MetaFilter posts tagged with prostitution

Operation Midnight Climax

homunculus — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:00:27 -0800

Operation Midnight Climax is a new web series about how the CIA used prostitutes to test LSD on unsuspecting American citizens. "Operation Midnight Climax was a CIA mind-control research program that began in the 1950's. The project consisted of CIA-run safehouses in San Francisco, Marin and New York. It was established in order to study the effects of LSD on unconsenting individuals. Prostitutes on the CIA payroll were instructed to lure clients back to the safehouses, where they were given a wide range of substances, including LSD, and monitored behind two-way mirrors." [Via]

Type Tart Cards

carsonb — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:32:02 -0800

Tart cards [NSFW] are the means by which many London prostitutes advertise their services. Step into almost any central London phone box and you can contemplate up to 80 cards inviting you to be tied, teased, spanked or massaged.... [Wallpaper Magazine] asked designers – from students to superstars – to find the tart hiding in every typeface and create their own graphic numbers.... all 450 cards can be viewed here. [NSFW]

In among this plethora of brilliant, witty graphic designs we would like to highlight the serious issue that lies at the heart of the world of tart cards – the plight of trafficked women in the sex industry. It is a subject touched eloquently on by Mike Dempsey of Studio Dempsey, who is a volunteer at the Helen Bamber Foundation which helps rebuild lives broken by human rights violations. While our exhibition is an ode to the graphic qualities of the tart card phenomena, Dempsey's design is a pertinent reminder of the sinister world that lies beneath every card.

Read Mike Dempsey's letter and design.

Craigslist: Less erotic than before?

stinkycheese — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:18:52 -0800

Acting on criticisms and pressure from law enforcement, Craigslist has announced it will shut down its "erotic services" category in the U.S. Reaction is mixed and some are suggesting that online prostitution will simply find a new name.

Mambo #5

Smedleyman — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:02:59 -0800

Ok, stop me if you’ve heard this one: an ex-cop accused of killing his fourth wife gets engaged a fifth time and tries to get a job in a brothel on a reality t.v. show (video), but before he can, he's arrested today for killing his third wife. Of course, his fifth engagement was just a stunt. Or was it? Whatever. The world's greatest dad has plenty of ladies lining up to take his wife's place(s).

Criminalizing prostitution in RI

lunit — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:02:04 -0800

Prostitution is legal in two states: Nevada and Rhode Island. Some legislators in Rhode Island have been trying to close the loophole for years, to no avail. Yesterday, for the first time, the bill took a huge step toward passage. A local film maker has produced a documentary about the issue. You can watch the trailer here.

Saving Sin City

zarq — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:50:46 -0800

Two Christian ministries, Hookers for Jesus and JC's Girls aim to "save" Las Vegas sex workers from their professions by introducing them to Christianity. Their founders, Annie Lobert and Heather Veitch (respectively,) both ex-sex workers, have been the focus of various interviews & documentaries, and have produced an outreach video series on YouTube: "Saving Sex City: 1, 2, 3, 4. (The series has a MySpace page, as well.) Also see XXXChurch, which targets porn addiction and has been featured previously on MeFi. Lobert recently participated in a rather surreal ABC Nightline "Faceoff" debate regarding the existence of Satan. Predictably, not everyone is thrilled with the groups' names or methods.

Asymmetrical Information and Hooker-nomics.

chunking express — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:03:53 -0800

Asymmetrical Information and Hooker-nomics.

Sex, drugs and Islam

445supermag — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:18:53 -0800

"Iran is dying. The collapse of Iran's birth rate during the past 20 years is the fastest recorded in any country, ever. Demographers have sought in vain to explain Iran's population implosion through family planning policies, or through social factors such as the rise of female literacy. But quantifiable factors do not explain the sudden collapse of fertility. It seems that a spiritual decay has overcome Iran, despite best efforts of a totalitarian theocracy. Second, according to a recent report from the US Council on Foreign Relations, "Iran serves as the major transport hub for opiates produced by [Afghanistan], and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime estimates that Iran has as many as 1.7 million opiate addicts." That is, 5% of Iran's adult, non-elderly population of 35 million is addicted to opiates. That is an astonishing number, unseen since the peak of Chinese addiction during the 19th century." For more on Iranian prostitution, see this NYT article on the ironically named "Chastity Houses" and this piece on "temporary marriages". The opiate of the Iranian masses is opium.

Frauenzimmer

chillmost — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:55:34 -0800

Brothels in Germany (pics): Photographer Patric Fouad's book, Frauenzimmer, takes a look at the insides of German brothels. (mostly SFW unless you are offended by the occasional sex toy hanging on the wall and blurry porn in the background)

Soiled doves, prairie nymphs, filles de joie & the old west sporting life

madamjujujive — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:19:34 -0800

Meet Dora DuFran and her cat house of Deadwood; Perle De Vere and the working girls of Cripple Creek; Annie Chambers of Kansas City; and Squirrel Tooth Alice of Sweetwater. In the wild west, prostitution was one of the few career options for women. Western history is filled with many colorful tales of shady ladies and legendary madams. Rambling Bob has some other enjoyable accounts of prostitution in the old west (sometimes employing some very creative spelling): Old West Prostitutes: the Public Arch Shooting A Sad End for a Madam of the Old West Ladies of the Night in the Old West Two More Old West Prostitutes and Their Men One Last Visit to the Old West Prostitutes

"For the rest of the evening my name will be Violetta."

