After Andy Bodle spent thousands of dollars on escorts he met online, he had one more powerful desire left unfulfilled.
We know relatively little about men who pay for sex, but the available research suggests that most of them are married or have steady partners, and that they are not driven by an irrepressible biological need. In fact, the available research indicates that the motivation of many men is relatively low, and that in the vast majority of cases it would not take much to deter them from paying for sex.—Roger Matthews, professor of criminology at London’s South Bank University and author of Prostitution, Politics and Policy, 2008
Broadly speaking, my 29th birthday party was a success. Ninety guests turned up (of the 200 invited), the food was decent, and the few people who hadn’t already met got on famously. The evening would have been perfect but for one thing: when the music died and the last taxi pulled away, I was alone.
Over the previous few years, just about all of my friends had settled down. Every other weekend, it seemed, there was a stag night or a wedding. Those who weren’t having kids were moving out of town.
I, meanwhile, hadn’t had so much as a peck on the cheek for almost a year. Each woman I approached seemed to crowbar the word BOYFRIEND into the conversation more quickly than the last. And the few singles who had shown an interest were unsuitable for various reasons.
To make matters worse, my receding hairline had now receded to the point where “receding hairline” was no longer an adequate description of the situation. (I’ve since been reassured that baldness doesn’t unduly bother most women, but it bothered the hell out of me.) I was starting to think I would never again know the touch of a woman other than the jaded slap of a retirement-home nurse.
And opportunities to change things were thin on the ground. With my friends either exiled or under house arrest, and my stand-up career faltering, I was spending most of my evenings and weekends joylessly surfing the net and playing computer games.
Things were looking up on one front. After two years’ freelancing, I’d been made a full-time subeditor at the Guardian. The pay was good, I was earning extra from writing TV reviews and articles and, with no mortgage or girlfriend, my outgoings were minimal. In less than a year, without really trying, I found that I’d saved up £10,000 ($15,000). My first thought: deposit on a flat! My second, third and fourth: one-bed flat! Scummy part of London! Mortgage!
During my next surfing session, I stumbled across an online escort agency.
Until that night, it had never crossed my mind to pay for sex. Prostitution, for me, had always conjured up images of kerbcrawlers, ladyboys and knee-tremblers in needle-strewn alleyways. Sure, I’d seen Pretty Woman, but that was just Hollywood hogwash. Wasn’t it?
As depicted on the website I discovered, and dozens of others like it, the sex industry was safe, clean, simple … glamorous, even. There were pictures and biographies of the girls, so you could see what you were letting yourself in for. You visited them in plush rented apartments. And as the sites repeatedly pointed out, it was all 100% legal, because you were paying for the girl’s companionship, not for sex. It was just like going on a date—an expensive date, granted, but one that would almost certainly end with a kiss. And the girls … well, the girls made Julia Roberts look like Les Dawson in drag.
I looked at my empty bed. I looked at my empty diary. And I looked at my bank balance. Then I picked up the phone.
I prepared for that first illicit rendezvous exactly as I would for a real date. I went to the gym twice as often and for twice as long. I booked some sunbed sessions. I got a haircut—well, a number 2 all over—bought some new clothes, and read all the papers so that I’d have something interesting to talk about.
When D-day came, I was terrified. Would the person who answered the door be the girl advertised? Or would it be an eastern European thug waiting to rob me and dump my body in the Thames?
My fears were unfounded. The girl behind the door was the girl in the photo (minus an airbrush stroke or two). She was sweet, she was great company, and if she didn’t enjoy herself, she was one hell of an actress. I went home that night feeling a little guilty, but happier than I had been in ages.
From that night, I was hooked. I tried several different agencies and several different girls. Over the next 18 months, I spent something in the region of £15,000 ($22,500) on prostitutes.
Each time, I faithfully observed the rituals of courtship. I always showed the girl the utmost courtesy, I always took her flowers and champagne, and I always paid for at least one extra hour so that I could get to know her first. (It was on my fourth visit that Daniella—a cute, funny 26-year-old Canadian—laughed and told me that no one else did that; most guys just paid for one hour, got down to business, then buggered off. But I liked doing it this way. It felt normal. Almost.)
My fifth visit was to Roberta, a stunning blonde Brazilian based in Mayfair. When I walked in, she looked me up and down and said, “Thank God—a good-looking one for a change.” I looked behind me to check she wasn’t talking about someone else. The confidence boost was worth the £500 all by itself.
