Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 08:40:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tracy Quan <quan-AT-panix.com>
Subject: Re: M-FEM: Do lesbians use brothels?



On Mon, 4 Aug 1997, David Stevens wrote:

>  Also, I don't know if Miss Quan would use the word
> "brothel," and I don't know anyone who does. A lot
> of, er, logistics, may be handled by telephone and 
> outcall.

Well, the term brothel is -- let's see -- I have heard coworkers using it
conversationally in the UK. ("Don't throw a sheet on top of the bedclothes
-- that's like being in a brothel.") But when I worked in a (Manhattan)
brothel, the term we used was "house." A PURITAN magazine editor once
suggested that, when writing about prostitution, house could be
capitalized (House)  instead of placed in quotes -- and the context would
be clear. I think brothel may still sound a bit formal to American
(hookers') ears.

A bodyrub establishment is, I suppose, technically a brothel. But that's
usually called a "massage parlor."

> But, most of the sex "establishments" are pretty
> unestablished. I don't know anybody who works in
> the sex industry who trusts her (or his) employer
> to make good on *two* paychecks, unless like Tracy
> she *is* her own employer.

I worked in houses and for escort services when I was starting out -- and
never worried about being stiffed by those in management. I realize this
happens in some areas of the sex trade but I have no reason to think it's
the norm in New York. 

Unfortunately, there *are* some fly-by-night types
who don't care about such niceties as reputation -- but I would add that
they exist on both sides of the deal. Many madams and business owners have
to look the other way when a prostitute doesn't pay the agreed commission,
for example. This isn't the norm, either -- it's hard to develop a
professional reputation if people know you are a thief -- but it has been
known to happen. In both situations, unscrupulous participants are taking
advantage of the illegality. 

> > Are prostitutes who serve lesbian customers
> > lesbian as well? 
> 
>  Um. Are there only two answers to that?

:) How do we define lesbian or not-lesbian? Most of the female customers I
have met were part of a male-female couple -- but very interested in
having sex with me. There is a lot of girl-girl action in the business --
between sex workers. Some female prostitutes are adept at faking it, some
are adept at *seeming* to fake it -- and sometimes the sparks are there.
:) 

> even straight women are not such avid consumers of 
> sexual services as straight men. 

For what it's worth, I think this is changing. I hear more stories about
male escorts, but this might just be gossip...

> "This is discrimination. The City would not do this if they
> were an ordinary gay bar." BTW, the bar has a no-kissie rule.

A man I know was stopped by the police while walking on the Motherlode
block with a (new) companion -- if you are coming out of the Motherlode,
you may be harrassed simply because it's assumed that you are engaged in a
transaction. Bear in mind that these two people were stopped because of
*appearances* --- nobody could prove they were doing business. This type
of harrassment is not unlike the routine harrassment of "mixed race" 
couples: The cops think they can get away with it because of the way you
"look" together. 


-- Tracy