“A woman who had just scored a precious high-paying job in the midst of a disastrous economy was willing to fly in from out of town to take it. Her new boss, Susan Austin, had spared no expense and the woman was quickly whisked into a waiting limo at the Reno, Nev., airport. For the sake of privacy, we’re calling the woman ‘Kimberly,’ and the coveted job she got was as a prostitute at one of the few places in America where it’s legal — the self-proclaimed ‘world famous’ Mustang Ranch… Kimberly’s explanation for getting into the business is simple. Times are tough, so tough she says she couldn’t find any other way to make a living. ‘I filled out 20 or 30 applications,’ said Kimberly. ‘No call backs, no interviews, no nothing, so you know, I’ve decided to come down here to make money to live on my own and survive because the economy is bad.’ Kimberly went from applying to work at a day care facility or behind the counter at a department store, to getting on a plane and taking a job at a brothel… As Kimberly headed inside, ‘Madam Susan’ Austin, Mustang’s manager, explained that these are unique times and the world’s oldest profession is not immune. ‘I have more ladies coming in now than I ever did before because of the economic times,’ she said. ‘They’re all coming in. [It's] the only way to make some decent money in this time and age. Jobs are not that many available because of the economic times and they can make more money doing this than they can flipping burgers at McDonald’s… ‘ The irony for Austin is that while the money is drying up, more women are applying for jobs. ‘And the age group is going older,’ she said. ‘I had a 72-year-old apply for a job.’” — ABC News (US)

(Thanks to Angela St Lawrence for the link.)

It’s always interesting to see how personal decisions can be influenced by historical moments. For those who view sex work askance, the choice to become a prostitute (escort, dominatrix, PSO, stripper, etc) might demonstrate a failure of morals. Most of the time, however, that choice has nothing to do with morals and everything to do with earning money or supporting a family. Now that the failing economy has entered into an almost apocalyptic phase — causing some to dub it the econoclypse — this will be truer than ever. Employers will contract. Menial jobs will dry up. People — and especially women — will face choices such as this: Is it better to earn minimum wage slinging hash at a Denny’s restaurant? Or to earn a pretty penny servicing men in another way?

It’s a practical choice, not a moral one. When you consider that sex has been decreasingly stigmatized over the past fifty years, the choice only gets easier to make. And if your concern is to combat prostitution or to help prostitutes, the way to do it is not by moralizing or by shoving religious pamphlets into the hands of streetwalkers. The way to do it is to create more non-sex work options. Actually, that suggests a thought experiment. Men being what they are — pigs — prostitution seems like an inevitable part of society. But what would happen if all financial incentives to participate in prostitution were removed? Would some people still choose to enter the profession for non-pecuniary reasons? Or would it disappear altogether, like the smallpox virus?

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