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What Hookers Do on Valentine's Day
Is it good to be a call girl on the most romantic night of the year? Very. Unless you’re getting engaged.
I was once a typical call girl, married to my business—wedded to my ringing phone, committed to my little black book and my regulars—which made having a boyfriend feel like infidelity.
Like other unfaithful women, I told myself the contradictions were unbearable when it was all, actually, quite delicious. My heart was constantly pulled in two directions, leading me to wonder each time I fell in love whether I could leave my career for this particular man. Deep down, many prostitutes find this idea of respectability thrilling—and a bit frightening. I loved that tension, thriving on it erotically while claiming I wanted to escape it.
I remember wistfully turning down a lucrative Valentine’s Day call in order to have dinner with a boyfriend, and feeling a flash of guilt for cheating on the business I’d been building for nearly a decade.
On any given Valentine’s Day, I took as many daytime appointments as I could because I knew I'd be stepping out in the evening. I remember wistfully turning down a lucrative call in order to have dinner with a boyfriend I'd been seeing less than a year, and feeling a flash of guilt for cheating on the business I'd been building for nearly a decade.
Is Valentine’s Day a good day for the sex industry? That all depends. If you’re a call girl, it's often a great night to be without a valentine—coworkers are being romanced by boyfriends, which means demand for professional companionship might outstrip supply. But it's hard to predict. For those clients seeking a Valentine’s experience, complete with candy, rose petals and Champagne, you need a girl who's a lot more professional than she appears to be. Business varies from year to year, so ending a romance before the big holiday just for the purpose of being on call would be foolhardy, and most hookers aren't that calculating. Because romance serves as a much-needed vacation from the marketplace, the 14th —for a madam—is a potential headache, a night when you sometimes run short of girls.
It's a day that sums up all that's “wrong and romantic” about being a call girl. Qualities that spell success in the oldest profession—symmetrical features, a sweet smile, an open personality and a fondness for male company—also attract boyfriends. A recipe for conflict.
I tried not to get involved with anyone so I could focus on business, but I was a boyfriend-magnet. My biggest problem wasn't the stigma associated with my work, it was my tendency to fall in love. A few years later, I found myself “cheating” again, with someone new.
How Rich People Smoke Pot
Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
Justice Clinton?
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
From Sex Scandal to Corporate Brand
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers. A regular columnist for The Guardian, she has written for many publications including Cosmopolitan, The Financial Times, and The New York Times.
How Not to Manage a Harem
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers. A regular columnist for The Guardian, she has written for many publications including Cosmopolitan, The Financial Times, and The New York Times.
Call Girls Out-Class Mistresses
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers. A regular columnist for The Guardian, she has written for many publications including Cosmopolitan, The Financial Times, and The New York Times.
queensplate
catch up on laundry
bigwurzz
Don't get me wrong i love call girls as much as the next guy, but why would anyone care what one does on Valentine's day? This must be the beast's way of being daring and sophisticated.
Also, why would one want a hooker's opinion on anything? What next? Are you going to get a porn star's opinion on the bailout?
Journalism is dead.
xbainx
Wait I know: Engage in sex for money! Just like on Christmas and Presidents Day.
cook1974
Is this the "Sugardaddy" chick? Lately, the beast makes me feel like I'm 10 again, getting caught reading Cosmo. How have I come to like a 'news' site that holds whores & idiots (I'm talking to you, Meghan McCain) in such high esteem?
Jessica150
I'm guessing that it would be incredibly difficult to combine the oldest profession with a serious relationship, and I thought this article was interesting. The author seems smart and thoughtful.
I wonder how many people really make a living in this profession? I'm pretty isolated as things go, and it's not like the government publishes accurate stats on something like this. Hmmmm...
Benegesserit
Valentine's is the holiday we celebrate prostitution. Men are encouraged to spend obscene amounts of money on women in the form of jewelry and flowers and women have sex with them as a reward. A call girl is the most qualified person to write on the the subject.
Leonia
Entertaining trip through the complexities of dual life. Tracy Quan explains the inevitable entanglements like a heterosexual Proust.
AlexaD
bigwurzz, what's wrong with a "hooker's" opinion? Their opinions are not any less valid than yours, and in this case actually contributed to something, unlike your useless post here. I always wonder why people like you seek validation in criticizing someone else. Get a life.Tracy happens to be a very successful writer and author - far more successful than I bet you've ever been. So that "hooker" > bigwurzz.
Jessica150, many, many more than you might suspect. One estimate I've seen suggests that as many as 10% of college women will earn at least some income selling sexual services.
princetonmimi
Journalism isn't dead - the Daily Beast is evolution of thoughtful information available to an age of cyberphiles. Do I know Tina? Nope, but I run a popular tour company in Princeton and respect any business that acts on a great idea when they see one! GO DAILY BEAST! YOU'RE MY DAILY BREAD!
menckenlite
Too many details missing. It sounds as if she only had enjoyable sex with pleasant men and woman. No persistent bores?
pollyannacowgirl
I would imagine that there are plenty of men who would want the services of a call girl on Valentine's Day. I was hoping to hear more about THEM. I like Tracy Quan and everything, but she's been out of the game for YEARS. I was reading her on Salon.com at least six years ago.
pollyannacowgirl
Oh, and she should have returned the ring.
evanrm
Gosh, she makes prostitution sound like every girl's dream job. Is she actively trying to get young girls interested in being whores? Is everyone here so completely desensitised and liberal that they don't see the complete abject disgust inherent in being a prostitute? Why, Tracy Quan makes it sound so appealing I think I'll sign my daughters up straight away!
joymars
Absolutely nothing in this blog leads me to believe that this woman is real. A real ex- or current hooker, that is. I could have written as much, and I've never taken a dime from anyone for sex.
I'm thinking this author is one of the Gen-fraudsters that have made a career out of titillating memoirs -- all completely concocted.
Go over the blog again. There's absolutely zero in it that has the aura of authentic experience. Zero. She just got your imaginations going, that's all. And that's so easy to do.
QueenCeleste
The only thing that struck me was the writing. It sounded like a thousand women's magazine articles, that boring, generic tone.
And I agree with joymars, I suspect this was all made up. Where is the Daily Beast getting these people?
maluminse
Try reading about the author. Its a single click. You can do it.
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