July 05, 2005

My life as a courtesan
  • She gets a facial as part of her preperation! That's what I call thorough. Mind you, for 5k a day... *flashes charming grin hopefully*
  • Calling moneyjane...
  • Read a good book on this sort of life not too long ago -- "Whore", by Nelly Arcan. Story is a little lacking, as it's a mood piece more than anything else, but there are some magnificent turns of phrase in there. Also, a good chunk is devoted to the protagonist working out her daddy issues, which may or may not be interesting to the reader, but overall I found it a very good read. I hate it when people younger than me publish such good shite.
  • On second thought, Arcan's book doesn't describe the life of luxury that the link does (although there are some small examples), which makes my earlier comment completely irrelevant. But it's still a good read.
  • I'm thinking this is fiction... just too perfect... The Martha Stewart of the call girl industry...
  • It does seem too perfect. I kept trying to work out the numbers. Based on what she says she makes a year, and what she spends (4K a year just on lingerie?), how can she make any type of profit?
  • According to her, a courtesan is "differentiated from other working girls by her intellect, beauty, class, charm, honesty, humour, style and sex appeal." Snob much?
  • Step 1: steal underpants buy lingerie
  • Wait. Whores wear panties?
  • courtesan is a straight up marketing term... Wait. Whores wear panties? Only when I'm working. I haven't had a chance to read the article but I will soon. Too busy taking nudie cam stills and handing out smackdowns to spaztards.
  • If sex weren't involved, I'd be all over this exciting job opportunity.
  • Snob much?
    Sure. Audacia over at Waking Vixen (NSFW) and, I imagine, a bunch of other sex worker bloggers address this. Women who only get their tits out for photos look down on women who get it all off (eg, Suicide Girls who insist they aren't doing porn. I have news for you, honey, and it's all bad...); strippers who sneer at hookers, and so on. If you're in a stigmatised group, it's nice to either (a) pretend you aren't part of that group, or (b) find another part of it you can sneer at.
  • And having just read a good book on the great British courtesans, she doesn't really fit the bill for the classic use of the term. They usually (from the 17th through 19th century) entertained one patron, had long-term signed contracts with annual stipends specified, and had a post-severance annuity for when one or the other moved on. The courtesan might have other men for her own entertainment, but she was (generally) tied to a single patron at a time, and the top ones were quite the public status symbol.
  • a good book on the great British courtesans Citation, you fucking tease!
  • Yeah, no shit rodgerd. I have an amazon wishlist to fill! also: Monkeyfilter: nudie cam stills and handing out smackdowns to spaztards.
  • Unfortunately, I'm in Auckland, and the book's in Wellington. I'll try to remember to update the thread when I get home this weekend.
  • Ah! Here we are; Courtesans, by Katie Hickman. You wouldn't believe Amazon's search engine couldn't find it searching for "Courtesan", "Courtesan English", or "Courtesan British", would you?
  • Thanky.
  • From the article: "...the market is small and hard to penetrate." Now that's funny! Oh wait, no it's not...it sounds like a very difficult f**king career to get into...