One of my ideas for a novel is a historical coming of age diary novel about a closeted lesbian hooker in the 60's and the setting is around the time the stonewall riots happen. Being a spoiled middle class brat, I know virtually nothing about what prostitution is like, especially back then. Does anyone here know? Or have a good idea where can I research and make the story historically accurate? I want to know everything I can find out that can make the story feel more real and genuine.
Most accounts of prostitution that I have encountered while reading are either from historical texts (mostly pre 16th century) and fiction that derives their systems of off such histories. Carthagian temple prostitutes and the like. Closet lesbian prostitute in the swinging sixties... interesting narrative possibilities. In terms of research on modern prostitution, well, there are ways to find out...
As far as research goes, surely talking to your parents/grandparents could provide plenty of information on what life was like in the 60's? (I'm errrr, not suggesting they were fond of prostitution, just alive in that era!)
Couple questions and a suggestion. Is she a closeted lesbian woman who provides her services to other women, or is she lying back and thinking of her rent payment while letting men have their way for a fee? I'm sure there are women who earn a living servicing other women, but I'd bet that they're very few and far between. If it's the second case, how far up Mt. Kinsey* is she? If she's servicing men, her degree (or absence) of attraction to them is going affect how much she has to "act" while working. Someone who is a hardcore 6 would, I think, find it virtually impossible to work with the opposite sex. Wikipedia has a brief section on prostitution in the latter part of the 20th century, and it contains a reference to an excellent source of research for you: Xaviera Hollander's The Happy Hooker, written in 1972 by a New York madam. I haven't read it myself, but I suspect there's a wealth of info for you there. EDIT: Whoops, forgot to include *Mt. Kinsey:
She's exclusively attracted to women. Men don't interest her in the slightest but she's doing it involuntary for a need for financial gain. It's strictly business for her and she finds no pleasure in it. Someone who I know IRL who has witnessed prostitution for a lot of his life told me that what I'm describing is not actually that uncommon. Also thanks for the sources they are really informative.
