Thursday, August 12, 2010

JOB WELL DONE

I am--shockingly--reading more than one novel at a time and there has been a theme in them. There have been several erotic scenes in my literature involving prostitutes. This theme was capsulated in the short story in Fast Girls, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, "Playing the Market" by Angela Caperton. The protagonist Jessie had just lost her job--in the stock market--and while in a bar she decides that maybe she can try her luck extending her services...almost immediately she has a taker, and that is when her excursion to the other side begins.

Somewhere between Jacob Riis's How the Other Half Lives portrayal of the prostitutes and Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden describes what an erotic scene is like with a prostitute. The oldest profession is not without its subleties and complexities, like any other. Even though a story like this must exude, radiate, ruminate with sex, there is much more. Performance, anxiety, desire, comaderie and sometimes deeper feelings fall into play during the encounter. A range of emotions come into play with every experience.  Jessie started out very confident and for the most part she was, but it was her first experience and there were things that she had not counted on. Pleasures that she was not even expecting would fall on her.

Prostitution is the oldest profession and one of the hardest ones without a question. Being with someone who is paying you--someone who reminds you that you are being paid to perform. Satisfaction has to be guaranteed whether it is there or not. Although for the purpose of erotica written by women for women, even the hard parts of the job--no pun intended--are overcome. The sexy parts are so hot there is no inhibition when you are being paid for pleasure. None of the trappings of feelings when with a client, unless of course like with any job love albeit taboo comes in; you do what you have to do to get to that zenith. Everything is accelerated, women should be accelerated when it comes to seeking their pleasure, which is why I am sure that it is a fantasy for some to be a prostitute.

My Secret Garden was written decades ago so it is not something brand new, women being aroused by being a prostitute. Whether it be a profession or for personal pleasure women's desires are complex and it is a job for them to get to where they want to be. Fast Girls is filled with stories like these, women who are driven to fulfill their desires and are unapologetic.

I do not think anyone should ever be apologetic for desire. I give a major brava to Rachel for the stories that she picked and Angela Caperton for inspiring me so much with her story.  I could not stop thinking about it after I had read it, and I am a New Yorker--a fast city girl by definition!


For more information on the Fast Girls and Rachel Kramer Bussel, click here.

To purchase on Amazon.com, click here.






4 comments:

  1. The societal mores that suppress women’s sexual expression, fantasies and/or their pursuit is harmful to all of us. Remove the fear, the prurient jokes and mistrust. Sexually centered women would encourage a healthy dialogue with their bodies, the world and their lovers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just got home a few minutes ago, and followed the Blog tour. Wow...I am flattered beyond words by your kind comments on my story. Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've never written a story with a woman who has chosen prostitution as a profession. Did have a couple of minor characters who were forced into it by their families or despicable cads. My characters are always strong, sexually confident women who know what they want, what pleases them and how to please their partners. The reason I use older women/younger men is because they can keep up with each other! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for an intriguing look into the "oldest profession," Fidencia and for reminding us to take the guilt out of so-called "guilty pleasures."

    ReplyDelete