Fucking (With Theory) for Money: Toward an Interrogation of Escort Prostitution
| September 26, 2013 | Posted by Webmaster under Volume 02, Number 3, May 1992 |
|
Tessa Dora Addison and Audrey Extavasia
Literary and Cultural Theory
Carnegie Mellon University
ta1a+@andrew.cmu.edu (Addison) wk11+@andrew.cmu.edu (Extavasia)
This paper is intended as an introductory interrogation of
the terrain of escort prostitution mobilizing terms
from both The Telephone Book by Avital Ronell and
A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.
For the purposes of this paper, the client will be
presumed to be a man and the model presumed to be a
woman. We are not trying to provide a comprehensive
account of all aspects of the terrain of prostitution, or
even of escort agencies.
Cross-referenced terms are in upper case.
Contents: THECALLTHEMODELTHECLIENTTHEAGENCYCYBORGASSEMBLAGEB
ODYWITHOUTORGANSTIMESPACETHETELEPHONEVALUE/EXCHANG
EDESIREFACIALITYTOOLSFETISHISMDETERRITORIALIZATION
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
T H E C A L L
THE CALL is the interaction of THE MODEL and THE CLIENT
within a particular spatial and temporal frame (see SPACE
and TIME). THE MODEL is a student, an actress, a nurse's
aide, a teacher, or a secretary.... THE CLIENT is a
businessman, a dentist, a banker, a construction worker, or
a computer programmer.... The temporal borders of THE CALL
are delineated by THE TELEPHONE (which connects THE CLIENT,
THE MODEL, and THE AGENCY), in conjunction with the watch,
or instrumental TIME. The arm of authority behind THE
TELEPHONE and instrumental TIME is THE AGENCY. THE MODEL
gets ready for THE CALL, prepares to become a 'fantasy
girl,' by imitating (media) representations of women as
objects of DESIRE: she wears garters and hose and high
heels; the nails of both fingers and toes are painted.
These are signifiers on a fragmented, coded body, signifiers
that THE CLIENT will be drawn to (through DESIRE), that will
reinforce his FETISHISM and in turn contribute to the
construction of his BODY WITHOUT ORGANS (BwO). THE CLIENT
has a BwO which he is drawn to construct, which has an
already written set of rules/conditions by which it must be
constructed, conditions which include the fetishized system
of signifying effects with which THE MODEL has attempted to
encode her body (and which already encode her body as
woman). THE MODEL goes to THE CLIENT's hotel or motel or
private home or apartment or to a bar or restaurant or hot
tub spa.... When THE MODEL enters the SPACE of THE CALL,
THE CLIENT gives her a substantial fee in EXCHANGE for an
opportunity to spend a designated amount of TIME with her,
an opportunity to interact with her cyborg subject-position
'fantasy girl' (a subject-position which is composed of both
fact and fantasy), an opportunity to construct his BwO.
After she has been paid, THE MODEL calls THE AGENCY on THE
TELEPHONE to announce that the EXCHANGE has been initiated
and that it is now time to begin measuring the length of THE
CALL. THE MODEL and THE CLIENT now interact together, their
bodies intermingling with DESIRE, FETISHISM, representation,
the SPACE of the room, the TIME measured by THE MODEL's
watch as well as the TIME elusively marked by THE CLIENT's
memories, fantasies, and anticipation of orgasm (which is
not the object of his DESIRE but a fetishized signifier
which masks the perpetually deferred BwO, the plane of
consistency of his DESIRE). When the end of THE CALL is
announced by instrumental TIME (or by a telephone call from
THE AGENCY if THE CALL has transgressed the boundaries
marked
by instrumental TIME), THE MODEL telephones THE AGENCY, says
goodbye to THE CLIENT, and exits the SPACE of THE CALL.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
T H E M O D E L
AdrienneAlannaAlexandraAlexisAllisonAman
daAngelaAnyaArdenArianaAshleyAudreyAvery
She will become part of the CYBORG ASSEMBLAGE which you are
purchasing (you want to purchase the fulfillment of your
BODY WITHOUT ORGANS, to draw her into its logic, to name her
through your DESIRE which is based on representations of
women, on fetishization), after you have picked up THE
TELEPHONE, after you have called her. What will you call
her? You must first call her a partner in the EXCHANGE in
which you are about to take part; you must call her the
producer of the commodity for which you will give her $ (in
an amount purportedly based on equivalence but in fact VALUE
is measured by, determined by FETISHISM, DESIRE, and
taboo...). I hear you're looking for some company
tonight...
