The internet is overflowing with “escort” ads

Today’s economy has resulted in scores and scores of women trying their hands at the world’s oldest profession. One need look no further than the website backpage.com, which has become connection central for working girls and their potential clients.

I have for many years now perused on occasion the ads at Craigslist, which have ceased to exist in theory during recent years. The reason Craigslist no longer runs escort ads (er, "personal services") has a lot to do with Craigslist’s founders having assured the U.S. government that they were screening their ads to eliminate those which were blatantly fronts for prostitution. That anybody could go to Craigslist and observe blatant prostitution ads being posted at all hours gave the government reason to know that the Craigslist people were lying.

Backpage, on the other hand, surely made no such claims, at least about adult women selling sex on their website. As I write, indeed the U.S. government is at some point in a process which would eventually inspire Backpage.com to shut down its "escorts" section as well. Yet for prostitution having become so well established online, and with the first amendment allowing freedom of speech to everyone, a girl need not go beyond the bounds of a lawful ad while making it clear to all who read it that she is offering sex for money.

Now I’m with the law on the subject of underage prostitution being strongly discouraged (eliminated?) through legal means, and in particular those "pimps" who market underage (or any) girls being ushered out of business. It just seems that prostitution itself has a giant foothold online now, and with the economy being what it is, there is so much desperation out there that more and more girls are vying for what may be fewer and fewer "john hours".

To look at the scores of ads on Backpage I don’t even imagine how a young adult woman gets noticed enough to stand out from the crowd. With each new day there is someone younger, and nearly all of the time there is someone better looking.

Despite the stereotypes of what men want I’m guessing that those who deviate from the mainstream norm or ideals will be the ones continuously noticed. Guys looking through porn magazines can already identify the look that most think they want to have, or should have, to be ‘accepted’ in mainstream society. I’m starting to sense that so much of that has led to men perhaps taking interest in, for example, the sullen gothic girl who is the sort few can figure out when she’s living her daily life.

When that same girl in dark clothing seems to ramp-up her social confidence beyond what might be her stereotype by advertising her sexual favors on the internet, I think the curiosity had by many men can be too great to resist her.

Many of the women wanting your (or, rather, "my") attention in the "escorts" section of Backpage employ the same, tired method of using lots of keyboard symbols such as ######@@@@@@@&&&&&%%%%!!!!!!!!

Those all blend together after a while, and the women (and pimps) penning these ads aren’t known for being clever enough to change them up and use only words to entice would-be customers. Unless you’re patient and willing to sort through hundreds of posted ads in a day, perhaps searching for keywords in the process, it can be a total guessing game to select a working girl on Backpage.

The online websites solely dedicated to prostitution make it fairly clear that backpage is a hit-or-miss situation in which you may find yourself drawn to photos of a certain girl only to learn upon arrival that the woman looks nothing at all like the photos (that’s the most common complaint). Additionally, because could-be male victims aren’t typically keen on calling the police, there are many cases of an ad going up on backpage only to lure interested parties to an address at which they are robbed.

It has been many years since I have been blatantly ripped-off by a working girl and that was merely a situation where I went to her room, gave her $60 to "go down and pay the hotel fee", only to have her leave and not return. There has been another time or two where the woman I picked-up evolved to be so blatantly high (or needing a ‘high’) on drugs that it was nearly impossible to continue/complete a session with her.

I still lean hard toward the girls on the street if given a fair choice, although it does help my sometimes interest in the online variety when I can read a detailed review of some other guy’s session with a particular woman. Some of the women reviewed online really surprise me in a pleasant way in some of their seemingly authentic and sincere gestures toward their clients (as described by the clients themselves).

It truly doesn’t matter that the working girl’s only incentives are money, money, and money when she is perfectly willing to barter in good faith with her natural blessings. The prices advertised on websites like backpage seem to be going down a bit too, with so many trying to outdo the rest and get the jump on clientele. I just don’t know what the secret is to making themselves stand out on what is a white webpage filled with blue links consisting of one long, type-written come-on.

Once a guy clicks on the ad he sometimes sees no more than a very provocative photo and a phone number – and for some (guys and gals) that works. Other ads offer various personal photos, some of which have been shot in the teen girl’s bedroom. I recall one such picture which famously showcased a girl’s high school sports trophies near a window behind her when the girl was barely 18. I noted recently that the same girl is now 22 and still very much a prostitute.

The other night I read a story of a guy who prepped for his first-ever visit with a prostitute by going to a working girl website and asking all the right questions on the topic of etiquette. He later told of arranging to meet a girl, picking her up, bringing her to a hotel room, and of them tentatively taking the first few steps. Moments later, when he was swept away by what I sense was sincere yearning for the soft touch of a woman, he held her closely and gently only to have her freak-out and leap up off the bed. She said "if I just give you your money back, can we end this right now?"

Turns out she had been attacked not terribly long ago by someone whose gentle ways mirrored his own, and she was understandably startled. Because he was indeed the authentic decent guy, he didn’t get rattled or show any sort of aggression toward her, and they evolved to continue their session after a short while.

During my time at OD I have come to know at least four diarists who have at one time or another posted or answered sex-for-pay ads on Craigslist or the like. Times are so different now when a woman need not reveal herself and risk the scorn that would undoubtedly be heaped upon her by those in her ‘real’ life once they knew that she’d been turning tricks. In addition, at least a couple of my OD faves work at hotels and they tell of repeat scenarios in which they figure out that they’ve got a working girl turning tricks out of a room on their premises.

The world of prostitution is still largely the domain of those who have been ‘pre-qualified’ for inclusion by the abusi

ve hands of others  With the convenience of the internet and with the poor current economy there is getting to be a gray area which seems to lure more and more otherwise reputable women with each passing day.

As I myself browse the online ads I find myself more and more puzzled in terms of which criteria I should use to select a sex partner. Longevity in the business is a real plus as it remains very difficult to get caught doing something illegal in this way when you can know for sure ahead of time that the woman you’re paying for sex is one who has been selling her favors for a long while.

I recall a few years ago one particular working girl having solicited the opinions of various johns on the subject of whether she should get breast alteration of some sort. This is a petite woman with glorious C-cup breasts who thought that because there are visible stretch marks where her skin had been burdened by the weight of her generous bosom, she should have them lifted.

I joined the campaign to inspire her to do nothing to alter mother nature’s blessings while observing that the slight stretch marks were just reminders of how significant her breasts really are. Thankfully she decided she was OK and did not evolve to change those puppies. Even though I’ve never met that young woman of 23 or 24 I think I would call her first if indeed I were soon to use online avenues to contact a working girl.

Elsewhere, the red light district still reflects hard times out there, a strained police budget, and still-surprising movements to clean up the area. It is something of a crap-shoot when going out cruising for working girls, and if you go at the ideal time of the month there is usually a considerable selection at curbside.

What amounts to indoor cruising for hookers is done in front of the computer while staring at nothing but blue links each representing one (or two) women who are usually authentic parties interested in selling sex at their place or yours. The never-endingness of the indoor scheme inspires me to stay outdoors until the darkest, coldest days of winter.

But the photos on the backpage ads can be quite intriguing (though no longer can they be fully revealing – or so I don’t think)