Prostitution: On Whores, Hustlers, and Johns.

Prostitution: On Whores, Hustlers, and Johns. Edited by James E. Elias, Vern L. Bullough, Veronica Elias, and Gwen Brewer. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998, 450 pages. Cloth $29.95.

This thought-provoking book is a "must read" for anyone working in the area of human sexuality, and is an excellent, informative work for everyone else. It is multidisciplinary in scope, with authors from the fields of medicine, law, research, criminology, sociology, and anthropology, as well as sex workers and johns. The writers come not only from diverse areas of expertise but also from a number of different cultures. The cross-cultural information is interesting, especially regarding research findings. This gives a broad range of views from those working close to and in the field of prostitution. Oral histories by both men and women are an important part of this book, including those of well-known prostitutes.

There are nine separate sections dealing with various areas related to prostitution in this book: History, Law Enforcement, Johns, Male Prostitutes, The Current Scene, Feminist View, Researchers, Agencies and Their Programs, and Legal Issues. The format is good, since it is easy to look up a specific area of interest and generally easy reading so that anyone can read it.

Prostitution is alive and well in the United States, a culture where consensual sex between adults is a fairly commonly accepted practice even in the White House. Swinging still exists, even with the advent of AIDS. It is obvious that if prostitution continues to exist in such a culture, there is a need for these services; otherwise, they would not exist.

According to the book there has been some decrease in prostitution since oral sex has become more acceptable between couples; however, even with the greater sexual freedom among adults there is not a marked decrease. Intercourse and oral sex are still the behaviors most requested of prostitutes, with occasional requests for anal sex. It is suggested that there are still behaviors that some women are not willing to be involved in, but so-called "kinky" sex is rare. Often prostitutes have regular clients. The vast majority of prostitutes are unreported since they rarely come into public view, but they make front page headlines when they do.

Just as the male sex drive is discussed as a reason for prostitution, there is some discussion of the women who have a high sex drive who engage in prostitution. There are many women with a high sex drive who find willing partners without going in that direction. It is postulated that it is easier for a woman to find a partner than it is for a man.

It is suggested that prostitution should be viewed as a professional occupation and dealt with in that light, just as any other profession. Certainly the chapter on civil liberties, which is outstanding, makes it clear that a woman has a right to her own body. The scientific articles dispel many of the myths and misconceptions that exist about prostitution and the prostitutes themselves. Most of what many people believe is erroneous information disseminated through the media. Movies, television, and the newspapers often portray prostitutes in a negative light. They are portrayed as carriers of all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS. They are often characterized as heavy drug and alcohol users. This may be true of some, but the vast majority of sex workers, as they prefer to be called, are well informed, drug free, and use protection in their sexual encounters. Research indicates that they know more about the consequences of unprotected sex than the general population. While there are times when they do not use protection, it is much less often than during consensual sex encounters of nonprostitutes. They also often teach their partners the use of protection.

The street prostitute is only the tip of the sex worker business. There has been little research on the middle and upper echelons of this work. Students who work themselves through college, occasional workers who want a little extra money, and women who have a full-time job and do sexual work on the side are all workers in this field. An example is the woman, recently reported in the newspaper, who was able to break up a counterfeit ring when a john tried to pay her with a phony hundred dollar bill. She was a full time bank worker in the day time.

It is interesting to note that laws passed in an effort to curb prostitution often cause it to proliferate or present more problems than they solve. Some places no longer target prostitutes for prosecution. Laws often do not accomplish what they are passed to do. Some of the new laws destroy the family when a man's name is listed in the paper. It is one thing to know your partner is visiting a prostitute, and quite another to have the whole town become aware of it. Canada does not have laws against prostitution, but has laws that affect the family by making it illegal to live off of or accept money from someone working as a prostitute. This can affect husbands, children, and other family members.

Laws don't work, as evidenced by the articles in the book. Laws that effect everyone, such as loitering, congregating, intoxication, and drugs, would often take care of the complaints related to street people. It would seem that eliminating laws against prostitution would help women in general. Violence sometimes occurs, and while the prostitute might be reluctant to report it now, if prostitution was legal a report could be made. Her livelihood is not dependent upon a man, where a wife is likely to be dependent and, thus, less often will report violence.

