Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.
Moliere
Sex Workers/The Game/The Life
(picture of St Denis Paris, the street of prostitutes) text ©Patrick McDonnell 2021
The Game/The Life is the name that sex workers use to describe their life.
Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation.”
Some say marriage is a form of prostitution, and in certain countries it is; women contract religious marriages that last a hour to days so they can say they are not having sexual congress outside of marriage. Brides are still purchased using ‘bride price’ paid by the groom to the bride’s family. A ‘dowry’ is the fortune the bride brings into the marriage. Compare that to ‘marriage of convenience’ where the women or man pays to get married to a foreigner (with or without sex).
Sex is the oldest commodity in the world to be exchanged as a resource between people. If money (or goods ) is exchanged or paid, then it is considered a sexual service. Men are usual ones who pay. But women can also pay for services of men who are called gigolos. Men can also go to male prostitutes.
Women are usually the sex workers. Prostitutes, hookers, belles de jour (part time prostitutes), strippers, Dominatrix, call girls, street walkers, massage girls who provide a happy ending, escorts, sugar babies… the list goes on and on. They come from all backgrounds, rich and poor. Some are forced into it, other do it for the ‘fun’ and ‘excitement’. Some are sex hungry but after a while they are numbed to the pleasure and do it as fast as possible. They don’t think of themselves as a ‘whores’, a person who engages in sexual intercourse for pay or a promiscuous or immoral woman. Sex workers are adults (but not always) who receive money or goods in exchange for consensual sexual services or erotic performances, either regularly or occasionally.
They are not swingers nor wife swappers. Consensual sex is not considered sex work, thought there is a slippery slope, when gifts are involved. Sugar daddies and sugar babies are a case where a woman may think of herself as just going on a ‘paid date’ when she receives a gift even if no sex is involved - at the time.
In some countries (in the state of Nevada in the US) it is legal for women and men to sell themselves for sex. Most countries have vague laws covering the sale of sex. Usually some effort is made to protect minors but to little effect The Mann act in the US covers the transport of minors across state lines for prostitution. But it still happens. Trafficking in Persons.
Trafficking in Persons is, “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”
“While only 19% of victims are trafficked for sex, sexual exploitation earns 66% of the global profits of human trafficking. The average annual profits generated by each woman in forced sexual servitude ($100,000) is estimated to be six times more than the average profits generated by each trafficking victim worldwide ($21,800), according to theOrganization for Security and Co‑operation in Europe (OSCE).
OSCE studies show that sexual exploitation can yield a return on investment ranging from 100% to 1,000%, while an enslaved labourer can produce more than 50% profit even in less profitable markets (e.g., agricultural labor in India).
In the Netherlands, investigators were able to calculate the profit generated by two sex traffickers from a number of victims. One trafficker earned $18,148 per month from four victims (for a total of $127,036) while the second trafficker earned $295,786 in the 14 months that three women were sexually exploited according to the OSCE.”
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/human-trafficking-numbers
Historical fiction
The oldest profession has been around for a long time and has been featured in fiction. In the French author Zola’s book Nana, we meet a woman who lives off the avails of prostitution, beginning at a young age, till she becomes a star in the theatre, where she continues to receive the attentions of men, till she falls in love. Her lover soon starts to abuse her and she returns to prostitution to live. It is difficult to exit the world of sex work. The easy money and the power that women and men feel they receive in the trade is intoxicating. Until it isn’t. Disease, murder and old age put and end to many practitioners.
Some women enter sex work because they have been kidnapped, or sold by their parents. Others find it is a way of making extra money, while some embrace it…
The life/the game takes it toll on sex workers. They often suffer from PTSD.
Dangers
Prostitution is one of the most dangerous professions in the country; worse than Alaskan fisherman, or loggers, or oil rig workers. According to recent statistics, the death rate for prostitutes in the U.S. is 204 out of every 100,000. For fishermen, it is 129 out of every 100,000. Also, the average prostitute gets physically (but non-lethally) attacked approximately once a month. One reason for these numbers is that prostitution is illegal in every state (even Nevada where it is only allowed in brothels in certain parts of the state). When prostitutes face violence they have nowhere to turn without being arrested themselves. Consequently, prostitutes are an easy target, and even serve as the butt of jokes about violence and murder on TV shows and movies.
On a personal note, I lived in Paris near rue St Denis where I saw the ‘putes’ aka prostitutes work day and night. The young ones would show up fresh off the boat or train and after a while they would become old fast, and the older hookers would come out during the day to service the slow trade. It was sad, because I don’t think you get out of it. There is no ‘Pretty woman” ending like in the movie.
People who are involved in the trade of sex objectify each other; the John or client is the provider of money and the provider of the sexual service ie the prostitute (dominatrix etc.) is considered a nonentity; a person or thing of little or no consequence or significance. Not to mention the pimp who can protect and abuse his prostitute(s). The exchange of money for sex demeans the act, making it into animal lust. Many clients treat prostitutes badly, even to the point of beating them or killing the prostitute because they can. Police do not consider crimes against working women (or men) as important.
The client can also be a psychopath or aggressive person who enjoys inflicting pain on those who he thinks are inferior or non-persons. Another reason why there is so much abuse of power in the sex trade. It is a dangerous game indeed.
The Psychology of Prostitution
More information here on psychological effects of prostitution
https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/prostitution-in-the-united-states-30997
Secret language of johns here;
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/393721/the-secret-prostitution-code-of-johns/
New York Times article on Asian Prostitute killed