Such was the variety of escorts available—black, white, Latina; blonde, brunette, redhead; sassy, classy, naughty—that I never visited the same girl twice. Until, that is, I met Hayley. Hayley was 27 years old, from Lancashire, and exactly my type: petite, brunette, with a cheeky smile, gorgeous bum, and mind-blowing oral technique. And it may be that she was just very good at her job, but she genuinely seemed to like me too. On our second date, she gave me her real name—Jill—and her real phone number, and promised to come and see my stand-up routine some time.
For my 31st birthday, I treated myself to a whole night with Jill. It seemed a bargain at £2,000. The morning after, I woke to find a cup of tea and a gift-wrapped box on the bedside table. After hearing that it was my birthday, Jill had gone out and bought me a foot spa.
After that, I felt as though we had a special connection—a relationship that transcended transactions. Maybe the whole Pretty Woman myth was true. Maybe, I thought, she really liked me; maybe I could persuade her to quit escorting and be with me.
On my next visit, as she was freshening up in the bathroom, I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Do you think,” I asked her, “that some day … if you met the right person … you might give all this up?”
Jill put down her mascara and laughed. “Well, it’s not my ideal job. But I have kind of got used to the lifestyle. If I did give this up for a man, he’d have to earn twice as much as I do. And I earn a hundred grand a year.”
She never did come and watch me do stand-up.
It was another month before I drifted back to the virtual red light district. This time, I had a specific goal in mind: I figured that if I was going to pay a fortune for sex, I might as well pay a fortune for my ultimate sexual fantasy. Almost immediately, I found a website that advertised Sylvia and Eva—“Two girlfriends who love to love each other—who’d love to love you too!” For just £1,200, how could I resist?
My blush turned to ash. This was the first time I’d been presented with incontrovertible evidence that not all escorts were escorts because they enjoyed it. At least one was doing it because she had to.
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Three days later, I arrived, trembling, at the sumptuous Bayswater flat. As I handed over the lilies and Bolly, I realised that the girls, both from Hungary, were as nervous as I was. Not only had they never loved each other before; they’d never even met. They asked if I wanted to go upstairs, but I insisted we talk for an hour first.
I can’t lie to you: that night was a blast. We talked a lot, we laughed a lot, and we did things that would give my parents a heart attack. Even so, I left the flat that night with a nagging doubt. You see, about halfway through the evening, when Eva went for a toilet break, Sylvia and I had a brief chat alone.
“I am very happy you come tonight,” she said.
“Why’s that?”
“Because you are nice.” I blushed, but then she went on: “And also because now I can pay gas bill.”
My blush turned to ash. This was the first time I’d been presented with incontrovertible evidence that not all escorts were escorts because they enjoyed it. At least one was doing it because she had to. And even though this girl liked me, even though I had helped her out in the short term, I was helping to perpetuate that situation. As I rode the tube home that night, I reassured myself by telling myself that I’d paid for enough gas to last Sylvia till 2012, and put the thoughts out of my head.
I made one more booking after that. There was one girl I’d tried to book many times, but who had never been available—Maya, a hauntingly beautiful brunette based in Kensington. During our one-hour chat, she told me she was 20, from Poland, and had worked as a model. But as she sat on the bed and started to undress, I noticed a glistening in her eye. Was she doing this under duress? Was she pining for her modelling days? Or had she just had a rough day? One thing was for sure: she really didn’t want to be there.
This, I realised, was my greatest fear. Not catching a sexually transmitted disease, not even being dumped in the Thames, but meeting a sex worker who didn’t want to be a sex worker. I handed over the money and left.
The next weekend, when I sat down at my computer, I habitually flicked the mouse pointer to the Internet Explorer icon, hovered over it for a while, then moved it on and double-clicked on Championship Manager instead.
THE SCIENCE BIT
According to evolutionary theory, sex is a female resource. Because eggs are few and precious and sperm are plentiful, and because it is females that gestate and rear the young, all across the animal kingdom, it is males who seek out sex and females who consent (or not) to provide it.
Sex, then, has a value, and there are many ways in which males meet that price. Male bower birds, for example, build spectacular nests to woo a mate. Male cichlid fish try to impress the girls by excavating sand mounds on the lake bed. And male Adelie penguins present their potential partners with lovingly polished pebbles.
Similar practices are widespread in human cultures. Among the Ache of Paraguay, for example, it is customary for men to exchanging meat for (adulterous) sex. Indeed, we have yet to discover a single human culture where prostitution does not take place in some form—and in almost all cases, it is men who pay women, and not vice versa. We have also seen that, even in modern western civilisations, women value men with resources, and that men are often expected to provide at least some of these resources in advance of sex.
