“˜Brothel’ reveals lives of professional prostitutes

BOOK REVIEW Title: Brothel
Author: Alexa Albert Publisher:
Random House Price:$24.95 Pages:
266 Original by VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by JUSTIN
HONG

By Howard Ho
Daily Bruin Contributor

The world’s oldest profession gets a face lift from Alexa
Albert, author of the new book “Brothel.”

Combining deep research with her personal experience, Albert
sweeps away the cobwebs of prostitution’s stigmas and tries
to provide the other side of the story, if anyone wants to
listen.

Albert’s interest in brothels began when she was a student
at Harvard Medical School. During a summer she worked at
Streetwork, a center for abandoned kids, located in New York
City’s Times Square. Many of the children that she worked
with were being sought for sexual services.

Albert saw the vicious cycle of prostitution and wondered why it
was still legal in Nevada. Unlike street prostitutes, brothel
prostitutes have low rates of sexually transmitted diseases.
Wanting to conduct a study on condom use, since reportedly no
condom has ever broken in a brothel, she requested that the
prostitutes save their condoms to be checked for breakage. This led
to Albert’s interest in brothels.

Albert goes into detail about her visit and eventual acceptance
into the brothel community at Nevada’s Mustang Ranch, the
largest and most profitable brothel in Nevada before it was shut
down in 1999.

She dispels her own preconceptions of brothels through the
course of the book. Albert writes, “Though very different in
appearance, all the prostitutes were surprisingly attractive … I
guess I had expected to find only tough, hard-looking
women.”

After finding out most of the prostitutes are married, Albert
writes, “At first I couldn’t believe these women
hadn’t grown cynical about marriage and monogamy, given the
amount of infidelity they witnessed. Their hopefulness in spite of
what they knew about human nature made my heart ache. These women
were just like the rest of us.”

Many brothels, unlike what some may imagine, are highly ordered.
Prostitutes are not free to go out since they could do business
outside the brothel. Instead, all prostitutes are confined within
the brothel except for out-dates or paid excursions with clients.
To work in a brothel a prostitute needs a working card. All
prostitutes are checked for STDs monthly, and if they test
positive, their working card is taken away. Profits are shared
50-50 with the brothel. Strict rules enforce everything from the
price of sexual acts to the amount of wattage allowed for a
brothel’s exterior lighting.

In exchange for a loss of freedom, the prostitutes are able to
work without pimps, even though many of them still do. Sadly, some
of the prostitutes were pushed into brothel work at the behest of
their boyfriends, who collect a portion of the paycheck. But many
others do not have pimps and perform brothel work because they like
the financial independence. Some were even working to support their
mothers or children.

Albert found that the women were proud of their work, comparing
it to that of a psychiatrist.

One prostitute, Savannah, said, “I believe what I do is a
healing job. I didn’t see it as healing at first, but I kept
getting clients who just needed to be nurtured and weep in my arms.
Sex is just a tool to access these emotions. So I just hold these
men and contemplate the psychological needs that drive them into my
charge. The humanity of my clients is what I care about.”

To that end, Albert was invited to watch prostitutes working on
their clients, or “tricks” as they are called. Her
descriptions of taboo sexual acts are quite explicit, but not
demeaning to the women involved. In fact, the prostitutes were
usually in control of the situation while the men, who were often
nervous, waited to be acted upon.

As evidence of the women’s efficacy, some of the men even
believed that they offered a sexual service to the women who needed
them.

Albert leaves no stone unturned in this thorough investigation
of brothels. Aside from her observations of brothel activities,
which take up the majority of the book, she also interviews State
Senator William O’Donnell, who is against legalized brothels,
and George Flint, who paradoxically owns a wedding chapel as well
as Mustang Ranch.

Albert’s extensive research shows how the original owner
of Mustang, Joe Conforte, became the godfather of brothel
legalization. Conforte wielded a large political influence and when
he suggested a brothel-licensing ordinance to Storey County, he
found little resistance.

In 1971, brothels were legalized in Storey County, sending shock
waves throughout Nevada. Eventually, ten out of Nevada’s 17
counties legalized brothels, and now a total of 26 brothels are
operating in the state.

Albert makes a strong case for brothel legalization. Though she
doesn’t morally agree with prostitution, she acknowledges
that brothels nearly eliminate street prostitution, where STDs and
violence run rampant. Despite all efforts, prostitution will never
be completely eliminated, and therefore must be regulated.

Albert writes, “The demand will be met with supply one way
or another, no matter what is legislated. Only when we recognize
and validate the work of professional prostitutes can we expect
them to practice their trade safely and responsibly.”

Albert’s narrative ends with the final dissolution of
Mustang Ranch, which in its heyday earned $25 million a year. Since
the brothel community is so small and stigmatized by the rest of
society, the community become very tightly-knit. The prostitutes
regard each other as sisters. The clothing venders, beauticians and
Avon ladies who serve Mustang feel a deep affinity for their
clients; Albert clearly does as well.

When the feds finally closed Mustang, Albert writes, “I
wanted to scream. “˜Don’t you realize that by
eliminating Mustang Ranch, you don’t simply displace “˜a
bunch of hookers?’ You eradicate a community, a
family!'”

Though Albert’s plea is clearly heartfelt, it forces the
reader to question whether he or she is ready to take such ideas to
heart.

Nevertheless, “Brothel” makes a very quick and
engrossing read, in no small part due to its lurid subject matter.
Albert provides a voice of reason in the controversial debate,
examining the view that prostitution is a necessary profession like
cooking. As such, it should receive government regulation, not
prohibition. Hopefully, readers will take this message seriously
rather than read “Brothel” for its titillating details
of sex.