Gen X prostitute knew fate at 12
by Susan Dorr and Natalie K. Young, Outpost Contributors
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Reporters suspend bias |
Leslie knew she was going to be a prostitute when she was 12. She doesn't have a particular reason to back her decision to become a "hooker" other than she is just one of those people who marches to a different drum.
"It wasn't like I had a twisted upbringing," Leslie said. "I was never abused, never molested. I had very good parents."
When Leslie became a prostitute, her mother held an administrative position at a hospital in Billings, Mont., where Leslie grew up. Leslie began to rebel heavily at a young age. She got a tattoo when she was 10 and pierced her nose when she was 11. By the time Leslie turned 15, she was hanging out on the wrong side of town and doing drugs.
At that point, Leslie hadn't yet gotten up the nerve to solicit herself. But as she was walking down the street to a friend's house one night, a man pulled up in a truck and she went for it.
"I'm like, well, here we go, and I turned my first trick," Leslie said as she remembered that first night. "It was a $20 blowjob."
After her first trick, Leslie decided that selling sex was a "piece of cake." She was already sexually active, so having sex for money was no problem for her.
When Leslie was 17, she found herself addicted to cocaine and working the streets of Salt Lake City. It was there that she was arrested on drug charges. "Working in Salt Lake City was the best thing that ever happened to me," Leslie said. "I got busted and had to spend 20 days in juvenile hall. That was 'detox' for me."
After being arrested in Salt Lake City, Leslie was sent home to Montana and never "worked the streets" again.
Now 22, Leslie has worked in brothels around Northern Nevada for about four years. Leslie has seen a decline in the prostitution industry since she started.
She said a lot of prostitutes have lost their understanding of the business. They don't know how to sell their "parties," they don't know how to get customers to spend money and they don't care if the customers are happy.
"'Old school' pimps had style, class," Leslie said. "The girls, then, had style, class. They dressed in fine stuff, they made money and they did something with their money."
AIDS has become a big concern for prostitutes like Leslie. She said neither she nor any of the other prostitutes will do anything more than a "hand job" without a condom.
Leslie said she's lucky that she hassn't had any diseases. When she was a kid working the streets, she was naive and thought she was immortal. Condoms were just a hassle to her. Now, Leslie said she wouldn't dare do anything without a condom, not even with a boyfriend.
"I have a guardian angel, I swear to God," Leslie said. "Half of the tricks I've turned, I didn't use a condom. It makes me sick to think about it."
Not only is getting a disease a health risk for prostitutes, it also threatens their jobs. "We get tested once a week for everything," Leslie said. "Blood done, everything. It's $85 out of every hooker's pocket, weekly. And if you get something, you can't work."
To keep track of prostitutes' records and backgrounds, every girl must register for a "work card" through the local sheriff's department. Every time a prostitute moves to a new brothel she has to get a new work card, which costs $50 each time.
At times it's been a rough road for Leslie. Throughout her years as a prostitute she has demanded respect from co-workers, clients, and all others. Leslie knows that she'll leave prostitution someday. But for now, she is content with her lifestyle and her choices.
copyright 6/1/97 Nevada Outpost
http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost
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