Male prostitution
This is an accepted version of this page Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment.
In the last century, male sex work has seen various advancements such as popularizing new sexual acts, methods of exchange, and carving out a spot in cinema.
Thus one may be referred to as a male escort, gigolo (implying female customers), rent boy, hustler (more common for those soliciting in public places), model, or masseur.
In southern areas of Central Asia and Afghanistan, adolescent males between twelve and sixteen years old perform erotic songs and suggestive dancing and are available as sex workers.
[13] The emergence of hustler bars provided sex workers with a reliable and consistent supply of clients and created a more social atmosphere for them.
[13] A table in Larry Townsend's The Leatherman's Handbook II (the 1983 second edition; the 1972 first edition did not include this list) which is generally considered authoritative states that a green handkerchief is a symbol for prostitution in the handkerchief code, which is employed usually among gay male casual-sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Eventually when male prostitution started being regulated, men and boys would be arrested less frequently and receive lesser sentences and fines than women.
By making homosexuality illegal, the U.K. caused male sex workers to become more discreet with their services to avoid being fined or jailed.
The report resulted in the Royal Commission stating "it is not the function of the law to intervene in the private lives of citizens, or to seek to enforce any particular pattern of behavior" that is not already outlined.
[23] Sometimes, the parents of the youth were aware of their children's actions and would support it since they would receive benefits from the older men who were paying to have sex with their sons.
This caused an identity crisis among men who engaged in sex work since they increasingly became aware that they themselves may be homosexual, but they still needed money.
[26] Male prostitutes frequented the bars since they would find many clients inside but with the raids, they had to go into hiding so they would not be harassed for their work in commercialized sex since they relied on making a living selling their bodies.
While male sex workers were combating police enforcement of sodomy laws, particularly more so in the 1970s, they attempted to fight for their rights through the judicial system.
[27] During the early decades of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there was an increase in regulation among sex workers, who were seen as high transmitters of the virus and thus a threat to public health.
[29] This has persisted despite anti-sex worker laws like the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act in the United States, thanks in part to escorting websites based in other countries.
[30] Major cities in Europe and the Western Hemisphere often have one or more areas where male street prostitutes regularly make themselves available to potential clients who drive by in cars.
Some male prostitutes solicit potential clients in other public spaces such as bus terminals, parks and rest stops.
As some clients have families and a reputation to uphold, the lavatory is convenient; they enjoy the sexual experience with minimal risk of being found out and without emotional attachment.
Arthur Corbett, who worked in the City of London, and who liked cross-dressing, as telling her in 1960: "There's a male brothel, I pay the boys to dress me up, then masturbate me.
[34] In late 2009, the owner of the Shady Lady Ranch brothel challenged this provision before the Nye County Licensing and Liquor Board and prevailed.
[35] In January 2010, the brothel hired a male prostitute who offered his services to female clients,[36] but he left the ranch a few weeks later.
[41] Sex tourists may travel to specific locations to enjoy a holiday and find a "temporary relationships" who will fill the roles of sexual partner, dining companion, tour guide, or dancing companion/instructor.
The rates of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections are high in some Caribbean and African countries, which are popular destinations for female sex tourism.
The connections established by sex tourism challenge the ways that scholars of sexuality, gender, and race by pushing back on traditional conversations about agency and resistance.
[49] Similar social stigma may also be attached to amorous relationships that do not involve direct payment for sexual services, and therefore do not fit the definition of prostitution, but which may be seen by some as a form of "quasi"-prostitution, (in that there is a power imbalance and a reward for companionship or sex).
[13] Isolation and concealable stigma identities (negative stereotypes that can be hidden from others) can increase psychological distress, explaining the heightened vulnerability to mental health problems.
Gaffney and Beverley argue that male sex workers occupy a subordinate position in our society which, as with women, is ensured by hegemonic and patriarchal constructs.
A review of the public discourse and media reactions following the closing of two websites hosting sex work ads – one for women and one for gay men – found that concerns with human trafficking and victimization were cited only for the closure of the former.
The male prostitute may be presented as an impossible object of love or an idealized rebel such as in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) about a middle-aged woman and a young gigolo in a tragic tryst.
Though less frequent in cinema and in novels, the gigolo (a male prostitute with an exclusively female clientele) is generally depicted as less tragic than the gay hustler.
