slightly offended, but mostly indifferent

[belladonna 279]

I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds. It was one of those commonplace detective series, the ones that are boring enough to relax before bed, but stimulating enough so that you won't change the programme.

 

The topic at hand was high class escorting.

 

The criminal--a wealthy female escort--killed her clients with a warped sort of righteous indignation. This woman killed them for two reasons. Her subconscious hatred for all men, and for how they were terrible people for paying for sex while they were married/had children.

 

I might not have caught the entire gist of the episode, because I shut off the TV with a fury matching that of the Whore of Babylon before I reached the plot's climax. I could go on an entire rant about this, but I don't want to--mainly because it's as obvious and as tedious of an affair as the programme itself.

 

Let me just point out one thing about this so-called avant-garde media portrayal of prostitution.

 

There has never been an avant-garde portrayal of prostitution in the media. Why? Because they always make it seem TOO glamorized or TOO melancholic. For it to be avant-garde, it has to be different than the usual, no?

 

Did it never occur to these producers (who are all men, no doubt) that life is an odd balance of the both?

 

Even that "diary of a call girl" series is full of semi-pornographic imagery, not intended to educate but just as a last resort fapping material for the middle-aged crowd. It offends me to even mention that series.

 

 

Have you discovered a movie, a book or television series that could prove me wrong? Are my opinions well founded?

[Guest Ou**or**n]

I cannot think of one but I don't find that fact at all unusual. Just about every job is boring and lacks drama 99% of the time. Even doctors, police officers and lawyers (the subject of endless drama shows) have very routine jobs.

 

The essence of TV is to take the potential of each job and flesh it out into some sort of dramatic plot. Thus it is natural for escorts to be either glamorous or psychotic.

 

My chosen profession is IT and computer programmers are either portrayed as glamorous heroes, greedy thieves or the subject of ridicule and stereotypes.

 

So relax and enjoy the fact that there is at least a glimmer of glamour or evil in your profession. There aren't many shows featuring dental hygienists.

[Cato 160314]

I hope this doesn't lead to a falling-out between us, Bella, but I quite like the Secret Diary of a Callgirl, mostly because I quite like Billie Piper.

[buggernot 588]

99% of the time, any populist media created with the intent on showing a specific slice of life gets it wrong. What makes it worse is when you have first hand knowledge and experience regarding the subject matter. Most TV and film is geared for a simple audience who are not concerned about the details being correct or stereotypical.

 

My ex was big into equestrian. Every time some show or movie depicted scenes or stories revolving around horses, she had so many critiques about what they got wrong - how the rider wasn't sitting right or holding her hands properly while riding English, that the saddle wasn't the right type for the horse, etc. The actors could've been riding zebras for all I cared since I knew very little about that world, and those intricate nuances had no bearing on the crappy story going on anyways. But man, it drove her crazy seeing all that shit and would not shut the fuck up about it and...oh, I digress ;)

 

For dramatic reasons, you won't see a lot of "everyday normal hooker" depictions. Sex sells and violence sells, but reality or well written character pieces do not. (Please, no comments about "reality" tv - it's not fucking real either) But the extremes make for better (and simpler) drama, and you will continue to see that with regularity until the end of time.

 

Belladonna, I think your first mistake was watching Criminal Minds! Not escort related, but if you want to watch something that honestly depicts the reality of police work, check out The Wire instead. Best TV show ever, period.

[fortunateone 156618]

I think most TV portrayals of any profession are one dimensional, by necessity. I think the Diary series helps a lot just because it portrays more of the background of the character, that is, she is more of a real person, with a family who judge her not thru her work but thru her apparent lack of ambition lol. Or lack of husband and family. Then the comical side or practical side of getting ready for appts, and how the majority of the time is not all about sex or that the clients don't appreciate or like her. So, it does go further into the life of a real person, making hopefully people see that escorts are more than just their profession and don't all come from broken homes and abusive childhoods, etc, but can make these choices for themselves, including how and where they work for independence. Vastly different than most portrayals.

 

 

Other than that, typically CSI (the original) can use the legitimacy of brothels and escorting in Nevada to their advantage. There is one where a client at a ranch is killed and they interview the escorts who work there. Everyone different, no one a particular stereotype. Also, there was a dominatrix repeat character who was interestingly portrayed.

[buggernot 588]

Other than that, typically CSI (the original) can use the legitimacy of brothels and escorting in Nevada to their advantage. There is one where a client at a ranch is killed and they interview the escorts who work there. Everyone different, no one a particular stereotype. Also, there was a dominatrix repeat character who was interestingly portrayed.

 

Ah yes, but ask a forensics expert how close CSI is to reality and see what they have to say ;)

[castle 38816]

That's typical Amercian programming for you. They'll project almost anything sexual in a negative light, unless it's they typical man making love to his wife once a week kind of scenario, but even that they'll never show it. When it comes to films and television, they're really uptight about sex over there. That's why a movie or show can be just about as violent as you can imagine, and still manage to get a pg-13 rating, but the second you show a nude pair of breasts, a sexual act or even just a blatant sexual referance, it's an R rating. So by their reasoning, shooting someone in the face is perfectly ok, but something as natural as the act of procreation, or the nude human figure (be it male or female) is taboo. I dunno, it's always seemed kind of backwards to me.

[cordsboy 184]

TV and reality are 2 very different things. Funny how we question some aspects of TV but flying men, talking animals and octomoms are not an issue?

[TracieGold 282]

Dear Bella, I understand your point and feel a lot like you do, but, to create "new rules of normality" in society is one of the toughest tings one can endeavor....