HG Loebner, in his 1998 paper, Being a John, and Monica Prasad, in her 1999 paper, The Morality of Market Exchange, both noted that clients of prostitutes often asserted that paying for sex was simply a more straightforward and less hypocritical version of what happens in conventional courtship.
Of course, while all this may partially explain what I did, it doesn’t make it all right.
Read more of Andy Bodle’s Womanology studies on The Good Life.
Image credit: Abhishek Singh Bailoo/Flickr
Interesting escort in gurgoan call girls services. It is possible a female very hot and attractive that you will become draw to get her. Our Call Girls Gurgaon are very impressive and hot.
Seeing a sex worker isn’t the same thing as having a girlfriend or a date. It seems like the writer was deluding himself about that because he didn’t want to face what he was actually doing. I was a sex worker when I was younger for a bit, and the easiest clients to have are the ones who understand the terms of the transaction and have realistic expectations of what can happen in a booking with a sex worker. I would have been very uncomfortable with someone who brought flowers or champagne, or booked me for an extra hour in… Read more »
Hi it’s so easy
Both sexes need sex,intimacy ,emotionally and physically. Women also get sexual tensions in their bodies when they do not have a sexual life. It can give deep anxiety and a lot of different symptoms.
But read this from the British newspaper The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/15/why-men-use-prostitutes
It’s so easy for some women to write off men’s need for sex. It’s just sex, just a cliche, etc.
This was interesting. I honestly did not think you would repent or feel remotely guilty about what you did in the end. You do seem like a very nice person. When a man pays for sex, all he expects is sex. Companionship is not the foremost thing on his mind. Prostitutes just tend to be a body, and for you to consider their feelings was nice. While reading I felt you din’t really need the sex, men need sex is a cliche, a common belief that is true for some but not true for many. I sincerely hope you find… Read more »
I’ve been reading “Sex at Dawn” and it’s funny because it sites the same Paraguay tribe to make the opposite point. The women name a partner, the men hunt and bring meat and present it in a dramatic gesture. The men SHARE the meat with the whole tribe, not just their partner for the night. The men even give meat to men who failed to hunt that day, just so everyone has something to give to the tribe. This meat is part of a sex ritual, but it isn’t given to the woman in exchange for sex. The sex is… Read more »
For me men who buy prostitute lack is not respecting themselves. I cannot imagine have sex with a woman who found me ugly, repulsive, disgusting, and she want to have sex with me just because of money. Seriously, does it not hurt you? Even if I found my own girlfriend not enjoying sex with me, I would feel hurt. Men often don’t have sense of respect when it come to sex, not for women, but for themselves, their own body.
John, I would be interested in hearing more about how men don’t often have a sense of respect when it comes to sex, about themselves and their bodies. Because that’s not anything I ever really heard a guy say before and I would be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on this as well as other men’s thoughts on it.
I think anyone who have self respect with their body wont pay for sex. Its just you think your body/sexuality doesn’t have any value, only your money. Without money those prostitutes wont have sex with you. Why anyone want to think like that? That idea is repulsive for me. And I think many men dont have respect for their own body so they don’t care paying for sex.
Thanks for responding John.
I think it is way more complicated than that. Some guys enjoy being single. I am divorced and really don’t want to start having sex with a woman who will undoubtedly want a relationship etc. Furthermore I have very specific tastes in women, and its hard enough finding a woman by traditional means that is very unique to my tastes… has nothing to do with lack of bodily respect and everything to do with seeing something you crave and having it.
Thank you for writing this. It think those that favor prostitution do not dare to take in the facts about the background of men and female prostitutes. In addition to this lack of knowledge come the double standard. They want their “needs” met,but refuse to treat the other with respect and dignity. For them it is OK that others sacrifice them selves,as long as they can have their “needs” met. They want to it to be legal,but will not marry prostitutes or have their family working as prostitutes. And I ask:” why not?” In my country it is legal. But… Read more »
“In addition to this lack of knowledge come the double standard.
