Silky

petite, bohemian, feminine goth lady, femme fatale, and sexy trollop of wild abandon...
prostitute of the streets, kept woman, whore...I am all of these...with total abandon

'in truth…she is a salamander, she is a nymph…she is a bacchante of the menelean mount.'

My Desires:

all of France, especially Paris
Italian men
sultry dark eyes
the seductive feel of black velvet and black silk
black garters and black silk stockings
esoterica
the occult
blood vampirism
erotica
the night

Venus

Venus

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

erotica

Paris By Night: 1930s Paris - Prostitution

The photographs of Paris by Brassaï are beautiful and deeply expressive. Brassaï was a Hungarian photographer and artist who rose to fame in Paris during the 1930s. His book "Paris de Nuit" ("Paris By Night"), published in 1933, is a fasinating pictorial essay - from the elegance of the opera to the gritty world of prostitution. From high society to hookers and hoodlums, his photographs capture the essence of Paris nightlife in the 1930s.













Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Monday, August 2, 2010

Traci Lords - "Fallen Angel"

I came across this lovely music video of Traci Lords; the song, "Fallen Angel", is a beautiful and hypnotic selection of trance music.  A former adult film star who has successfully navigated to mainstream artistry, Ms. Lords has overcome a difficult and troubled past and is now a successful businesswoman.




Link:

Friday, July 23, 2010

Some good news regarding prostitution...


Regarding prostitution in Massachusetts: some good news - a proposal designed to stiffen the punishment for prostitution and solicitation of a prostitute in Springfield has overwhelmingly failed 12 to 1:

"...On Monday, City Councilor Jimmy Ferrera proposed that the city move to a one year mandatory sentence for prostitutes and those who solicit them if caught.

The measure failed 12-1.

Right now, most who face prostitution or solicitation charges pay only a $500 dollar fine and serve no jail time.

After a sting on Friday, the police department made 4 arrests within just a few hours.

Margaret Pilon lives in Springfield and wasn’t big on the idea of the one-year mandatory sentence, either.

She said, “I really don't believe in mandatory sentences, but I believe that if the prostitute is punished, so too should the john, it should be both.”

A group of protestors showed up at the City Council meeting to oppose the mandatory sentence.

Ellen Graves is with "Arise for Social Justice". She thinks prostitution should be legal. She told 22News, “Going after prostitution is going after people who are poor and also usually drug users. There should be rehab centers, there should be training centers where they could learn a skill. The money they're spending on putting people in jail is huge.”

Ferrera says the measure is dead, and will most likely not be brought up again."

While this is not the most progressive news - since I believe adult prostitution should be totally legalised - this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Children Of The Night

Today, it has become all too common for sex workers' rights advocates to wax poetic about the so-called "glamour" of prostitution and to make wild, unsubstantiated claims that all prostitutes are just so happy to be on the game. Some of these pro-sex worker activists are in total denial about the dark side of prostitution: parental abuse and juvenile runaways.

Let's clear this up: Prostitutes - myself included - do not have 'power' over clients and/or money. That's simply a romanticised myth, and in any case, that's not what we're looking for. Most women who are prostitutes - again, myself included - had been abused as children, oftentimes sexually abused. In fact, the dysfunctional family has oftentimes been referred to as the 'training ground' or 'boot camp' for a life in prostitution. While it's true that not all little girls who have been victims of incest grow up to become hookers, most women who are prostitutes had been victims of sexual molestation when they were young children. (And yes, this applies to me.) Little girls who have been molested learn to develop the mentality of quid pro quo: the human body and sexual activity are bartering tools for services rendered.

In Los Angeles, there is an excellent outreach organisation which rescues underage runaways from the streets and prostitution: Children Of The Night. Founded in 1979 by Dr. Lois Lee, Children Of The Night is a private, non-profit, tax-exempt organisation dedicated to assisting children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are forced to work as prostitutes on the streets for food and a place to sleep. All of their programs are provided with the support of private donations.



Sunday, July 4, 2010

Red Light District Of Amsterdam


Recently, there has been a lot of gentrification in Amsterdam's red light district; within the past two years, in an effort to combat organised crime, Amsterdam's city council voted to halve the number of brothels and marijuana shops in the city's red light district and surrounding areas; many of the brothels have been converted into artists' studios. "Money laundering, extortion, and human trafficking are things you do not see on the surface, but they are hurting people and the city. We want to fight this," said the mayor. "We can still have sex and drugs, but in a way that shows the city is in control."


