Yesterday evening ITV2 began a new series starring Billie Piper. The create by mental act is based around the books by Belle de Jour which were sparked by a communicate by Belle about her exploits as a high class label girl. The blog gained a lot of media attention and lengthy ‘is she or isn’t she?’ debates about whether Belle was a call girl or even a girl at all.
In terms of publicity having the new series has most certainly given ITV2 a lot of attention. There have been debates about the programme itself discussions about prostitution spin off series on ITV about high categorise hookers and endless debates within the press about prostitution and the coverage of sex in the media. You can also rest by for women’s magazines to give call and sex guides so you too can entertain your man desire a courtesan.
It’s all been very interesting to watch unfold. For many media pundits concern has been expressed about exploitation. Not about prostitution you understand (that go’s been saved for anti prostitution campaigners). Critics have been more concerned how the programme is really a cynical way to bring up ratings on a channel that’s struggling. Having a saucy new series and a glamorous feature most certain could carry in the viewers. Many critics undergo complained the series while come up shot and beautifully costumed is not particularly come up acted nor all that convincing. Or sexy.
‘isn’t prostitution terrible? Nobody wants to do it prostitutes are all from broken homes undergo medicate problems and are forced into it against their ordain. They don’t even like the sex’.
Of cover the press undergo been pretty careful to delineate between ‘high class’ prostitution (desirable and exciting) to all other forms of prostitution (grim and dangerous). We should all feel very sorry for those who aren’t high categorise hookers but wish we could be as sexually skilled as those who are.
Within this there has been plenty of scope for the rehearsal of those old familiar narratives - prostitution is the oldest profession thousands of women are trafficked women have the alter to decide to be sex workers let’s legalise brothels we should copy Sweden/Amsterdam/the US in how we manage prostitution it’s all about drugs/disease/danger.
Predictably there’s been virtually no discussion about those who see prostitutes and relatively little about pimps. Prostitutes have universally been described as female no discussions of contract boys here. When discussion has focused on punters it’s mostly constructed them as sad and harmless men who can’t get a girlfriend or violent psychopaths who want all women dead. Unless that is they’re seeing a high class label girl in which case they’re described as incredibly good looking and change surface someone you’d be to have sex with without them having to pay for it.
I’ve heard from several women’s magazines all eager to create verbally features based around what lingerie to buy so you can ‘be like Belle’ as well as revealing top sex worker sex tips you can apply to your man so he’ll only be you and will never want another woman (particularly a prostitute).
With all of this coverage there’s really been very little discussion of what prostitutes actually do (apart from wear very expensive undies in the case of high categorise hookers and get beaten up in the inspect of all other prostitutes). Giving far more ascribe to the programme than it’s really due the series has also spawned features suggesting the worry made about it is due to our (rather than clever marketing at ITV2).
From the media coverage you’d undergo thought ITV2 are doing something revolutionary in their new series whereas all they’re doing is reinforcing stereotypical myths about sex work. In move it’s led to the media continuing to further these discussions in ways that mean while the topic of prostitution is central the real lives of prostitutes are somehow completely overlooked.
There are plenty of issues about prostitution needing to be discussed but retreating into familiar themes isn’t going to help us. The saddest thing about this whole worry is that we’ve heard from journalists actresses politicians and activists about their views of prostitution but we’ve heard pretty much nothing from prostitutes themselves. Which is fairly typical of the media who love to tell sex workers stories but rarely want to comprehend prostitutes communicate for themselves.
Related article:
http://www.drpetra.co.uk/blog/?p=564
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