While rehabilitation is suggested for sex workers, it is not clear how this is supposed to work. Someone who makes $1,500 or even $500 from a weekend of wining, dining, and theater in a beautiful location is not likely to want a job paying $10 an hour. Many of these women are well educated and could work in other jobs if they wished. Some do move on, but they do it when they are ready and they do not need to be rehabilitated. They have made a choice in their life like any professional person does. The street workers might benefit from education, so that when they left the trade they would have some other means of occupation.

This book makes a good case for changing the label of prostitute to sex worker. Prostitute does not really describe the services that many of the women are involved in today. Also, prostitute has a pejorative connotation and, therefore, women working in that profession are looked at negatively without any real outside understanding of what it is they do. Prostitutes would like to be seen as professional sex workers, and many of the contributors to this book feel this makes good sense. For them it is a profession and apart from the rest of their life.

There are many outstanding chapters in this book. The ones by Bromberg on "Feminist Issues in Prostitution," and Richards' "Commercial Sex in the American Struggle for the Rights of the Person" were exceptional and ones that everyone should read. Bromberg points out that the radical feminists use a stereotypical view of what constitutes a prostitute. She postulates that prostitutes are not involved in sexual abuse or negative work, but often find their work positive and life-affirming. She looks at the different feminist views on prostitution from the Liberal, Existential, Socialist, Marxist, and Radical Feminist view. This clarifies the different positions some feminists have on pornography and prostitution. Richards' article presents a history of women's struggle for equal rights and the American struggle for human rights, including the right for personal intimacy. He makes a good case for the rights of women to make their own decisions about involvement in the area of sex work. They should have the same rights as the rest of the population.

The section on the male hustler was interesting, especially since the males were not able to organize as the females were with "Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics" (COYOTE) and PUSSY which is the British equivalent. There was an attempt, but it was short lived. I would suspect that it has to do with a difference in agenda for male and female prostitution. Where some males hustle for money, they seem more interested in finding a same-sex partner or a more permanent live-in relationship, and the gender-dysphoric seem to be more interested in acceptance as a female. Money seems to be the main interest for the females.

A chapter on the importance of information gained from prostitutes for use in sex therapy giving them the credit for this information would seem well deserved. Stop-start, pleasuring non-demand, (the pleasuring of the partner without expectation of any physical response), and squeeze techniques learned from the prostitutes have all been incorporated into most sex therapies. Who would have thought that rubber gloves and condoms could be incorporated into lovemaking as an aphrodisiac. Snapping the gloves or condom, prostitutes claim, is a turn on. It certainly sounds interesting. Again, prostitutes have come up with a way to incorporate latex protection while making sex more interesting and less clinical. Hooray for them.

The other area I would like to know about is what kind of sex problems, if any, sex workers have when they leave the profession. This is particularly true of the heterosexual male who has functioned as a prostitute with same-sex persons. As a therapist I have worked with some of these former prostitutes, but since sex therapists see people with problems I don't know if they were exceptions.

One study says social acceptance of prostitution as a legitimate business is important if there is to be any change in how prostitutes are dealt with. Changes in laws to decriminalize prostitution will not resolve the basic cause of discrimination: Cultural changes would have to take place before society at large would accept prostitution. Research on street prostitutes shows much of the stereotypical behavior presented in the media reflects those in the profession who are most visible, less educated, and less skilled.

Servicemen are reported to be the largest group of people involved with prostitutes. It is not by accident that the greatest number of prostitutes in the United States is in Colorado Springs, the home of the Air Force Academy. Prostitution has become institutionalized there. A study of servicemen from enlistment-cadet to discharge would probably show an interesting pattern of behavior in relation to the use of prostitutes throughout the career of many of these men.

This is a book that the social scientist in particular would find important, and it is certainly a "must read" for anyone who works in the sex field. Those who are interested in health, and particularly in HIV, will find it informative. Even after over thirty years of work in the sex field I learned a thing or two in reading this book, and I think you will too.

Marilyn A. Fithian, 5311 El Prado, Long Beach CA 90815; e-mail: [e-mail].