CameronCamilleCaroleCarolynCeceliaChantal
CharlottaCherylChristyClarissaColbyCorinne
She is called the call-girl: she is connected to both THE
CLIENT and THE AGENCY by THE TELEPHONE.
Claudette embodied a sophisticated,
elegant New York look, so she always had
a more fashionable hairstyle and very
chic accessories. Tricia represented
the girl next door, and she tended to
wear dresses rather than suits--
especially dresses with a Peter Pan
collar or puffy sleeves. Michelle was a
model. She was very tall, and her
clothing would be slightly trendy, with
more dramatic hair and makeup. Colby
represented the healthy, outdoorsy type,
with a wind-swept, off-the-farm look.
Marguerite was exotic and tended to wear
tight skirts.
THE MODEL works as an independent contractor for an agency.
We are very particular about the young
ladies who work for us. They must work
or go to school during the day, or be
actively pursuing a career in the arts
or in modeling.
THE MODEL, like THE CLIENT has a BwO; her BwO is
deterritorialized though, onto the commodity form money.
DanieleDarleneDeidreDevinElaineEileenEliseEl
izabethEricaGabrielaGingerHeatherHelenaIrene
You must always wear a skirt or a dress.
Please don't wear anything very short or
very trendy... you'll need at least one
suit... you'll also need a dress, which
should be lady-like and tailored, with
no frills or ruffles.
THE MODEL can never fulfill THE CLIENT's BwO--there will
always be a gap...
JaimeJanineJenniferJessicaJerriJoannaJuli
aSeverineShawnaShelbyShelleyShevaunSophia
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
T H E C L I E N T
THE CLIENT becomes a potential client when he picks up THE
TELEPHONE.
When you talk to friends about your
work, you're going to end up talking
about the weird clients and the mean
clients and the bad clients, because
they make hilarious stories. But even
weird clients are usually nice people.
THE CLIENT becomes a client when the EXCHANGE is initiated.
Some of our clients are made of gold,
and you'll meet your share of them. But
that's not true for everybody. In some
cases, the evening he spends with you
will be his biggest treat of the year.
theclientisafashionphotographerbusinessmancabinetmakerdentis
tsconstructionworkerbankercomputerprogrammerpestcontroltechn
iciandoctorconsultantmusicindustryprofessionalhousepainterla
wyeraccountantrealestatedeveloperarchitecttheclientisshortth
inbaldaveragelookingoldmarriedattractivefatsingletalluglydiv
orcedtheclientisalegmanboobmanassmantheclientisafashionphoto
grapherbusinessmancabinetmakerdentistsconstructionworkerbank
ercomputerprogrammerpestcontroltechniciandoctorconsultantmus
icindustryprofessionalhousepainterlawyeraccountantrealestate
developerarchitecttheclientisshortthinbaldaveragelookingoldm
arriedattractivefatsingletalluglydivorcedtheclientisalegmanb
oobmanassmantheclientisafashionphotographerbusinessmancabine
tmakerdentistsconstructionworkerbankercomputerprogrammerpest
controltechniciandoctorconsultantmusicindustryprofessionalho
usepainterlawyeraccountantrealestatedeveloperarchitectthecli
entisshortthinbaldaveragelookingoldmarriedattractivefatsingl
etalluglydivorcedtheclientisalegmanboobmanassmantheclient
THE CLIENT is paying to interact with his 'fantasy girl,'
his object of DESIRE; he is paying to construct his BODY
WITHOUT ORGANS (BwO).
I guess I'd like to know if there's any
way to tell in advance what strange sex
acts will turn a particular person on...
absolutely anyone can be turned on by
absolutely anything...part of my job is
to respond to these people....
THE CLIENT has a BwO which has an already-written set of
rules, system of logic, by which it is to be constructed.