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:23:35 -0800

Radar magazine: Secrets of a hipster hooker.

We can be heroes just for one day

panboi — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:01:21 -0800

Christiane F was a 1981 German film that portrayed the life of young heroin addicts growing up in 1970's Berlin. Notable for the collaboration of David Bowie, the film became well known for its realistic portrayal of drug use. The film's impact was helped by the involvement of David Bowie who agreed to the use of his songs for the film and also performed during a concert scene. The album released at the time also provides a very good selection of Berlin-era Bowie songs, such as Heroes and the haunting instrumental Sense Of Doubt. Based on the book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, itself based on interviews and articles in Stern magazine, the plot follows the true story of Christiane Felscherinow and her gradual descent into drug use and prostitution. Although the story is very harrowing, there remains a sense of hope at the end. Following the film's release, Christiane became something of a cult figure and attracts the interest of various fan sites. Christiane Felscherinow now lives in Berlin with her son.

“Can I give you a tour? It’s non-binding.”

ZachsMind — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:52:44 -0800

"This might be a weird request, but I just want to cuddle," Nevada Sagebrush columnist Jordan Butler decided to do something for his last column (before graduating college) that he hadn't done before. He decided to solicit a brothel. Here's the catch: he wasn't interested in paying for sex. He just wanted something to write about for his last column. The result is half after school special and half Twilight Zone episode, but it's all funny.

The Countertraffickers

fourcheesemac — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:59:32 -0800

William Finnegan reports on rescuing the victims of the global sex trade. You can also listen to Finnegan talking about the research for the article. (New Yorker)

When Men Wear Nail Polish, the Terrorists Win

digaman — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:45:41 -0800

"I'm not a politician, I'm an artist. Depravity is part of the job description," says self-styled dandy, former drug addict, and controversial British author Sebastian Horsely, who was denied entrance to the US by customs officials at Newark Airport on the grounds of "moral turpitude," a wide net that encompasses everything from fornication to being a "nuisance." Shades of Oscar Wilde.

The takedowns were for free whores.

griphus — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:17:03 -0800

New York's Governor Eliot Spitzer (Wiki) has been linked to a high-class prostitution ring.

The world's oldest profession in the Windy City.

Sticherbeast — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:49:50 -0800

Steven Leavitt and Sudhir Venkatesh, of Freakonomics fame, investigate prostitution. According to the working paper [pdf], prostitutes in Chicago are more likely to sleep with the police than get arrested by them.

When is being raped at gunpoint not being raped?

Rev. Syung Myung Me — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 07:28:15 -0800

Hooker raped & robbed by justice system. Apparently, if you're a prostitute and you're gang-raped at gunpoint, that's not actually rape, but "theft of services". In Philadelphia, judge Teresa Carr Deni ruled exactly that in a case where a woman posted a Craigslist ad offering sex for money -- but when she met with her John, instead of the agreed upon exhange, he pulled a gun on her, raped her, then invited four other men to rape her as well. As if this weren't sad enough, a near-identical case -- with the same defendant -- came up four days later, and the prosecutor decided not to even try it as to not put the woman through the misery of being so resoundly denied justice. Devolution is real, spuds.

Neighbourhood Watch 2.0?

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:56:52 -0800

Frustrated with perceived inefficacy of local law enforcement and government, residents of Calle de la Montera have started posting video of criminal behaviour (mainly prostitution) on their street to YouTube. The Data Protection Agency (tasked with privacy enforcement) is not amused (in Spanish; machine translation), but the neighbourhood watch group maintains it is not breaking the law (m.t.).

Power of the Press

hadjiboy — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:59:59 -0800

Meet Uma Khurana, a government school teacher in Old Delhi, who was almost lynched after rumours that she had forced her students into prostitution started doing the rounds, was vindicated when it was discovered that the sting operation to frame her was a scam.

Windows

chuckdarwin — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:07:19 -0800

Amsterdam: a deal has been made that will shut down a third of the prostitute windows in the city's famed red light district [nsfw] and turn the buildings into shops or housing. Advocacy group De Rode Draad (The Red Thread) worries that a shortage of windows will push prostitutes away from the safe, monitored areas. [via QI] Property magnate Charlie Geerts, known as Amsterdam's Emperor of Sex, gave up a year-long battle with the authorities and sold up (for £18m). Beeb:

"The mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, said that although prostitution was legal in the Netherlands, there was too much of the sex trade in the city centre. He also said that the trade involved exploitation and trafficking of women, and other kinds of criminal activity. "

The price of being a sex worker

spec80 — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:33:16 -0800

The Price. Confessions of a College Call Girl is a blog by... well a prostitute who is in college. While her posts are mostly entertaining stories about her experiences, her most recent entry addresses e-mailers who have expressed interest in her field.

GPS platform shoes for street hos

Burhanistan — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:41:53 -0800

The Aphrodite Project : both an homage to Aphrodite and her prostitute-priestesses as well as a practical tool for the contemporary sex worker. Or, GPS platform shoes for street hos. Check the demo.

Slavery in Burma

homunculus — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 18:07:57 -0800

From Hunter to Hunted "In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought he’d seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar."

A weekend that will have them second-guessing

hifiparasol — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:22:19 -0800

"Heavy set, older, red heads and even black chicks can have me if they can pay the bill. No real female will be refused." The director of a film Roger Ebert initially claimed was less entertaining than a colonoscopy (though he recanted after it was recut) is offering the perfect Christmas gift.