Title: Paying for It: A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients Author: Editor Greta Christina with various contributing a Publisher: Greenery Press Publish Date: 2004 Pages: 177 Genres:: Non-Fiction, Compilation, Sociology, Transgendered/Transsexual Reviewer: Layla Tichtchenko

Rating:

Hands down a fantastic follower for its too few predecessors in this category comes Paying for It: A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients. Editor/author Greta Christina gives you a rare glimpse into not just the world of sex workers but a peek into their psyche as well. It is a very unusual opportunity given the performances and role playing that dancers and other entertainers give their audiences. Greta Christina reveals snippets from phone sex operators to streetwalkers. It isn’t shock value these guys and gals are offering but knowledge. Greta quickly tears down the notion that sex workers are not ambitious and articulate. Stereotypes that are portrayed in the media are debunked; in fact, many of them have gone on to earn advanced degrees and publish books.

Greta, in most cases, presents the chapters in the various sex workers own words and in a few she interviews them. From the introduction of the book she makes her opinions about sex work, including prostitution, very clear. She invites you to see the sex industry and the people who provide the services in a very human way. There’s a poignant and pensive piece from a transsexual that was especially touching. She is torn between a Pinocchio-like desire to be a “real” girl and the job of being an escort to pay for her transformation. It is sad to realize that the very thing about the ‘chicks with dicks’ bodies that the clients adore is the very thing that the TS’s abhor. For within them, they are women trapped in a masculine prison. And beneath the sassy saucy bluster and bravado is strain and struggle.

What some of the contributing authors lacked in writing talent, they more than made up for in honesty, directness, and even a wry and clever bit of humor. There was one rather annoying chapter as a professional dominatrix gave a handful of examples of emails she would like to see from prospective clients. One would have sufficed, maybe two even, but three was just redundant. It doesn’t hit high on the hotness meter in the traditional sense, either.

Paying for It and books like it are groundbreaking as tools for well-meaning clientele of erotic establishments everywhere. As for those who’ve ever wondered to themselves “How could she do that?” It is so much harder to judge them when you gain some perspective on the reasons and the points of view of those who choose this way of life. Greta Christina also points out along with contributing authors that these are all perspectives of people who have chosen these various jobs. No matter how hard it may be for some to believe that someone would choose these jobs, let alone not be overcome with shame, it’s still something that so many people need to understand and recognize.

I urge everyone, especially uptight conservatives, to read Paying for It. It sheds a much needed light on the sex industry and those that have provided these services throughout history and will continue to provide them for many years to come. Perhaps, one day people who are sex workers will not have such negative stigmas attached to their profession and they will be taken seriously. From their insight to their observations, Paying for It should be read from cover to cover with an open and accepting mind. There is also an added bonus at the end of the book with websites that offer even more info regarding the overworked and oversexed among us. Most importantly, they remind us that no matter what kind of career the authors of this book have chosen they are human and deserve to be seen as such.