Prostitution: On Whores, Hustlers, and Johns - Tapa dura

What is it like to be a prostitute? How did this "oldest of professions" begin? Can one be a prostitute and enjoy the work? Why do people pay for sex? What is prostitution like in China, in Spain, in England? What is the future of prostitution?

This collection breaks new ground on a sensitive topic by bringing scholars, therapists, and sex workers together to study not only the profession but those who seek such services. Chapters include "Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris: Pages from a Madame's Notebook," "Sex Work and Public Policies in China," "The Client," "My Sexual Encounters with Sex Workers," "Being a John," "She-male Prostitutes," "Male Homosexual Prostitution in England," "Feminist Issues in Prostitution," "Lap Dancing," "Sexual Tourism," "Female Prostitution in Spain," "Why Prohibition Fails," and much, much more.

Informative essays, timely reports, and provocative commentary are here offered by Delores French, Xaviera Hollender, Jim Korn, Wendy McElroy, Kathryn Norberg, Cynthia Payne, Elliot Shaw, Annie Sprinkle, Ray Stubbs, Masumi Yoneda, and D.J. West, just to name a few.

James E. Elias, Ph.D. (Northridge, CA) is director of the Center for Sex Research, and a co-editor of Gender Blending. Vern L. Bullough, Ph.D., R.N. (Northridge, CA) has authored or edited more than twenty books, including How I Got Into Sex. Veronica Elias, Ph.D. (Sherman Oaks, CA) is a professor of sociology at California State University at Northridge. Gwen Brewer, Ph.D. (Thousand Oaks, CA) is a retired English and writing professor from California State University at Northridge.