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.

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!

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...

And To Work For A Pimp...

What motivated me to work for a pimp - however briefly - a few years ago?  He represented protection and stability, and  he made me feel special.  Of course, this had to do with the manipulative skills of pimps, but he was very good at at.  Working as a prostitute, particularly as a streetwalker, you can sometimes feel lost and alone, and when a pimp talks to you, he can make the future sound so much better, so you feel like hanging on to him.  And, for me, there is something very sexy about a pimp - he seems more masculine and stronger than a lot of other men, and as a sensitive lady, being around this type of man makes me feel safe.

There is another aspect to the relationship between a prostitute and her pimp which happens to be disturbing: violence, or at least the potential for violence.  This one particular pimp I worked for was not violent towards me.  (But then, I worked for him very briefly; he and his main lady were from out of state and invited me to accompany them back to their home town.  When I said "no", since I was content working in my own city, he accepted my response in a good-natured way.)

I'd had a previous encounter with another pimp, which scared me.  Although he did not hit me, he threatened to do so if I didn't bring him a certain amount of money.  When I got on the track that night, I mentioned this to the first trick who drove up to me, and he drove me to the apartment where I was living at the time.  (I was not living with this pimp - we had just met that same day - and he didn't know where I lived.)

Would I work for a pimp again?  This is not an easy question for me to answer.  My first response would be "no", since I do like my freedom to come and go as I wish, working my own hours; however, I also highly value and respect a strong man who could protect me and make me feel I can do my best in this world.

On My Being A Hooker: Enough Is Enough With Judgmental People...

Enough is enough with judgmental people putting me down because they think my lifestyle as a prostitute is risqué and not socially acceptable: who are they to judge? Come on: flatbacking is not the worst way to earn a living. I’m simply doing what I do in order to survive, and the fact that I enjoy being a hooker is no one’s business.

I’m a lady of the streets, and I can’t help it; this is the way I am. A white trash whore? Whatever. If you don’t approve of this, then keep your priggish, judgmental attitude to yourself.