Exposing the "Pretty Woman" Myth: A Qualitative Examination of the Lives of Female Streetwalking Prostitutes

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 2000 by Rochelle L. Dalla

All 43 participants worked the streets. For some, their only involvement with prostitution came from street-walking, although many participants engaged in other forms of prostitution as well, including working truck stops (n = 6), escort services (n = 7), massage parlors (n = 4), and as stage dancers (n = 4). Chancey, for instance, worked in a residence specializing in sadomasochistic sexual services, and 2 participants had made pornographic movies. With regard to their street clientele, 10 of the participants reported having "regulars" whereas others explained seeing each client only once--"dating" the same clients on a regular basis personalized the work to a level beyond which they were comfortable. Finally, 4 of the women, including Sam and Barb, reported being supported by Sugar Daddies before they began working the streets. Barb described meeting her Sugar Daddy at age 14; he was quite wealthy and paid her extremely well. She explained, "So basically, I just did not go through a lot of the street problems that a lot of my friends experienced." Nine of the women reported becoming emotionally involved with clients or former clients.

Despite the popular image of streetwalking prostitutes' lives controlled by pimps, less than half of the women (n = 17) reported involvement with a pimp. One of the women began working for her pimp when she was 15 years old, and he was 40. Eight participants reported that their boyfriends or partners forced them onto the streets to pay for their own drug habits. Five women had children with men whom they described as their pimps. And another noted that her brother had been a pimp, but had "reformed" and was now a minister. Similarities between partners/boyfriends and pimps included that both were prone to physical violence and abuse, fathered children of the women, were aware of the women's prostitution and drug-related activities, and often introduced the women to the streets. Yet, distinctions were also made in that (a) pimps "required" their women to make a certain amount of money; (b) took all of the women's earned income and in turn provided shelter, clothing, food, and protection (e.g., from dangerous clients); and (c) the pimps often had several women working for them at once (known as a "stable"). Finally, in asking whether they had worked for a pimp or not, three participants responded, "the rock [crack] was my pimp."

Condom use by the majority of the women was intermittent at best. Some reported using condoms when with strangers only, never with their regular clientele, their pimps, or their partners. Some never used protection. Several noted that their clients did not want to use condoms because "... they take away the feeling," whereas other clients would pay extra in order to have unprotected sex. When asked their feelings about condom use, many stated they simply "didn't care" whether they used them or not; becoming pregnant, or being subjected to a sexually transmitted disease or a life-threatening virus such as HIV was not typically of concern, particularly when abusing drugs. Five of the women reported becoming pregnant by clients.