As of January 2010, a proposal has been launched to raise the minimum age of prostitutes from 18 to 23 and to close down the red light district in the Wallen area between 4:00 and 8:00 a.m. One of the aims is to strengthen the position of the women who work in the sex industry. To quote one of the city's councilors: "We recently saw the escape of a people trafficker who used extreme violence to pressure very young girls who were far from home into prostitution in the Wallen area."


Additionally, the international recession has hit Amsterdam's red light district: "Some days, there are just no people,", according to one brothel owner.

My opinion: While I do understand the concern of Amsterdam's authorities regarding organised crime and violence towards the city's prostitutes, I fully support the continuation of the brothels; after all, we prostitutes should have the right to work when and where we choose.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Prostitutes In Film

Many films depict prostitutes in many different ways, from the fairy-tale fantasy of "Pretty Woman" to the gritty, harsh reality of "Mona Lisa".  (Personally, I thought "Pretty Woman" was pretty silly; "Mona Lisa", on the other hand, was brilliant.)

"Klute" (1971) and "London to Brighton" (2006) are two very powerful films dealing with prostitution.


"Klute" stars Jane Fonda as call girl Bree Daniels, who helps detective John Klute solve a missing persons case. Bree seems to have a carefree lifestyle - lots of cash and independence - yet she is vulnerable and filled with self-doubt; this is depicted in a very moving scene with her psychiatrist.



From call girls to the gritty streets:


"London to Brighton" is a crime drama focusing on the disturbing world of child prostitution. Kelly is a world-weary London streetwalker forced by her violent pimp, Derek, to recruit an 11 year-old runaway girl named Joanne as a prostitute for a mobster client who is a pedophile. Kelly and Joanne escape on a train to Brighton; the perverted mobster orders Derek to bring back Kelly and the child.




Both "Klute" and "London To Brighton" reveal the harsh realities of prostitution in a powerful yet sensitive way. All too often, the mainstream media tend to depict prostitution as something glamourous; these two films scrub off the sugarcoating and show just what life on the game can mean if you don't keep your wits about you.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Satyr and Nymph


In Greek mythology, satyrs are deities of the woods and mountains. They are half human and half beast; they usually have a goat's tail, flanks, and hooves. While the upper part of the body is that of a human, they also have the horns of a goat. They are the companions of Dionysus, the god of wine.  The Italian version of the satyr (below) is the faun.


Noted for riotousness and lasciviousness, satrys are lovers of wine and women, and spend their days and nights pursuing nymphs, who are female deities associated with the erotic and life-giving aspects of nature.



In modern usage, satyr and nymph typically describe men and women who are sexually free-spirited and very erotic.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Pulp Art - Pulp Hookers

I've always enjoyed vintage retro pulp art; I find it both fascinating and humourous.  I recently discovered these examples of pulp art book covers from the 1940s and 1950s and get a kick out of their campiness as well as their lurid quality.  I often wonder if readers all those decades ago actually took this material seriously!











Friday, June 4, 2010

How Can You Forget The First Trick You Ever Turned?

For me, as with other ladies in the life of prostitution, there was a first time. For me, this is how it happened.


How can you forget the first trick you ever turned?

Standing on the streetcorner at a bustling intersection in Hollywood late one night, I wore a crimson-red blouse tucked into a sleek, slim pair of black jeans, which were in turn tucked into high-heeled black suede boots, my long hair tumbling past my shoulders.

An older-model Mercedes slowed and then stopped at the curb. The driver, a man in his mid-forties, neither handsome nor unattractive, waved me over. I peered into the passenger window. "You dating?" he asked. "Maybe," I replied. "How much can you spend?" "Well, I've got seventy-five bucks. How about half-and-half?" (street slang for fellatio followed by intercourse) I agreed to this and got in his car. He drove to a nearby motel. The room was small and a bit care-worn but clean. He handed me the cash and mentioned he had brought a condom to use. We then got undressed, and I serviced him per his request. Afterwards, he drove me back to the corner where he had picked me up, telling me to be careful (men are always telling me to be careful, probably because I'm petite and vulnerable-looking).

The incident was as quick and as perfunctory as I have described; it took place quickly, with no fuss and no emotion. Right then, I felt as if I had found my calling: what an easy way for a girl to make some fast money! And there was no sense of shame on my part - it all seemed so natural.

The second trick I turned occured about two weeks later, with someone younger, close to my own age. Again, I felt that sense of exhilaration of a job well-done. By the following month, I was doing this full-time.