They want their “needs” met,but refuse to treat the other with respect and dignity. For them it is OK that others sacrifice them selves,as long as they can have their “needs” met. ”
you are completely right. sex workers have feelings, too & most clients never even think about that
Hi Dior Yes sex workers have feelings. Maybe that is part of the reason why some buy sex instead of making love to a plastic doll. I was wrong when I wrote that it does not help prostitues to have laws to make it legal. After I wrote it,I looked up some resent research. In Scandinan countries violence against prostitutes has FALLEN after this law. When in danger a sexworker can call the police for help. Tell me what you think of sex workers helping the old and seriously handicapped in institutions ? As far as I know this happens… Read more »
Abolitionists say violence has fallen. Harm reduction advocates say we either don’t have good data, or it made things worse. http://feministire.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/no-new-research-does-not-show-that-violence-decreases-under-the-nordic-model/#comments http://feministire.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/taking-ideology-to-the-streets-sex-work-and-how-to-make-bad-things-worse/ As for sex being so special and visceral, I think nursing and looking after infants is equally special and visceral, yet we are happy to outsource and pay for it. I was comfortable working as a sex worker. I felt I was giving people a safe space to express their sexuality and was well compensated for it. Mind-numbing administrative work, however, really felt soul-dragging. When I quit it for sex work, I felt like I grew wings. Now… Read more »
Hi I.N
Interesting .
I never thought of it that way.
i think it is GREAT that disabled people see escorts. disabled people are still people with the same hopes/dreams as us.no one should be denied of affection.there should be more people like Becky Adams
Assuming relationships is just an exchange of commodities is a really shallow view point on relationships. If that is the case, then women would easily be able to discard a person when someone with more money comes along. Just as it would be to assume that men can discard a person when someone younger and tighter comes along. The author needed a hot body and an ego stroke, he didnt need a relationship. You cant compare the two.
“If that is the case, then women would easily be able to discard a person when someone with more money comes along. Just as it would be to assume that men can discard a person when someone younger and tighter comes along.”
You do realize that the two scenarios you describe happen thousands of times a day right?
Nice article and comments but at the heart of it, this guy only seemed to value women based on their sexual currency. Other qualities seem to not matter to him and perhaps this is why he cant find anyone suitable? The prostitutes enjoyed his other qualities, but bottom line was his wallet and that is why they couldnt have a real relationship as noted. Nothing wrong with the use of prostitutes but its just a shallow exchange. You cant compare that to anything real. Its like being hooked up to fluids at a hospital compared to drinking a glass of… Read more »
My understanding from the article was that he couldn’t find a glass of water when he needed one. And if that goes on long enough, one does end up in a hospital, hooked up and on fluids.
But I think most men drink water because it’s cool and it’s wet and we’re thirsty. Most of the time I don’t value it for it’s many properties, some of which, granted, are amazing and spectacular.
Hi Bay Area Gay
Would you like your daughter,sister and wife to earn their living by prostition?
And if you answer no,tell us why not since “men need it”.
If you tell me yes,then explain why.
Respectfully Iben
Not all men need it. Although I have no girlfriend and I cant get sex easily because I’m shy and awkward guy, I dont need a prostitute. Its not sex I want.
I wouldn’t want a son or daughter to be a coal miner, test pilot or stunt person. They’re all dangerous professions. All needed in some fashion and all find people willing if not eager to do the work. All those jobs have no doubt become safer over time as they’ve been regulated, had precautions implemented and so on. I don’t want them working in some minimum-wage job either. My kids are going to be fucking. I hope they play safe and have fun. They’re also going to find jobs. I hope those jobs are also safe and well-paid and satisfying.… Read more »
Hi it’s a job I do not live in the US,and wonder. Is poverty so extreme and social security systems none existent ? Do men and women in the US today have to go into prostitution to survive economically just like like some coal miners in earlier times? If we couod created 100% safe environment for prostitutes,with no rapes,violence and murder. No human trafficking. Has it ever occurred to you that there is an emotion side to this activity as well both for male and female prostitutes. We all are a body. I am a body. You are a body.… Read more »
Those were all examples of professions that were dangerous then, hopefully less so now… but still dangerous. Every job takes it’s toll on a person in some form. I doubt any job is completely satisfying. I don’t get overwrought about the cubical-dweller whose job risks carpal tunnel syndrome or lower back issues. I wouldn’t, nor would I want my children to, want to be giving cheap anonymous oral sex in an alley to support a drug habit. But clearly, that’s not what the author was describing. I wouldn’t say the girl Eliot Spitzer was cavorting with was “surviving.” From what… Read more »
I don’t think it’s fair to compare what escorts do to what someone sitting a desk does even if you don’t enjoy your job. I really don’t know many fathers that would truly be okay with their daughter becoming an escort (usually for older men with money) and would compare it to her sitting at a desk doing data entry or whatever. I think most fathers would rather wish their daugther had a job that did not include her being paid for sex. Sex is always going to change the equation. It is a deeply human and organic experiece. It… Read more »
Hi Erin
You express this so well! Thank you.