We did all of the usual sucking and
fucking. Then he put me in the Muslim
prayer position so familiar to me, at
the edge of the bed. Then he knelt on
the floor and licked my asshole for a
while...he started sticking his tongue
in my ass. He stuck it in very deep, so
deep I could feel it moving around
inside me...then he really surprised
me. He blew air into my ass and then
inhaled deeply as the air came back out.
He did it over and over, more times than
I could count.
Integral to the logic of THE CLIENT's BwO is the
fetishization of representations of women (by the media, by
his memory, etc.) as objects of DESIRE. It is the
signifying system, the codes inscribed on THE MODEL's body
which is being fetishized, rather than woman qua woman.
Remember, you're a fantasy for these
guys. If someone asked you to sit down
and spell out your description of what a
high-class New York call girl would be
like, you'd probably say, 'Well, she'd
have a beautiful hairdo, gorgeous
makeup, she'd be very pretty and
elegantly dressed, and sophisticated.'
That's exactly who our clients expect
you to be. You just can't walk in there
looking like the women he sees every day
at work, like his secretary, or the wife
he goes home to, or the girls he passes
by on the street.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
T H E A G E N C Y T H E A G E N C Y T H E A G E N C Y
THE AGENCY serves as the arm of the law, sets up the
boundaries/limits of (and is part of) the CYBORG ASSEMBLAGE
which constitutes THE CALL, which in turn effects the
possibilities of the logic of the BwO which may be
fulfilled.
Sometimes he might want to touch you
back there. Technically it's known as
Greek, and we don't allow it at all. We
do not touch them there and they do not
touch us there....
THE AGENCY is headed by an agent, who is the personification
of these limits.
Now when you're talking to the client,
please don't refer to us as the office
or the agency.... Every man has a
fantasy that he's calling a private
madam...and we try to foster that
image.
THE AGENCY is responsible for screening THE CLIENTs, which
means screening out unwanted DESIREs, unwanted BwO's.
For the man who asked, 'Whaddya got
tonight?' the answer was a dial tone.
THE AGENCY receives a percentage of THE MODEL's earnings
from THE CALL. THE AGENCY is not a partner in the primary
EXCHANGE with THE CLIENT; rather, the EXCHANGE between THE
MODEL and THE AGENCY is a separate agreement based on
different terms, different standards of VALUE. THE AGENCY
is paid to function as protection, both before--through the
screening procedure--and during THE CALL.
Once you're in the room, ask if you
could use the phone.... Call the office
at the special number.... If you do
want to leave...if you're not
comfortable, then we'll take care of it
for you.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
C Y B O R G A S S E M B L A G E
It is neither THE MODEL's body which is being purchased nor
is it THE MODEL's TIME. What is being purchased is an
opportunity to interact with the subject-position "fantasy
girl," a subject-position which is constituted by THE MODEL,
technology, fiction, SPACE and TIME: we would describe this
subject-position as "cyborg space-time" and the assemblage
which contributes to the subject-position's creation--see
below for elements of this assemblage--as a "CYBORG
ASSEMBLAGE."
A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine
and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a
creature of fiction.
The CYBORG ASSEMBLAGE surrounding the subject-position
"fantasy girl" is composed of fiction as well as the
material or concrete. Fiction: representations of beauty,
fetishization of signifiers than encode the body (= lines to
media), etc.. The ASSEMBLAGE is also composed of the
circuit of THE TELEPHONE, of TIME, of SPACE, of the escort
AGENCY (= the Law), of the EXCHANGE (= lines to capitalist
system).
There has been much criticism of Haraway's cyborg myth as
romantic--Mary Anne Doane: "What is missing in this
account--and seemingly unnecessary in the advanced
technological society described here--is a theory of
subjectivity"
--but we would argue for the importance of
the myth of the cyborg in that it is a similar myth which
forms the commodity in prostitution: it is formed through
both the concrete and the abstract, through the organic and
the technological. The cyborg myth is also, we think,
important in that it breaks down binary oppositions--the
breaking down of oppositions such as public/private and
smooth SPACE/striated SPACE is crucial to the enterprise of
the escort agency and to the VALUE of the commodity which is
being sold.