As the months went on, I learned the game: how to sense which guys would be safe to go with, which ones seemed creepy, how to sense if the potential customer might actually be a police officer working undercover.

And I also learned that no matter how careful I was, there were dangerous situations I had to navigate. One night, I was robbed: the customer grabbed the money out of my purse (I since learned to secrete the cash in a safe place, usually inside my stockings or boots); when I reached for it, he forcefully grabbed my wrist and said, "Now wait a minute" in a harsh tone, with a cold, hard look in his eyes. I scrambled out of his car and ran. Another time, I had to jump out of a moving car; the customer had swerved onto a side street, away from the motel I had indicated. Fortunately, he was not driving very fast, so I sustained only minor scrapes and bruises.


There were other lessons I had to learn, including how to get along with the other girls on the street. I was working free-lance, which is not the usual way for ladies who are streetwalkers. I soon discovered the other working girls were pressured by their pimps to recruit for their "stables". Since I was not interested in working for a pimp, I learned to be friendly with other girls while keeping my distance.

So much to learn, to absorb: and it was tremendously exciting. However, not all of of my experiences as a streetwalker have been exciting - this includes the times I have been arrested (for "public nuisance" as well as prostitution); this is a situation which induces feelings of shock, fear, and humiliation. Since prostitution is illegal in the U.S. (except for certain designated counties in the state of Nevada), if you're going to work as a hooker, then you always have to be on your guard in case of arrest....

But that is for another time...

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

From Harlot's Parlour: "Make Safety The Priority" (originally posted by Douglas Fox)


Safety is one of the most important concerns for women who work as prostitutes, particularly for those who work on the streets. I speak from personal experience when I say that women who work as streetwalkers are exposed to dangerous situations - ranging from assault and robbery...to rape...to homicide.

Here in the U.S., the average life expectancy of many women involved in street prostitution is only 34. To make this situation even more tragic, neither politicians nor law enforcement personnel nor the public have been particularly sympathetic to this plight of ladies involved in the life. Firstly, the illegality of prostitution in many countries, including the U.S., is partly responsible for this; secondly, in most countries - whether or not it is legal - prostitution is not socially acceptable. As a result, women who work in the life are marginalised; they are reluctant to report when they are victims of violent crime.

Whenever prostitutes have come forward to report they have been victims of beatings, sexual assault, or attempted murder, they are oftentimes met with a callous response, along with cruel comments such as "It's your fault", or even, "Well, you asked for it". Clearly, there needs to be a change in attitude towards prostitution within mainstream society.

Douglas Fox, who is one of the lead editors of Harlot's Parlour (for which I am a contributing writer) has written about this most eloquently; I have re-printed his essay below in its entirety, along with the link for the original article in the UK online publication Morning Star (although this is regarding a series of killings in the UK, it is relevant to the dangers faced by prostitutes all over the world).
- Marie Brown (Silky)


"MAKE SAFETY THE PRIORITY"
Posted by Douglas Fox

"I think we have to ask why the police fail to see that there is a connection between their enforcement of bad laws and an increase in violent attacks upon sex workers. As we have seen in Bradford and Ipswich and other towns the murder of sex workers seems sadly to be an inevitable outcome when vulnerable people are targeted by the police because of ill thought out legislation. Police enforcement disperses street sex workers forcing them to work alone and in more isolated and dangerous areas. Sex workers fearful of arrest both for themselves and their clients make quick and often lethal decisions. Because of ill conceived law and its enforcement street sex workers in particular become obvious and easy targets for those with violent and murderous intentions.

Clients are now the fashionable target for police operations. Clients however are not the problem. To suggest they are is the most simplistic and naive political posturing. The problem is the law that forces the most vulnerable and desperate people to work in dangerous circumstances. Fearful of violent criminals and of the law many street workers are caught in a trap.

Anti sex worker organisations will claim that selling sex is the problem. It is not.

The selling of sex itself is not the issue and neither is the purchase of sex but rather the manner in which, in this case street sex; is being sold and the reason for which it is being sold which is all to often to feed drug habits.

Criminalising both the sex worker and the client will not stop the transactions from taking place and neither will decriminalising the sex worker while criminalising the client. Getting rid of all the bad and unjust laws that prevent sex workers from organising their work safely would however be the most effective step we as a society can take toward tackling violence within the sex industry. It is simply common sense. If the government were to encourage local authorities to work with sex workers and with local support and out reach groups to establish safe areas where street sex workers could work in greater safety, areas where they could obtain the help they needed and where they could begin to establish a trusting relationship with the police, one that is supportive to both them and their clients; then things would change for the better.