I was looking at Wilkipedia and found these definitions:

Hooker

This term was credited to General Joseph Hooker because on a visit to Washington DC was appalled at the vice around the capitol. So appalled that he rounded up all the lower class brothel workers and street workers and made them all practice in the same area - known as Murder Bay which was 13 streets of vice including gambling, theft and murder. However, the term predates the civil war and was in use in New York City in 1845 and was used to describe sex workers who worked at the dock on Corlears Hook. It is likely that a combination of events occurred to create the term. A painting entitled Hooking a Victim from 1851 shows a night scene of streetwalkers soliciting customers. The title refers to a method of prostitution used to see if a man was interested in her services. She would point the direction in which she was going and if the man offered his arm to her, she would hook hers within. He was the hookie. She was the hooker. (Taken from “What’s a poor girl to do”.)

 

Harlot;

Whore

Ishtar was the primary Babylonian deity, a goddess strongly associated with sex work. As the Whore of Babylon, Ishtar proudly oversaw the continuing tradition of sacred prostitution, announcing on a stone tablet, which is still in existence. "A prostitute compassionate am I”. One of her titles was the Great Goddess Har, Mother of Harlots. Her high priestess, the Harine, was spiritual ruler of her city of Ishtar.

"Har" can be read as a cognate of the Persian houri (sacred temple whores and dancing girls, they were Ladies of the Hour. Each ruled a certain hour of the night, and marked the hours of the night by whirling dances. The oldest authentic Hebrew folk dance is still called hora after the circle dances of the sacred harlots) and Greek horae, and may also be the origin of "harem," which formerly meant a temple of women or sanctuary. The term harlot also finds its basis with Har. Harlot was a term for whore priestesses who were employed in Ishtar’s temples, administering sexual sacraments to worshipers, who would leave offerings to the temple, for the upkeep of the priestesses, and in honour of Ishtar.

The Hebrew form of Har was Hor; this along with the Persian term Houri seems to be the origin of the word whore. In the Hebrew Bible, whoredom was used to refer to both sex work, and idolatry - worship given to an image, but its signification has been extended to all Divine worship given to anyone or anything but the true God (Jews, along with Christians and Moslems are monotheistic); unfaithfulness to God. Thus it is possible to infer that sex work, and Pagan spiritual practices were linked in the minds of Hebrew prophets – and that religious harlotry, or cult prostitution, associated with fertility of the land; and practiced throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean regions was considered a threat to Judaism.

 

Prostitute

This definition taken from "Call Girls" by Roberta Perkins and Francis Lovejoy, UWA Press, 2007, pg 2 - 3

The term "prostitute" derives from the Latin word prostituta. Its literal meaning is a combination of "up front" and the latin word situere i.e. "to offer for sale." Being "up front" or being "exposed" also referred to the Ancient Roman sex workers' habit of going about with their faces uncovered when seeking the attention of potential customers, in contrast to the general practice of women covering their faces with the palla (head cloth) in public. ... the term "prostitute"... refers to those women who chose independence over being controlled by men in the Roman patriachal family. Prostituta was more often applied to independent sex worekrs, or those who worked in taverns, on the streets or in their own homes, rather than to the meretrix, or slaves sold to the madams and brothel-owners of the state-regulated brothels, or lupinar (literally meaning "house of she-wolves.")

The word "prostitute" was carried down through various languages to the present-day Western society. But as Gail Pheterson has pointed out, the term gradually took on a Christian moralist tradition, as debasement of oneself or of others for the purpose of ill-gotten gains. (Pheterson, Gail The Whore Stigma: Female Dishonor and Male Unworthiness Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelenheid Centrale Directie Voorlichting, Nederland, The Hague, 1984).

NB Sex worker groups in Australia reject the word "prostitute" and since the late 1970's have used the term "sex worker."

 

I wonder what our gentlemen at Cerb, think of these ones? I only had the pleasure of meeting real men with "cavalier" characteristics, and would love their imput on these definitions....

Hugs Bella dear and take good care!

Much love!

Tracie:wink:

[Guest S****an]

I'm afraid no example of a balanced portrayal of escorts in mainstream TV comes readily to mind, but some comfort can be taken that you're not alone. I'm in the military, and find that if good scriptwriting comes from what you know, then evidently the military is a mystery to TV scriptwriters as they can't get much beyond stereotypes about us as well.

 

While I've never seen Diary of a Call Girl, it is interesting that the real Belle du Jour (played by Billie Piper in the series) is a research scientist. When she was "outed" I recall a lot of cognitive dissonance in the press who couldn't imagine that a call girl could be a brilliant, educated and articulate professional. To us on CERB of course that's no surprise :).

 

Of course I can't resist pointing out that probably the best sci-fi series of all time IMHO (Joss Whedon's Firefly), had a main character, Inara, who was an independent, witty, and intelligent escort. I won't go into the symbolism that my avatar is a lego version of the ship's captain Malcolm Reynolds, and he had a barely concealed love for Inara. :wink:

[Jazzitup 5652]

Bella,

 

If she is a murderer then she will not be portrayed in a sympathic way. Rather the fact she is an SP just makes the situation more dramatic. What could be a bigger juxtaposition than pleasing a man and then killing him?

 

Tracie,

I prefer the term escort over all the others you have listed. The term is broad enough to include just about any type of activity between the two parties.

[buggernot 588]

Of course I can't resist pointing out that probably the best sci-fi series of all time IMHO (Joss Whedon's Firefly), had a main character, Inara, who was an independent, witty, and intelligent escort. I won't go into the symbolism that my avatar is a lego version of the ship's captain Malcolm Reynolds, and he had a barely concealed love for Inara. :wink:

 

Joss Whedon creates a lot of female characters with depth and power; he's definitely a feminist.