Jezebel: secret diary of a call girl

Call Girl Breaks Down "The Girlfriend Experience"

Tracie — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT

If you've ever surfed around on Craigslist erotic services (you know, just for fun), you've probably seen a bunch of different code names for things and a lot of acronyms, one of the most common being GFE, or "girlfriend experience." It's when a dude pays a hooker to assume the role of a "normal" woman having vanilla sex, so he can pretend there's a level of intimacy that isn't typically found in hooker/john interactions. OK, that was a pretty good explanation right? I thought so. Belle, from Secret Diary of a Call Girl tried to explain the same thing on last night's episode, but I think I just did a way better job. Perhaps I should walk around through life, breaking the fourth wall and spewing monologues every five minutes. Wait, but then I'd be boring. Like. This. Show. (I still really like the way Billie Piper talks though.)

Billie Piper's Vaginal Monologues Make Call Girl Attractive

Tracie — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT

The thing that was most annoying about the first or second of Sex and the City — characters breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the camera — is actually one of the only things that makes Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl watchable for me. Maybe it's because the source material is a blog, and the most appealing aspect of hearing these trick stories is getting the straightforward perspective of the woman involved. Or maybe it's because I find Billie Piper and her accent incredibly charming. Whatever the case, last night's episode, the second so far, didn't suck — much like Belle herself, who ditched out on a client in the middle of a sex party. Clip above.

Secret Diary Of A Call Girl Premieres; Fictional Hooker Blows

Tracie — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Last night was the U.S. premiere of Secret Diary of a Call Girl, the show based on the book based on the blog based on the life of a supposed high class call girl Belle de Jour. Because Belle has somehow always remained anonymous through this whole thing, there's been a lot of speculation as to whether or not she really exists. It's easier to swallow this bunk as fiction, because as pro-sex worker as I am, I actually know real hookers in real life—from Craigslist call girls to porn actresses who need extra cash to occasional snow bunnies—and they really aren't anything like Billie Piper's portrayal of Belle. However, since the show is kind of a really nice, glamorized version of a really shitty job, Call Girl is to hooking what Sex and the City is to single women: A fantasy that will have a bunch of whores saying they relate. Clip above.

Plucky British Actresses More Willing To Go Nude Than Their American Counterparts

Jessica — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Earlier this year, Reese Witherspoon got her panties in a twist about the mere notion that she might go nude for a role. "If [actresses] take their clothes off, they objectify themselves," Witherspoon told UK Glamour. "I am flabbergasted by how many legitimate actresses do it." But if they're doing it to retain the integrity and reality of a role, is that really objectification? Well Reese's prudishness is part of why Showtime producers chose to import the British show Secret Diary of a Call Girl as opposed to remaking it. "This country, being more puritanical, it's always hard to find actors who get really comfortable with the nudity," Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment told Jezebuddy Choire Sicha, writing for the L.A. Times. Greenblatt continues, "It's just a different climate over there. You can find actors who have a reputation and have actually done some serious acting. Who don't need to be covered up every time they do a bedroom scene, which is true of most actresses — most women — unless you're doing something a little more downscale." The 25-year-old Brit star of Call Girl, Billie Piper, clearly has no problem with nudity.

Of Piper, Greenblatt says, "The great thing about Billie is she's open to that. And yet it's also tasteful. We're not that explicit with her." While one could easily make the argument that because Call Girl is about a hooker, the show is inherently objectifying, it would be fairly absurd to have a show revolve around sex and yet not show any naked bodies (though somehow, Carrie Bradshaw managed to wear a bra in the sack for six years; big up to Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall for actually showing their naked bodies without shame as the plot entailed).

I don't think actresses should have to choose between going nude and advancing their careers, but there is something ultimately refreshing about a powerful, talented actress (see Mirren, Helen; Jason Leigh, Jennifer) who doesn't mind going bare for a role because it's the right choice for the character. And judgey Witherspoon can stick that in her Oscar and smoke it.

Billie Piper's 'Secret' Is Out [LA Times]
Reese Witherspoon Won't Go Nude To Sell Movies [Us]

Will Call Girls Be The New Carrie Bradshaws?

Dodai — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:00:00 EDT

Former Esquire UK and Independent editor Rosie Boycott is at it again. In today's Daily Mail, she rants on iTV's new series, The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, starring Billie Piper (left.) (You may recall, we previously heard from a hooker and a slut.) Boycott argues: "A series like this turns women into sex objects: regardless of whether it is written by women or by men, it perpetuates the myth that women's prime reason for living is to service the wishes and desires of men. This isn't liberation, it's a new form of enslavement, born, I believe, out of the desire to look trendy in our modern world." The glamorous image of prostitution portrayed in the series doesn't jibe with the truth — Boycott points out that of the estimated 80,000 people in the UK who are prostitutes, five thousand are children. 75% of the women started selling themselves for sex when they were under 18, and most of the teenage prostitutes work the streets, unlike the character in the Call Girl series, who wears fancy lingerie and frequents boutique hotels.

Boycott also notes that in a survey of 100 women arrested in London's red light district, 53 used heroin and 73 used crack. Almost half were homeless. In another study of 115 prostitutes, 81% had experienced some kind of violence. Half had been slapped, punched or kicked. The Secret Diary Of A Call Girlproducer Chrissy Skinns (!) admits, "It's a long way from murdered hookers in detective shows." This despite the fact that in London, prostitutes are 12 times more likely to be killed than ordinary women.

Boycott writes that even if women do get "rich" from prostituting themselves, the job will never be representative of any form of sexual equality.

How can anyone believe that imitating a stripper (or a hooker), a woman whose job is to initiate arousal in men, is going to make us either more liberated or more equal? Women today can do everything a man can do: run for President, serve in the Army, play football at an international level (the fact that we can also be mothers is the greatest added bonus). So why does this new generation seem so enthusiastic about stripping off for the delectation of men?
Sexuality is a wonderful thing, part of being human and in touch, but it is complex and shouldn't be treated lightly. Women have always deserved better than to be treated as objects of men's fantasy - today just as much as then.

Think about it this way: A generation of girls who watched Sex And The City grew up wanting to swill cocktails and wear high heels. (Ever see the My Super Sweet 16 episode where two Memphis fifteen-year-olds had a SATC themed party?) Imagine if The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl becomes a hit. Will girls figure getting paid to have the cocktails, high heels and sex is even better?

Why do so many modern women think being a sex object is cool? [Daily Mail]
Earlier: Is Prostitution Glamorous? A Hooker And A Slut Weigh In