William Vollmann: Whores for Gloria

18. Her man can be abusive.

Black pimp, late 20s: Some of those girls you just have to politely hit 'em upside the head. One minute they want you to love 'em; the next they want you to abuse 'em. I think they're confused.

19. He can also protect and assist her.

Black prostitute, early 30s: I don't worry when I hop in the car 'cause my man he take down the license plate number.

Black pimp, early 30s: Oh listen man am I glad to see you. She's in jail. I need forty-five dollars to get her bail and I've gotten most of it but I'm still fifteen short. Can you help me out? I swear to you, man, I'll give it back to you on Saturday.

20. She remembers a happy childhood.

Black prostitute, early 30s: I was a very happy little girl. We did lots of fun things. I remember going to Knott's Berry Farm, stuff like that.

21. She also remembers playing sex games, and feeling slightly guilty about them.

Black prostitute, late 20s: One of the things I remember as a kid was the first time I played doctor with the little kids, somewhere between three and five. I think I was about four. And this little girl that I used to play with and her older brother, they got me, and I was playing with them in a garage in the back of their house. I remember being on the table. It seems there was something draped over the table and I was on the table. [ Laughs. ] Had my clothes off, I'm sure. They had a bottle of fingernail polish, and he was paintin' my privates. It seemed fun at the time. I remember knowing there was something wrong and not wanting my mother to know I had fingernail polish down there. I remember he later got mumps on the bottom of his feet, and they moved away.

22. She distrusts most or all the other street prostitutes, but remembers a Golden Age when they all helped each other.

White prostitute, late 20s: I remember the days when all the girls tugged on each other's coat tails to warn you if the Vice was coming. All that changed when the black girls started coming in from Oakland. They and their pimps would rob you and jump you soon as look at you. I don't trust anybody now.

23. She is pessimistic about her future.

White prostitute, early 30s: Q. So what things do you think are going to happen to you in the future?

A. If I don't get out of this I'll have to go back to bartending. And that's not really that good of an option.

Q. How long do you think you can do this?

A. Not too much longer. I'm gettin' real tired from it. Real tired. [ Long pause.]

Note on the Transvestite Prostitute

Not all the above points apply to this lady. She often does enjoy the work for its own sake, and sometimes volunteers her companionship gratis. She is less cautious about disease. She is, in fact, less cautious generally, since she has a man's body and a man's strength to even the odds a little against those who seek to prey on her. (Many transvestite prostitutes have also been raped, however.) She less often sets limits with her clients; she rarely supports anyone else, and she seems much more optimistic about her future. She is less often a drug addict.

Extras

Rubber Free (prostitute carries)

Entry into trick pad $3-$5

Use of hotel room in trick pad $10-$15

For scholars only

Interviews Free or 50c-$l/minute

Portrait photographs Free or $3-$5/photo

Commodity Price Range

Kiss Free-$5

Lock of hair $10-$20 1

Hand job $15-$25

Blowjob $15-$25

Modeling for porno photographs $15-$25

Flatback $40-$50 2

Golden shower $40-$100

Ass fuck $60-$75

Double date $80-$100

Lesbian sex $100-$200

S & M: whipping the trick, etc. $100-$300 or more

S & M: being whipped by the $200-$500 or more

trick

S & M: piercing, stabbing the $300-$500 or more

trick, etc.

S & M: being pierced, stabbed by ?

the trick

1More generous portions provided if wig hair.

2To put this in perspective, consider the following: a massage parlor prostitute usually charges $30 for the massage,

plus $70 to $100 or more as a "tip" for flatbacking. A call girl charges $50 for the outcall (which goes to the

agency), plus at least $100 for the flatback. Higher priced call girls can command considerably more.