We would want to think cyborg as articulation (using Stuart
Hall's concept of "articulation" here, with its connotations
of gaps, constructedness, provisionality) of human subject
and technology--the cyborg subject necessarily foregrounds
fragmentation, gaps, partial/incomplete identity.
For our project--and any project, we would argue--a theory
of subjectivity is necessary in order to discuss power
relations, to make distinctions and show relations
between/among subject-positions; indeed, in order to
distinguish cyborgs.
Cyborg theory must be able to discuss power, DESIRE,
interest. Gayatri Spivak criticizes Deleuze and Guattari
for not being able to do this: "The failure of Deleuze and
Guattari [in A Thousand Plateaus] to consider the
relations between desire, power, and subjectivity renders
them incapable of articulating a theory of interest."
Conceptualizing CYBORG ASSEMBLAGE through concept of
articulation which accounts for provisional identity makes
it possible to think subjectivity, interest, DESIRE,
power....
callgirltelephonevisaagenthotelcashmemoryfantasyclientmo
deltaxiprivatehomeamexlingeriespacemastercardtimecondoms
vicesquadmotellubevibratorvenerealdiseasewineyellowpages
CALLGIRLTELEPHONEVISAAGE
NTHOTELCASHMEMORYFANTASY
CLIENTMODELTAXIPRIVATEHO
MEAMEXLINGERIESPACEMASTE
RCARDTIMECONDOMSVICESQUA
DMOTELLUBEVIBRATORVENERE
ALDISEASEWINEYELLOWPAGES
callgirltelephonevisa
agenthotelcashmemoryf
antasyclientmodeltaxi
privatehomeamexlinger
iespacemastercardtime
condomsvicesquadmotel
lubevibratorvenereald
iseasewineyellowpages
CALLGIRLTELEPHONEVISAAGENTHOTELCASHMEMORYFANTASYCLIENTMO
DELTAXIPRIVATEHOMEAMEXLINGERIESPACEMASTERCARDTIMECONDOMS
VICESQUADMOTELLUBEVIBRATORVENEREALDISEASEWINEYELLOWPAGES
(CYBORG ASSEMBLAGE)
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
B O D I E S W I T H O U T O R G A N S
The BwO is the commodity being sold by escort agencies. It
is enacted by THE CLIENT, THE MODEL, the parameters of SPACE
and TIME (which are permeable), THE TELEPHONE,
representations of women through the media, the EXCHANGE
(commodification of the BwO), TOOLS/paraphernalia--in short,
by the CYBORG ASSEMBLAGE. The BwO is a program, a limit
which marks the edges of the plane of DESIRE--it can never
be reached, fulfilled. The BwO is both inside and outside
the concrete, both inside and outside the abstract.
"The BwO is desire; it is that which one desires and by
which one desires...There is desire whenever there is the
constitution of a BwO under one relation or another."
DESIRE is the motor of the BwO, the driving force and
predication of the logic of the BwO. "The BwO is the field
of immanence of desire, the plane of consistency specific to
desire..." (D&G 154).
The BwO is an assemblage of various bodies: "The masochist
constructs an entire assemblage that simultaneously draws
and fills the field of immanence of desire; he constitutes a
body without organs or plane of consistency using himself,
the horse, and the mistress" (D&G 156). The BwO is THE
CLIENT, THE MODEL, the words, and the absent presence(s)
upon which the conditions/logic of the BwO is based:
girlfriend, mother, ex-girlfriend, girl next door, girl in
magazine, stripper, etc.....
Let me be your little boy.
"...the BwO is not a scene, a place, or even a support, upon
which something comes to pass" (D&G 153). What it is is a
limit...it can never be achieved. "The BwO is what remains
when you take everything away. What you take away is
precisely the phantasy, and significances and
subjectifications as a whole" (D&G 151).
The BwO is a program, with its own rules and logic and
conditions....
Let me be your slave.
"The masochist is looking for a type of BwO that only pain
can fill, or travel over, due to the very conditions under
which that BwO was constituted" (D&G 152). THE CLIENT is
looking for--and paying for--a BwO which has already been
scripted, already has a specific set of conditions within
whose framework it must function. This set of conditions
determines, too, THE CLIENT's DESIREs:
"You can't desire without making [a BwO]" (D&G 149).
