What is the prime age for a hooker? I have a hooker character. I want her to be on the young side, but I don't want her chosen profession to be confused with human trafficking at all. My fear is if I make her too young, readers might feel sorry for her. I wrote her in as 18, but I'm second guessing that. This novel has a light-hearted tone to it. I'm aiming for dark humor. I don't want something like my hooker being too young to add anything too serious to my subject matter. Thoughts?
Dark humour is really more about the writer's ability to make something grim funny than how grim the subject matter is. I don't think it's outside the realms of possibility to have (very) dark humour in a novel about a prostitute under 18; it just comes down to you.
Thanks for the comment, but I have to disagree somewhat. I don't see any humor in an underage prostitute ever. No matter how it's written somethings are not funny. I'm looking for how to write dark humor. I just wanted to see what all of you thought was a good age for a hooker (18 or over please) in a dark humor story.
17-20 would seem to steer clear of that minefield, if that's what you're going for. The whole 12 year old Jodie Foster from Taxi Driver thing would definitely color things differently.
Ask yourself why is she a hooker? What is she trying to afford by doing it? College, drugs, kids? I would expect each to have a different average age.
@Niall is right and you are wrong. Imagine your hero might be fourteen years old, and rides her way across the Australian outback. Night-times she hangs with truckers at the truck stops, drinks whiskey & beds down with one of the men. He gives her fifty dollars. [a very typical script] So, that was easy....and in my opinion you're not really or truly applying a writer's perspective to your 'conundrum.' ... Or, what you saying? Twenty-three is a good age to be a prostitute, or thirty-one, or eighty is perfect to my mind. Why you asking, why don't you write it?
To be honest there is probably never a good age to be a prostitute.... for those that worry about such things there's nothing funny about a woman resorting to selling herself from desperation (High class call girls may be different, but most hookers aren't in the life from choice).
Dude, what gives? I'm wrong? I'm not applying a writer's perspective? People ask questions here all the time and don't get sh!t like this. And as I said in my OP, I have been writing this character as 18. I was just wondering if that seemed a little young for a hooker character who in no way I want to play any victim role or be seen that way. So, that's why I asked the question. Funny, though, I don't see other people in other threads getting asked why they are asking questions.
Fair enough. But this hooker is not my MC and is not really out walking the streets. It's more like meetings in hotel rooms with the occasion hand job in a car. Whatever, my hooker wants to be a hooker and since it's not them MC or a story about hookers, I don't want to go too deep here. I was just wondering about ages. I didn't mean to piss people off here.
I'm sorry if my comment was shitty. It was just what I was thinking, and how I responded at the time...and I wrote it out to see how it looked - you asked for 'thoughts,' - and those were thoughts. If I was your teacher - I'd ask 'for more imagination.' All best & good luck with the story.
any age over the age o consent in that case, and don't worry about it too much, my point wasn't that i'm offended by the idea, I'm not. My point was that some peoplewon't find prostitution amusing whatever age you pick
I would like to see @deadrats write with abandon in the first instance, worry a little less about what everybody thought. Maybe write the story so we think she's thirty, and then whump us later when she's fourteen, all that kind of thing.
What type of hooker? A street girl is fresh at 15-16, used up at 20, dead five to ten later. Bar girls will be age of consent and will have a service life of 6-8 years before being downgraded. Call girls will be 18+, and likely run a decade or so before they get cut, but these are the cream of the crop. That isn't really how hookers work. Her pimp is going to have her pulling $500 a night as a median average, at $50 a BJ or straight sex. Since her earnings start at $501, she is going t have to hustle. And before you say she doesn't have a pimp, don't even try. She either has protection or an appointment with a dumpster.
Not really, I'd make it up. Although I've seen the crowds in Amsterdam, a testosterone mist over the pack of men. Then one solitary hero strides toward the window. A cheer rises and the curtain is drawn.
Hate to jump in here, as all of you guys have great points. I just wanted to say - if she's a hooker, she's been a victim of something. She may be tough and 'I do it because it's good money' (sure) or 'I'm so hot all the time' (uh-huh) or whatever line of bullshit she's feeding to the john (if he even cares enough to ask, which he likely doesn't), but she's a victim of something, somewhere, at some point. Just saying, don't worry about who might be offended, and @RWK gave you some great points to work with. Just write it. Who the fuck cares if she's seen as a victim?
... Plus tips in America at twenty percent. Paramilitary expertise appears somewhat weaker when it comes to the fat and cuddly professional, the senior lady markets for elderly gentlemen customers, telephone number available in back pages of any typical local freesheet newspaper. Promises satin nightie, lollipop, bow in the hair plus bunny ears as either/or when she arrives. Or indeed, Fidel the gigolo/care-home fiddler. Call me on 0800-69-69-123. Get real.
You could make her an Escort, and write about her crazy clients and what they are into. Though she would be 18+, more likely mid 20s to early 30s. But yeah it sounds like @RWK seems fairly acquainted with how hookers work these days. Though it will be a bit difficult to make light of Human Trafficking for the most part. Escorts work for an agency. Hookers have pimps or handlers that a none to nice. Also Escorts are paid not for sex, but for their company (but they do have sex with their clients ultimately).
People are too sensitive these days. Make her 25. Give her a college degree. She quit work to do this instead. Otherwise she's going to be "exploited" somehow. Hell, even that might not be enough...
My problem with this is that if you want humor humor, I don't see humor in prostitution at all. That said: twenty-six. That's my suggested age.
I agree - the only real difference at the out call end is that now is a lot of its over the internet in terms of making hookups and the pimps refer to themselves as facilitators who are alledgedly providing a service (so they can't get done for pimping). Street walkers haven't changed at all. I'd also suggest that someone who has to ask how old hookers are isn't well positioned to suddenly become an authority on how it works now
