Hustler

Hustler. A male sex worker, sometimes referred to as a “male escort.” Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs.

The terms used for male prostitutes generally differ from those used for females. Some terms vary by clientele or method of business. Where prostitution is illegal or taboo, it is common for male prostitutes to use euphemisms which present their business as providing companionship, nude modeling or dancing, body massage, or some other acceptable fee-for-service arrangement. Thus one may be referred to as a male escort, gigolo (implying female customers), rent boy, hustler (more common for those soliciting in public places), model, or masseur.

A man who does not regard himself as gay or bisexual, but who has sex with male clients for money, is sometimes called gay-for-pay, or trade.

Male clients, especially those who pick up prostitutes on the street or in bars, are sometimes called johns or tricks. Those working in prostitution, especially street prostitutes, sometimes refer to the act of prostitution as turning tricks.

Michel Dorais describes four types of working patterns that male prostitutes usually fall into in his book, Rent Boys: the World of Male Sex Trade Workers.

Outcasts: This group is severely impoverished and living day to day. They face substance abuse issues and most of their money goes towards alcohol and drugs (including cocaine and heroin). They frequently use drugs some time before, after, or during their sexual encounters. Compared to the others groups, outcasts included the highest number of sexual abuse victims. Male sex workers in this group are usually the youngest in the trade, with an average age of eighteen. Criminal activity, violence, and addiction are all characteristics of “outcasts.”

Part-timers: Members of this group do not participate in sex work on a daily basis. They use sex work as a way to make life somewhat more comfortable, for example, if they needed to pay a bill or afford something they would not normally be able to. Drug and alcohol usage is uncharacteristic of the “part-timers.” Their average age is twenty-eight years old.

Insiders: As the name implies, “insiders” grew up around the sex trade and view those surrounding them as their “family.” Unlike the part-timers and the outcasts, the insiders view prostitution as an honorable occupation. Some try other jobs and turn back to prostitution because they miss the work. Most males use drugs to various extents in this category. The average age of an “insider” is seventeen.

Liberationists: A group who primarily identifies as homosexual for which prostitution is a source of exploration and realizing their fantasies. Liberationists have higher levels of education and self-esteem and maintain good connections with their families. They believe that prostitution fulfills their sexual and emotional needs, so relationships are casual.

Introduction to prostitution

Surveys show that male sex workers often report getting into prostitution after running away from home, due to unfortunate home situations. While the trade is not forced upon most, many participants turn to sex work out of desperation. After running away to major cities with no money, some resort to prostitution to take care of themselves.

However, extreme poverty is not the only reason why men and boys partake in prostitution. Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Inc., a Boston agency that works with children in crisis, surveyed young male prostitutes and 86% of them reported having to serve someone’s sexual needs prior to joining in sex work. Many are sexualized and/or victimized as children, but there is little data that confirms a direct link to prostitution.

Nonetheless, some do believe that sex, whether casual or transactional, is a way to acquire affection and attention, which can influence their sexual activity. Often, they have no prior experiences with prostitution and do not approach potential clients, but they allow the punters to approach them.

Male prostitutes generally do not have pimps, but if they do, it is usually because they have not learned how to find their own clients and take care of themselves yet.

Male prostitution has been part of nearly all cultures, ancient and modern. The practice in the ancient world of men or women selling sexual services in sacred shrines, or sacred prostitution, was attested to be practiced by foreign or pagan cultures in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament.

Male prostitutes are also attested to in Graeco-Roman culture in the New Testament, among many other ancient sources. The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality states that prostitutes in ancient Greece were generally slaves. Male brothels existed in both ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

Young male prostitutes in the Edo period of Japan were called kagema. Their clients were mainly adult men.

In southern areas of Central Asia and Afghanistan, adolescent males between twelve and sixteen years old perform erotic songs and suggestive dancing and are available as sex workers. Such boys are known as bacchá.

A male sex worker in the Caribbean who solicits on the beaches and accepts clients of either sex is called a sanky-panky.

Cuban male prostitutes are called jinetero – literally “horse jockey.”

Court records and vice investigations from as early as the 17th century document male prostitution in what is now the United States. With the expansion of urban areas and the aggregation of gay people into communities toward the end of the 19th century, male/male prostitution became more apparent. Around this time, prostitution was reported to have taken place in brothels, such as the Paresis Hall in the Bowery district of New York and in some gay bathhouses.

Male street prostitutes solicited clients in specific areas which became known for the trade. Well-known areas for street “hustlers” have included: parts of 53rd Street in New York City; Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles; Cypress Street in Atlanta; Piccadilly Circus in London; “The Wall” in Sydney‘s Darlinghurst; The Drug Store and Rue Sainte-Anne in Paris; Polk Street Gulch in San Francisco; and Taksim Square in Istanbul.

Bars such as Cowboys and Cowgirls and Rounds in New York City, Numbers in Los Angeles, and certain go-go bars in Patpong, Thailand were popular venues where male prostitutes offered their services.

The 1969 Stonewall riots were a turning point for male sex workers and the LGBTQ+ community. As a result of the uprising, and the formation of the gay liberation movement, there was increased openness in the community along with more opportunities for sex workers.

Gay publications and activist groups were created. Sex workers were now able to publish print advertisements that could be read in these newsletters that were distributed in the bars and bookstores, as well as sent through the mail. Telephone chat lines became another, potentially safer line of doing business than street hustling. Through phone sex the clients were able to control their fantasy and have some security in the fact that they were communicating anonymously.

The emergence of hustler bars provided sex workers with a reliable and consistent supply of clients and created a more social atmosphere for them. The bars took some of the streetwalkers off the streets, providing them some protection. In exchange for being allowed to work in the hustler bars, sex workers would have to sacrifice a fraction of their incomes.

The gay liberation era normalized gay men buying sex from other gay men. Before then, most gay and bisexual men hid their sexuality because gay sex was still illegal in most places as well as socially condemned; they feared arrest, exposure, ostracism or harsher punishment.

Some male clients would also express a preference for “heterosexual” sex workers, saying they wanted to be dominated by men they perceived as straight. Formerly more taboo sexual practices such as homosexual threesomes, anal penetration, and roleplay began to be discussed more openly.

Along with the rise in gay liberation and the sexual openness of the 1970s, gay prostitution became more openly discussed and less taboo, even though policing and discrimination kept many people closeted.

During the early decades of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there was an increase in regulation among sex workers, who were seen as high transmitters of the virus and thus a threat to public health. In effect, the Prostitution Act of 1992 and Sex Work Act of 1994 prohibited people from engaging in sex work if there was a reasonable belief that they may have or transmit any sexually transmitted disease. Laws such as the Prostitution Act of 2000 prohibited the solicitation of sexual services in public places.

The World Health Organization has called for “international decriminalization of sex work to improve the well-being of sex workers.” arguing that criminalization reinforces stereotypes of deviance, disease, and delinquency, and prohibits such improvements.

The WHO also recommends the establishment of anti-discrimination laws for the protection of sex worker rights. To sex workers directly, they suggested voluntary testing, consistent and correct contraceptive usage, and anti-retroviral therapy for HIV-positive workers as good practice.