New York’s top hooker, Natalie McLennan
A recent story on CNN.com titled My REAL life as a call girl proposed some very interesting and circular questions. Stating factually, the article asserts that experts disagree on whether or not prostitutes are victims. The sordid and not so sordid stories of how women fall into prostitution are as numerous as there are prostitutes. Is a high-end escort or call-girl different at all from a prostitute or are we just splitting hairs over semantics?
This story discuses one woman, Natalie McLennan moved from Montreal to New York City eight years ago at the age of 20 to pursue an acting career. She met a pimp, Jason Itzler, at a cocktail party who convinced her that “dating” men would be better than waiting tables while she waited for her acting career to take off.
Within four years she was earning $2000 an hour. She would see two or three clients a day for about two hours each. She was earning upwards up $12,000 A DAY, as a prostitute. In 2005 she was the July cover of New York Magazine and three months later her escort agency was shut down. She was arrested for prostitution and spent 26 days in jail.
McLennan knew what she was doing. She made a conscious choice to engage in those behaviors. Should that be illegal? She wasn’t coerced. She wasn’t selling herself for drugs or other criminal money. She was simply trading sex for money. The bottom line is that prostitution according to Wikipedia is the act of performing sexual activity in exchange for money. The legal status varies from one jurisdiction to another; in some parts of the world it is legal and in others it is punishable by death.
Do you think this is a slippery slope of legalities and situations or is it just wrong, morally? Legally?
Your thoughts?
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Natalie McLennan’s tell-all book The Price: My Rise and Fall As Natalia, New York’s #1 Escort is due out soon.
November 9th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I don’t really see the big deal in it, when the women chooses that path. If it was legal, there could be things set in place like health exams, etc. I just wouldn’t want it to be the norm to see prostitutes on the streets if it was made legal. I wouldn’t want my kids to see it in our neighborhood if that makes sense.
November 9th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I think making it legal, or just not illegal (decriminalize?) has potential benefits. I especially like the idea of required health exams. You know, it’s legal in Amsterdam, I wonder what sort of issues that leaves in the wake, if any.
I do agree, I wouldn’t want it in MY neighborhood, and I wouldn’t want my kids seeing it. You’d have to have a red-light district.
It’s a slippery slope for sure.