Man, I should’ve been a stripper.
Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning Juno screenwriter, popped
into the news the other day after having given birth to a healthy baby
boy. Along with attaining gobs of wealth, publishing success and
Hollywood kudos, the former stripper is also happily married now with
child.
No longer are sex workers the downtrodden, drug-addled outcasts of
yore, at least not the ones who can string a sentence together. Memoirs
penned by former pole dancers and call girls flow through the
publishing landscape like dollar bills at a Vegas strip joint. Since
Xaviera Hollander’s Happy Hooker in the ‘70s, it seems everyone
from Harvard post-docs to failed Hollywood starlets have slept their
way onto the bestseller list, having picked the locks on their sex
industry diaries for all the world to see.
Years back, a woman named Jessica Cutler hit pay dirt with a
fictionalized account of her years Monica Lewinsky-ing her way through
Belle de Jour is really... a scientist with a PhD? Hey, Spiderman was really a photojournalist.
The jig is up. Belle de Jour, the former prostitute behind the popular column "Diary of a London Call Girl" and TV series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" is really British research scientist Dr. Brooke Magnanti, 34. Dr. Magnanti gave the oldest reason for turning to the oldest profession -- to pay for her PhD.
Male prostitution is entering the spotlight. But why?
The world's oldest profession (prostitute) has long been a lady's job. Buy male prostitution is becoming more prevalent. The big brass at HBO must have noticed this to warrant green light the new Thomas Jane show Hung. But why are male escorts suddenly in vogue?
On 20/20, Gov. Spitzer's call girl apologizes to the scorned wife.
I've been in the infidelity situation from all angled: the cheated upon, the cheater, the cheatee. My experience at the tender age of 17 as the cheated upon has clearly informed my ethics in this matter. Responsiblity counts. As the cheater, I've apologized. As the cheatee, I haven't, but I would if I was ever confronted.
Maybe it's naive of me to compare two horny high school students with former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a married public figure and father of three children. I do realize the two situations are not comparable at all. But I think what any "woman scorned" wants is remorse. Does that mean all call girls and strippers should apologize to the wives and girlfriends of the men who see them? No, that would be impossible. But high class call girl Ashley Dupre became famous due to Client Number Nine and surely not a day goes by where Silda Spitzer does not think about her. The ex-governor has said "I'm sorry" to his wife countless times; now Ashley Dupre really has no other choice but to show remorse as well.
So I think it's responsible, respectable -- a little bit classy, even -- for Dupre to give a remorseful shout-out to scorned wife, Silda Spitzer, on 20/20. Gawker reports that during her interview with Diane Sawyer, to air on Friday, Dupre offers Silda Spitzer a simple, "I'm sorry for your pain." It's not much, but it's something.
And in a situation where there don't seem to be many clear "winners," that seems to be enough.
During hard economic times, some guys just want to cuddle.
You don't have to be former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's $1,000-a-night "friend" Ashley Dupre to be fretful of how Wall Street's plummet is effecting one sector of working girls: Slate.com wonders "What the Financial Crisis Means For High End Prostitutes?" But what author Sudhir Venkatesh (who wrote the memoir, Gang Leader For a Day, which I'm told is incredible) discovered about high-end sex workers in hard economic times may surprise you: many pink-slipped former captains of industry (also known as Big Swinging D*cks) don't want sex; they just need the proverbial shoulder to cry on. Comfort, not condoms.
"It’s a bad time to be an high-paid/over-paid prostitute in New York."
Debauchette, you might remember, is the courtesan (she prefers the term "whoretesan," heehee) and blogger, who came to national attention when Diane Sawyer interviewed her earlier this year in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer scandal. Yesterday she wrote that three of her clients have called this week to make sure she's financially solvent. In case you're wondering too, she is. "I’m fine. I saved. I saw it coming. I live modestly," she's been telling the concerned men.
An officer moonlighted as a high-priced call girl.
The DC Madam case in Washington just heated up a bit. An active (very active by the looks of it) Naval Officer has testified that she was a worker. We're guessing that a lot of strong woman fantasies were acted out.
One man's visit to a Canadian strip club reveals the selfish side of love.
You can touch a stripper in Toronto. You can fondle her thighs, squeeze her boobs, kiss the nape of her neck as she arches her back in pretend ecstasy. Unlike the American clubs where you'll get beaten by a bouncer and tossed in the alley if you lay a finger on her, you can do almost anything you want in Toronto. Why do men want lap dances? In my case, I was curious. I was out of town in a city with lax rules and willing to try something I’d never done before...
