depressing — and poignant — moments, however, came from a woman in the former category: A Philadelphia prostitute named Skylar who sat down with Sawyer for a short talk and impromptu singing performance. For whatever reason, she, more than anyone else, stuck with us, maybe because at the end of the program we learned that, after taping, she disappeared without a trace. Clip above. More »

How Eliot Spitzer's Indiscretions Made His Wife Age Before Our Eyes

Anna Holmes — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Women of a certain age have it hard. They get pushed out of the workforce for younger, "better models." Sometimes their husbands of many decades cheat on them with prostitutes! Which brings us to Silda Wall Spitzer. As the week has worn, the chatter about Eliot Spitzer's accomplished, philanthropic, whip-smart wife — and what she must be feeling, thinking, and planning — has exploded, including commentary by bloggers, internet commenters and Ed Koch (the former mayor of New York), on how the 50-year-old mother of three seemingly aged several years overnight. Curious, we took a look at recent photographs of of the Harvard Law grad and found a marked difference in her face, which can only be described as exhausted and devastated, yet strong*. But that's just us. What do you think? After the jump, a chronological photo gallery of Ms. Spitzer's public appearances through the years. More »

Why Did Eliot Spitzer Risk Everything To Pay For Sex?

Jessica G. — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Yesterday we looked at the Spitzer scandal from the prostitutes' point of view, and now we ask the question: why did Eliot risk everything to bone a hooker in the first place? One possibility, according to the Times of London, is that he's addicted to sex. An anonymous columnist writes in today's paper, "My desire for sex was so overwhelming that I had difficulty breathing." This "John X" says that he was a sex addict because "I wanted to feel nothing; oblivion feels good when you've had a bad day at work, or are hung-over." (It all stemmed from a basic inability to communicate with the opposite sex.) "It's a mistake to associate paid sex with feelings. Better to associate it with a lack of feelings, a big frightening void, an inability to communicate sexually and emotionally with a partner." More »

Women On Silda Wall: "I'd Have Paraded In Front Of A Microphone With A Knife"

Dodai Stewart — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:30:00 EDT

After two days of relentless focus and attention on the now-resigned New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, the news agencies have set their sights on the problem of prostitution, and, of course, on his now-suffering wife, Silda. Her "charmed life slips away," reads an AP headline. "Brainy, beautiful, betrayed," reports CBS News. "Many wonder, 'why does she stay with him?'" writes a reporter for the L.A. Times. (The NY Post's Cindy Adams is all "so what?"). By all accounts, Silda Wall Spitzer was one of those smart, over-achieving women who awe and inspire. She had a strong maternal figure (her mom insisted she list her profession as "home administrator" rather than "housewife", on her college applications), a successful and lucrative law career (she out-earned her husband as a mergers and acquisitions specialist at a top New York firm) and, in addition to raising three daughters, she founded a philanthropic community service organization. And then the news broke about her husband. More »

Is Seeing Prostitutes A Deal Breaker?

Jessica G. — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:30:00 EDT

So, Eliot Spitzer, huh? As most know by now, the muckraking, ethically-superior New York Governor is said to have been "involved" in a prostitution ring. There were federal wiretaps at play, and the sexual congress took place at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on the day before Valentines'. In light of Spitzer's transgressions, today's Since You Asked advice column in Salon seems oddly prophetic! A distraught reader asks Cary Tennis, "Have I ruined my karma by sleeping with prostitutes?" The reader feels his life has been destroyed by years of whoring, and wonders if he's a horrible person for cheating on his wife with hookers. Tennis gives some drawn out, hippy-dippy response as per usual, but ultimately decides "It is not about abstract forces and balance sheets. It's about conduct and relationships." This dude should probably forgive himself, but it begs the question — if you knew your guy had frequented prostitutes, would it be a deal breaker? More »

How To Talk Like A Japanese Prostitute

Slut Machine — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST

The instructional video above is so strange that we're not really sure if it's a joke or actually intended to teach something to aspiring Japanese prostitutes working the whole geisha angle. (Real geisha aren't hookers and they wear their obis in the back, whereas prostitutes wear their obis in the front, like the chick in this video, for easy access.) This clip contains an English lesson of sorts, instructing the viewer on how to say and use certain risqué terms ("you're so good" and "first-rate cunt lapping") during sexual encounters. ["First-rate cunt-lapping"??? -Ed.] There's no nudity, but it's a little NSFW if you have the sound up. More »

Sergeant Joel Tranner of the Phoenix police...

Jennifer — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:45:00 EST

Sergeant Joel Tranner of the Phoenix police has a message for ladies of the night: "If you are a part of that very small criminal element that wants to come here and set up prostitution operations, we're warning you right now: don't do it." Well, well then! The city of Phoenix is going out of its way to target and crackdown what it anticipates to be an influx of prostitutes and "other sex workers" as a result of the Super Bowl on February 3. Don't the Phoenix authorities know that footballers don't bed pros, but prefer exploiting drunken female fans? [Reuters] More »

Money Doesn't Make The World Go Around, But It Helps

dodai — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST