Secrets of gay Kenyans exposed. This is about men who pay money to have sex with other men. Homosexuality remains an aspect of our society that is despised and whose existence is often denied. I stumbled upon this account of a male sex worker and the clients claimed to include politicians and religious leaders in Kenya.
It’s here.
Seems very normal to me...I mean, there are ¨circumstances¨ in ¨cultures¨ where money is used on/for dating, and for helping with great ¨difficulties¨...extra money made in daily life is a blessing...I don´t ever remember resenting or thinking less of anyone who was a ¨hustler¨ or ¨prostitute¨ even though I almost never became intimite with one or knew them very well (there was a trip to Bangkok years ago...I do remember that most hustlers/prostitutes hung out together and most had drinking/drug problems...sort of like their own club or family that ¨made it all seem normal/ok)...desperation sometimes changes people in various ways...not only as sexworkers (heterosexual or gay), but thieves, drunks, addicts, liars, etc...I understand desperation...it´s a very sad thing.
ReplyDeleteStraight people aren´t different than Gay people hanging out together, finding like minded people to make life feel less threatening, to feel comfortable together, to relax to enjoy, to laugh, to joke, to share, to add value to both lives...straight people/gay people both do it...flowers, gifts, entertainment...pairs need money to pay for these activities...it´s all sort of ¨negotiable¨ some are¨partnerships¨are more financially more equal than others and some of the negotiating is unspoken and some, I think, have more rigid terms with more ¨unseemly¨ or ¨abusive¨ demands...My ¨partner¨ comes from a very working class background of a family who are hardworking yet at the lower end of the earning scale...we share our life together (2+ years so far)...he has a job that pays well for the country where we live...we live modestly but very well...we have my ¨pension¨ too and I´m a artist and I sell some of my art...one might observe, or at least think they do, that there is a great difference in financial participation at my house. Me? I´m happy to live comfortably and no longer want luxurious surroundings (even though I enjoy them) to make me happy...I like maintaining a more modest profile. My former lover(s) were very wealthy and came from wealthy families...they were great relationships too.
I liked the ¨tone¨ of the young interviewee in the linked article...I hope he finds happiness and peace of mind (and maintains his good health through safe sex).
Hi Leonardo,
ReplyDeleteThe interviewee is very forthright and I wish more like him would step forward as all sex workers need some support network. Unfortunately it is their very 'clients' who are most vocal in condemnation. x
Hi Pater Nostra,
ReplyDeleteI read the article with a twinge of sadness at the young man's circumstances that have driven him to prostitution. My own view on prostitution is that it is demeaning to both parties, with longterm psychological scarring for the sex worker. Let's be honest here, very few would choose to engage in this 'work' if they had other viable alternatives.
I hope he 'makes' it in life and soon; none as bitter as an old prostitute.
x
Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend, she´s dead three years, who retired as a Social Worker, MSW (Masters) from East St. Louis, Missouri. She spent her entire career working with Prostitutes that were solidly UNHAPPY in their profession...I remember specifically discussing their dilemma with her in which she reported ¨almost ALL were alcoholics or drug atticks¨ and eventually died in despair or got sober/clean and found their way out from under...they got their lives back.
That´s as much as I know (and what I wrote above) in the ¨first person¨...my years in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco made me aware that sexworkers died of AIDS (maybe they survive better now with new medicines and safer precautions taken).
Hi Leonardo,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your social worker friend's experience of the prostitute's world. No doubt without some of these interventions the outcome would be much worse for many.
x