Anti sex work groups will again argue that murders do occur even within so called managed zones. This may be true but the authorities job should be to try and prevent tragedy and not to encourage it. The sad reality is that because of police enforcement of bad laws sex workers are placed in greater danger and sex workers are murdered.

If we are serious about preventing tragedies like those in Bradford occurring again and again then the government must decriminalise sex work.

In the following article from the Morning Star on line the police in Bradford admit to taking robust action against sex workers and their clients. It is a policy that as we have seen over and over again leads to tragedy.

History has proven that criminalising sex work DOES NOT WORK.

Is it not time the government tried something new, something that has been proven to work. Decriminalisation in New Zealand is a documented success.

Decriminalisation has not over night stopped all the abuses within the sex industry, that will take time and patience and understanding. The New Zealand experience has shown however that positive change is possible and that the relationship between the police, local communities and sex workers can improve for the benefit of everyone.

New Zealand has shown that placing the safety and health of sex workers first above moralistic and dangerous political posturing is not only the sensible thing to do but also the right thing for a just and tolerant society to do.

Our government must now do the same. Decriminalisation, often confused with legalisation, is I firmly believe what the British public want. I hope the politicians are listening and that they do not continue to simply reinvent or to continue to enforce abusive and discriminatory laws that have failed and always will fail. I hope that these deaths in Bradford are not yet another tragedy in a long line of preventable tragedies. I hope politicians do the right thing this time and listen to sex workers, listen to out reach workers, listen to academics and listen to the the British public."




Friday, May 28, 2010

Harlot's Parlour: Sex Workers And Legal Brothels Of Europe



A brief and entertaining look at the legal brothels within Europe. While I understand the concern of my sisters in the life regarding the possibility of unethical managers within brothels, these places can be a safe haven for prostitutes.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Hetairae


The hetairae were the professional courtesans and high-ranking prostitutes of ancient Greece, prized for their intellect and charm as well as for their beauty and sexual favours. Of all the women in ancient Greece, they alone were allowed to join men at drinking parties known as symposia.


Hetaerae appear to have been regarded as distinct from pornê, or simple prostitutes, and also distinguished from mistresses or wives.


Highly educated in music, poetry, philosophy, and current events, hetairae were independent and oftentimes influential women whose opinions and beliefs were respected by men. One had to court the favours of the hetairae, whose company was in great demand.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Bordello


Beautiful, edgy, yet lush images by Austrian photographer Vee Speers appear in her book "Bordello: The Art Of Seduction". She has lived near the notorious Rue St. Denis in Paris for many years and used her photographs to create her own interpretation of the Paris red-light district from the 1920s and 1930s within the former bordellos, whose elegant interiors have survived.


“From my window I can see the girls waiting downstairs in the doorways, and it has always fascinated me how these women display their bodies up and down the street like gaudy trinkets in a second-hand shop.“


These photographs had been reproduced with Fresson, a unique 19th century hand-worked technique using a charcoal process, creating a sumptuous quality.


Speers' work recalls the decadence of Paris nightlife of the 1920s and 1930s as exemplified by this hauntingly beautiful photograph of a Parisian prostitute from Brassaï (1933):



Alluring, sensuous, feminine...the art of seduction...

Friday, April 30, 2010

Street Life


Street Life

I still hang around neither lost nor found
Hear the lonely sound of music in the night
Nights are always bright
That's all that's left for me
I play the street life
Because there's no place I can go
Street life, it's the only way I know
Street life
And there's a thousand cards to play
Until you play your life away...



Saturday, April 24, 2010

Scarlet Street: Femme Fatale of Film Noir


The femme fatale is an alluring woman of great seductive charm who leads men into compromising or dangerous situations. No other film genre better captures her essence than the dark, brooding, gritty world of film noir. "Scarlet Street" (1945) tells the story of a sexy, tough-talking prostitute named Kitty and her scheming pimp who take advantage of a shy bank clerk and aspiring painter; her pimp urges her to bilk money from this man, whom they mistakenly believe to be a wealthy artist. He embezzles money from his employer in order to finance a lavish lifestyle for Kitty. Tragedy ensues for all involved.


Femme fatale: the fatal woman...

Whore

Whore

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"So sweet and delicious do I become,
when I am in bed with a man
who, I sense, loves and enjoys me,
that the pleasure I bring excels all delight,
so the knot of love, however tight
it seemed before, is tied tighter still."
— Veronica Franco (Poems and Selected Letters)

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