Thinking of the various portrays of the hobby with which you familar -- in literature, poetry, humor, movies/TV, dramatic or comedic -- as well as non-fictional treatments from journalism and disciplines like sociology, criminology [sorry], social psychology, psychopathology : What aspects of it ring most true in your experience?  What aspects ring least true?

Does anyone, in addition to hands-on experience with the hobby, make an effort to expose himself/herself to those other areas of knowledge/opinion/speculation/prejudice?

Apologies for possible insensitive wordings -- "ring true" and "ring false" are not to be taken literally.

In fact, I don't even think of it as a "hobby," although I use the terminology for clarity while posting on the boards.  

I simply enjoy the company of lovely women, especially when I'm between relationships.  I like to have a good time and I like for them to have a good time too.  There's nothing more to it than that for me.  I go to Starbucks serveral times a week, but I don't consider the socio-political aspects of it all.

A hobby is something that I concentrate on and apply intense amounts of attention to detail, attend trade shows, subscribe to magazines, collect, etc. Model plane building is a hobby (I don't do that either.

Before anyone asks why I visit this site if it's not a "hobby," it's because I do my homework and I enjoy intelligent conversation.  With some exceptions, there's plenty of that around here.

I can't pin-point any particular aspect that seems real or unreal to me.  Generally, either the entire portrayal is accurate, or it isn't.  Movies about this particular subject generally ring very, very false.  

Perhaps the most false, was a movie called Leaving Las Vegas.  Don't get me wrong, this was a very entertaining film (and a very important film), but it is essentially impossible to find someone in this hobby who is as kindly and understanding as Elizabeth Shue's character (Beverly Fisher, notwithstanding).  In fact, it is almost impossible to find someone this decent and kind and understanding, period, hobby or no hobby.  The world is just a crueler place than that.  

The movie that seems most accurate, for my money, is a made-for-TV movie called L.A. Johns, starring Britney Powell (who?), Brian van Holt, and Deborah Harry.  Has anyone here seen this movie?  If not, watch this movie and tell me you haven't dealt with women just like the main character.  It's a bad movie, but it's definitely more accurate than any I've ever seen, when it comes to this hobby.

Depends on the particular film, book, work of art, etc.

My impression is that most works that try to depict the hobby catch realistic snippets, but also go way off on the other end.  Some examples:

Pretty Woman - one of the opening shots, where here alarm's going off and she's groping to turn it off was utterly true to life with my then-
ATF. She and I both remarked on it.  But lots of the rest of it were weak.

Breakfast at Tiffany's -- Again, the opening shot, where she's drive up Fifth Avenue in at dawn and gets out of a cab -- obviously after an all-nighter -- looks very real.  Holly Golightly, of course, is everyone's ideal of an escort -- and there are snippets that ring true to me in my experience: her impulsiveness, her ability to live in the moment, the shrouded past.  But realistic?  No.

Klute - saw this on dvd the other night.  Sorry, but Jane Fonda just didn't get it.  About the most unrealistic portrayal I've seen.

So what would I say comes closest to real life?  IMHO, Christopher Isherwood's protrayal of Sally Bowles, in the Berlin Stories -- the basis for the play and movie of Cabaret -- is quite close to part-time escorts I've known, those who work a bit on the side to keep themselves from being totally starving artists.  It's a dark portrayal with glints of light and quite convincing.

I'm considering writing my own opus.

I recently read "Whores and other Feminists", edited by Jill Nagle and "Women of the Light", edited by Dr. Kenneth Ray Stubbs. Both are a collection of essays written by sex workers and body workers. I recommend both.

I've also been reading about Taoist sexual practices as well as about white and red Tantra. In addition, I've been researching sexological bodywork. Even though I currently provide massage only, I'm very interested in the ideas of sex and spirituality, as well as the sociological/psychological aspects of healing through the sensual/sexual self. I've even had a bodywork session with a Dakini, which I also recommend!

As a 10 year yoga practitioner, I'm familiar with the breathwork used in both Tantra and sexological bodywork. It's amazing to experience the different things we can do by simply breathing in a different way.

I'm 4 months away from my master's degree (in an entirely different field) and am actually thinking of changing gears after I finish because of all the reading and research I've been doing in this field. We'll see...

You're probably familar with this already, but let me recommend that classic of mid-Victorian erotica ,"My Secret Life"  by Anonymous [that guy sure is prolific.]   While of course phenomenally dated, and not especially relevant to hobbying in America in 2007, a lot of it involves his reminescences of 1000a of pay for play, er, excuse me, pay for time, encounters.

If that grabs you, let me also recommend "The Other Victorains" by Steven Marcus.  It may be out of print [shamefully] but it was last issued as a Norton trade paperback.  It contains 2 lengthly chapters of analysis of "My Secret Life."

I saw Breakfast at Tiffany's a long time ago, but I don't recall Holly Golightly being an escort.  Is this just your interpretation?  I'm going to have to see this movie again when I get the chance.

-- Modified on 9/8/2007 5:11:44 PM

and the movie were products of the repressive culture of the 50s, so nothing could be explicit.

But why the hell do you think she was always asking for "change" to go to the powder room when she was out with an obviously older, weathy man, getting a $50 bill, and then not having to give him anything back?

And what on earth do you think she was returning from in that opening scene at dawn?

taught me 18th Century lit in college.  Great prof.

Yeah, he taught me too, a long time ago, even before The Other Victorians was published.  I was then reluctant to read it -- I didn't want to have any more insight into his thought, um, process than I already had.