Q: I have been seeing sex workers for 30 years, and I shudder to think how shitty my life would have been without them. Some have become friends, but I’ve appreciated all of them. Negative stereotypes about guys like me are not fair, but sex work does have its problems. Some clients (including females) are difficult—difficult clients aren’t typically violent; more often they’re inconsiderate and demanding. Clients need to understand that all people have limits and feelings, and money doesn’t change that. But what can we clients do to fight stupid, regressive, repressive laws that harm sex workers? —Not a John
But there’s something missing from the movement to decriminalize sex work: clients like you, NAJ.
In The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution, which I read while I was away on vacation, author Faramerz Dabhoiwala writes about “Societies of Virtue” formed all over England in the late 17th century. Adulterers, fornicators, and Sabbath breakers were persecuted by these groups, NAJ, but their campaigns against prostitutes were particularly vicious and indiscriminate; women were thrown in jail or publicly whipped for the crime of having a “lewd” appearance. The persecution of streetwalkers, brothel owners, and women guilty of “[walking] quietly about the street” went on for decades.
Q: I’m a 26-year-old gay male, and I like to explore my feminine side by wearing female clothes. I have a boyfriend who likes to do the same thing, but he doesn’t have the courage to tell his parents that he’s gay and explores his feminine side by wearing female clothes. I want to adopt early school-age boys and teach them that they can explore their feminine side by wearing female clothes. My question has two parts. First, in regard to my boyfriend, how can I encourage him to tell his parents he’s gay and wants to explore his feminine side by wearing female clothes? Second, in regard to adopting early school-age boys, how do I teach an early school-age boy that it’s OK for them to explore their feminine side by wearing female clothes and also teach them that they don’t have to be gay at the same time? —Dressing a Future Together