Well written Erin.
Thanks Iben!
How many fathers do you think are truly pleased with every boyfriend their daughters take to bed?
I think it would be more accurate to state, “Sex is always going to change the equation, for me.” Because clearly other people having sex feel otherwise. Sex can be deeply human and organic, whatever that means. But I’d wager it can also be something else, because it can also be fairly simple and pleasant fun.
Sex changes the equation for everyone. Which is why we so often talk about this subject. That doesn’t mean you only have to be having warm loving feelings about sex. Riding on a roller coaster is also simple and pleasant fun. But the fact remains that the dynamics of sex will always change the equation then any asexual activity. That’s human nature.
i would support my daughter/son in anything that they wanted.
No, definitely not, I would not want my daughter to be a sex worker. I wouldn’t hire my own daughter as a sex worker, so it would have to be someone else’s daughter. Otherwise it would be gross.
And hey, let’s not be heteronormative or sexist here. You should ask if I’d be okay with my SON being a prostitute as well.
My blush turned to ash. This was the first time I’d been presented with incontrovertible evidence that not all escorts were escorts because they enjoyed it. At least one was doing it because she had to. Lots, and I mean LOTS of escorts, stripteasers and prostitutes do it because it pays way way way better than your standard minimum wage job. You think they’d rather work McDonald’s or Wal-Mart? Some might prefer and can’t, but that’s usually certain minorities who are so discriminated against they can’t even get that minimum wage job at all (like trans women in lots of… Read more »
“This was the first time I’d been presented with incontrovertible evidence that not all escorts were escorts because they enjoyed it. At least one was doing it because she had to.” Possibly, but this is jumping to a conclusion. Just because she’s going to use the money to pay the gas bill doesn’t mean that prostitution is her only option. It’s also kind of sweet how you took everything she said at face value, like sex just makes people more honest somehow. Do you think you’re first one she’s ever said any of these things to? Sex work is partly… Read more »
Funny and interesting Andy. Looking at Craigslists “Men for Men” sections, there is but a small portion for money exchange. The few that can are “young and hung” – as they like to advertise – otherwise, it’s direct pleasure for pleasure. And if we can accept money as a stand-in for future pleasure or comfort, then the difference reduces to timing. The other key point you make is the one of perceived and real value. Perceived because according to the theory you use to explain the dynamic but not the morality, condoms should equalize the value of the exchange. But… Read more »
I echo the opinions of the commenter above. (Jimbo)
Andy, this is a very excellent piece and so fascinating. Thanks for sharing this part of you.
I like how you managed to include that assertion as to why prostitution is not much different from what relationships are: exchange processes. Guys date girls, buy them gifts, pay for their meals and gifts, provide them financial security and safety. What do the guys get? Sexual services, loyalty, and feelings. I for one have had sex with prostitutes, and I kind of regret it, because I think that after having slept with 6 women in my life, I already have too much experience. So I guess you could say I gave up that “project”. That said, I don’t judge… Read more »
I don’t get the idea of too much experience.
This assertion implies that sex is not something women enjoy, just a method of currency they use in order to get something else. That assertion is patently false. Most women enjoy sex. Most women seek out sex, or plan to have sex at some point in their life. Those that don’t are either asexual, have specifically chosen celibacy, or might be dealing with psychological trauma. Women do not spontaneously grow an entire sexual identity when a man bribes them with gifts and money. You do not have that kind of power over us, sorry. This assertion also implies that men… Read more »
Very naive to not understand that sex is a commodity. In fact the only reason society even works is because women have commoditized sex. If women wanted to have sex as “freely” as men then we’d all still be living in caves having sex with each other non stop. The only reason men ever tried to use their brains, or create, or provide was to impress women and mate. That’s it. Do you really think anyone would try to invent something if it wasn’t going to get them a reward of some type? You don’t think that early woman was… Read more »
“Very naive to not understand that sex is a commodity. In fact the only reason society even works is because women have commoditized sex. If women wanted to have sex as “freely” as men then we’d all still be living in caves having sex with each other non stop. The only reason men ever tried to use their brains, or create, or provide was to impress women and mate” hey , you are not speaking for men, its just yourself. Other men dont do everything just for the sake of sex. Do you think Einstein create relativity theory to get… Read more »
Excellent article Andy. It’s rare to find an article from the “john” perspective that doesn’t try to portray him as a degenerate. I believe prostitution should be legal.
Prostitution should not only be legal, but destigmatized as well. A lot of regular, decent guys need it, on account of being completely invisible in the dating market.