William Vollmann - Whores for Gloria

He-she—Transvestite.

Ho or hole—Prostitute, or sometimes simply a woman.

Hubba—Cocaine processed into smokeable "crack".

John—A prostitute's trick.

Love —Sex.

Miss Thing—Transvestite.

Shit—Anything you shoot into your arm.

Smack—Heroin.

Smoke—Hubba.

Snitch—Police informant.

Speedball—Heroin and cocaine.

Transformer—Transvestite.

Trick pad—Hotel where the prostitute brings her tricks. (She usually lives elsewhere.)

Ten/two—Old term for sex in a trick pad($10 for a flat-back+ $2 to get into trick pad).

A more accurate term now would be forty/five.

If it pleases you to collect generalizations as some collect postage stamps, then this little whore's album may be of interest to you. Of course that folly of statisticians, the composite person, does not exist. Nonetheless, many of the street prostitutes whom I have met in the Tenderloin share important similarities, which I list below. — But before we get to them, the following points: (i) I have always assumed that the prostitutes who answered my questions told the truth (ii) it would most likely be very foolish to apply this profile to other groups of prostitutes, such as call girls or senators. Nor would the street prostitutes of even ten years ago necessarily match those described here. The current deadly plague of sexual disease has probably made streetwalking a more desperate and dangerous activity than it used to be, with concomitant natural selection of its practitioners (iii) this profile does not begin to address the issue of whether or not the prostitute is a victim, whether her relationship with her clients is particularly exploitative to one party or the other, etc. However, one conclusion is apparent from the facts presented. The unpleasantnesses of her profession are largely caused by the criminal ambiance in which the prostitute must conduct it.

The points below apply to prostitutes who are women. There is an addendum on transvestite prostitutes.

1. The prostitute offers sex without commitment.

White prostitute, early 30s: The street's a pretty scary place, but a lot of them are just normal men who want a blowjob before they go to work, a piece of ass, just got in an argument with their wife, it's their revengeful trip, you know. As long as they use a rubber, it's cool. Don't bring your wife home nothin'. I was married for a great deal [of] years; I respect that. When I married my husband, I asked him if he had any desire to stray. And he said I'm looking, I can't deny that I'm looking, I'm noticing other women. I said just make sure she's a prostitute, 'cause I know she'll give you back. And it worked. We had like five six happy years together after that. Alcoholism's what broke it up.

2. In general, she does not enjoy the work for its own sake

White prostitute, early 30s: I run into a real lot of nice guys, but, you know, it's an automatic shutdown. Like when he got out of the pen it took me a day not to shut myself down with him, 'cause I hadn't been with him for so long. He took it pretty offensive. All I could tell him was hey I'm sorry. But that's what it's about. We just shut ourselves down, an' do what we know.

3. However, she does appreciate the money, which can be phenomenal

Black prostitute, mid 20s: When I was working in an office, it didn't matter how whether I was sick for a day or whether I worked an extra day. I always knew exactly how much I'd make at the end of the week. I couldn't stand it. Out here I can make as much as I want to make.

White prostitute, mid 30s: I once made $7,000 from a single trick. And it was nothing fancy, either.

4. She is well aware of the risks of disease, and usually insists that her Johns use a rubber

White prostitute, early 30s: As far as I'm concerned, as long as you're clean about it, and you always take the precautions of a rubber, there's nothing wrong with it, 'cause the only thing I've ever made love to out here's a rubber.

Black prostitute, early 20s: I always use a condom, and I check 'em; if their penis looks raggedy, if it looks like they have an infection or it leaks, all money isn't good money. I won't go with them.

5. She is or has been a junky.*

White prostitute, early 30s: It fills the emptiness.

6. Her Johns, particularly drug dealers, often prefer to pay her in crack. It is cheaper for them, and they know that they exercise more control over her by dangling a fix in front of her. She is well aware of this.

Black pusher, late 20s: You want to get your dick wet? Don't never give her no money! Give her a little smoke, and then start walking away from her. She'll do whatever you want to do. I ain't never paid for pussy yet, and I ain't never used a rubber.

Black prostitute, mid 20s: There's a lot of girls out here that do things just for rocks. That's not something I believe in. . because then you're just trading yourself for a drug. I don't smoke cocaine. I have, but not much.

* Younger prostitutes tend to be crack users; older ones are intravenous drug users.

7. She was usually introduced to prostitution by a girlfriend already in the profession.

Black prostitute, late 20s: My first date was in 1981. My girlfriend said you want to know how to get some money? I'd rather get paid than do it for free. When I got money I said this is cool.

8. Her career progressed so gradually that the first trick was no particular milestone.

Black prostitute, late 20s: Supposedly you'd be fired [from the massage parlor] if they caught you fucking, but everybody did it. I didn't at first. But then I found out I could get $5 more for jerking them off a little, $10 more for taking off my top, $20 more for taking off my bottom, so I kept doing a little more and a little more. .

Black prostitute, late teens: I'd always been fucking around. Why not get money for it?

White prostitute, mid 30s: First I just gave blowjobs. I never had to take down my pants. Then I gradually started flatbacking.

Black prostitute, mid 20s: Q. Who was your first one? A. I don't even remember.

9. She sets limits to protect her privacy and her sense of self.

Black prostitute, mid 20s: I won't never kiss anyone except my son's father, and he's in jail in Arizona. He'll be getting out in 1991; then I'm gonna marry him.

White prostitute, early 30s: I won't let men abuse me or call me bitch no matter how much they pay.

White prostitute, late teens: You can call me Suzy; that's my trick name.* Don't matter what my real name is.

White prostitute, early 30s: An Oriental no I don't want to call him Oriental I'm sure he's an A-rab of some sort picked me up once and wanted to go to the hot tubs and he kept talking about how he really wants to be in me and how he wants to eat my pussy and really be involved and well that's not what we're about here. We don't make love to our dates. We service them. We make ourselves available for them to go ahead and get inside. Well he got me so shook about he couldn't be rushed he needed a lot of time he was pretty detailed what he wanted to do with my body an' I got the impression he wanted to crawl right up inside me so just before we got to the hot tub I said look I'm sorry but I don't think I can accommodate you. I knew I could get away with saying that 'cause I'm real soft spoken I have a real good upbringing I was married for thirteen years.