"high-class" call girl/escort from one customer is common. Balzac and Colette described the lives of such in the nineteenth/twentieth century. "Cheri" and "Last of Cheri" are two of my favorite books; I recommend them.
Also, listening to the interviews Doug pointed us to and looking at the
Spread articles, helped clarify that sex work includes a lot of stuff -- erotic massage, stripping, dancing -- as well as the classic suck and fuck. Nevertheless, I want to insist that prostitution right now includes the forcible prostitution of children and women, and that for many sex workers, there is no choice.
It is true that the working conditions of prostitutes do not differ (in
terms of hazard and pay) from the working conditions of a lot of other low income/low class workers, but if you're going to make that comparison, you can simply not talk about the liberatory nature of prostitution.
Joanna
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I agree with Joanna and some of the others who are cautious on this one. Wage-slavery is an inherently coercive relationship and hiring a wage-slave (most are not independent operators) is what you're doing when you buy this service. And for for Capital, the principle is, "find a need and fill it". To be sure, there's a lot of need, especially as exhibited in the sales stats from the male community. But that's yet another issue. To say that wage-slavery is liberatory is partially true--it's better than sleeping under the local freeway bridge or chattel slavery for that matter--lots of purchased sex there, nay?
I like sex. I don't endorse criminalizing mutually consenting sexual behaviours, no matter what they are. Tie your SO up with a silk cord and "beat, beat and beat some more", to quote a famous Georgian. Whatever. That's your beer. Truth be told though, I (not speaking for anyone else here or expecting anyone else to agree with me) find the commodification of sex to have a repressive effect on my libido. I've been in situations (the military) where prostitution was the only outlet. It was not a liberating experience at all--more like the adaptive behaviour animals in strained, repressive situations. Getting plastered beforehand with the bar-girls helped. Maybe I would change my tune, if I could afford to hire a $700/hour wage-slave who had broken through the glass ceiling--who knows. I doubt it though. In all, it's a masking ritual, one where you "de-centre" yourself. After all, that's what's demanded in bourgeois society. Wouldn't want a centred, self-empowering selves now would we...
Oh yeah....I wouldn't want my daughter to end up sucking cock for a living. I'd actually prefer her to sell her skills to fucking Wall-Mart. I wouldn't blame her though, if she found herself forced into that kind of wage-slavery or actually chose it for her career.
Regards, Mike B)
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