I want to give you all my money and all my cum.
"You never reach the Body without Organs, you can't
reach it, you are forever attaining it, it is a limit"
(D&G 150).
Re: the masochist: "Legs are still organs, but the boots now
only determine a zone of intensity as an imprint or a zone
on a BwO" (D&G 156). Like the object of DESIRE of the
masochist, so too the fragments of the body of THE MODEL
becomes for THE CLIENT "an imprint or a zone on a BwO."
That is, she as signifying system (see FETISHISM) is part of
the assemblage that constitutes the BwO, the plane of
consistency of DESIRE....
Do you like to see men jack off?
THE MODEL is your invitation to build a BwO, as your
invitation to interact with her [cyborg] subject position--
that is, to have her become part of your BwO, to help you
build it, to be built into it....
Tell me what to do. Tell me who's boss.
THE MODEL can never fulfill THE CLIENT's BODY WITHOUT
ORGANS...even COCK RINGS, even TANTRIC SEX...only
suspend the inevitable.... "Orgasm is a mere fact, a
rather deplorable one, in relation to desire in pursuit of
its principle" (D&G 156). "It is not a question of
experiencing desire as an internal lack, nor of delaying
pleasure in order to produce a kind of externalizable
surplus value, but instead of constituting an intensive body
without organs" (D&G 157).
Let me worship you.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
T I M E
So you get in the elevator and you go on
up. Before you knock on the client's
door, be sure to look at your watch,
because it's important to know what time
you arrived--and nobody likes a clock
watcher. Incidentally, it's helpful to
wear a watch that's especially easy to
read in a dim light with just a glance.
TIME becomes VALUE: THE MODEL's rate is based on hourly
increments; after an hour has passed, THE CLIENT must pay
more if he wants THE MODEL to stay for the next hour, and so
on.
"I took a look at my watch while I was
in the bathroom, and I couldn't believe
what time it was.... I don't want to
rush you, but I do have to call Sheila
in a little while and tell her if I'll
be staying or leaving."
For THE CLIENT, TIME often functions as a dialectic between
memory and anticipation--"You never know what just happened,
or you always know what is going to happen" (D&G 193)--
his DESIREs revolve around memories and fantasies, past and
future.... The BwO comes from the past and is aimed at the
future--it never comes into being, never exists now.
Orgasm marks anticipatory (goal-oriented) TIME. Often THE
CLIENT will treat THE CALL as over if he has come and not
over if he has not yet come, regardless of the instrumental
TIME as measured by THE MODEL's watch. [See agency as arm
of the law....]
Although escort services are technically
legal, they are at times raided by the
police and forced to shut down--if only
temporarily. To protect ourselves from
being arrested under the prostitution
laws, we always make it clear to our
clients that we are charging for the
girls' time.
Think, a person moves from here (space/man/time) through
here (space/man enters into negotiation/time) to here
(space/client meets fantasy girl/time) and through
(space/client enters fantasy girl/time) to exit (space/man
and model leave/time)--similar scenario for model, first
they are separate, then intersect, then separate....
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
S P A C E
THE CALL: it is a public SPACE that gives the illusion of
being a private SPACE. It is this illusion which THE CLIENT
is paying for, this illusion which is produced and regulated
by THE AGENCY, the capitalist system, THE TELEPHONE--e.g.
public (social) SPACE. The physical SPACE of the room is
criss-crossed by THE TELEPHONE, room service, beepers, etc..
"In this space [of sex/ pleasure/ leisure], things,
acts and situations are forever being replaced by
representations...."
[See FETISHISM]
"For these bodies, the natural space and the abstract
space which confront and surround them are in no way
separable.... The individual situates his body in its
own space and apprehends the space around the body"
(Lefebvre 213).
BwO and SPACE: "It is not space, nor is it in space; it is
matter that occupies space to a given degree..." (D&G 153).
privatehomehotelmotelofficehottubspa
For some of these men, an hour or an
evening with an escort was their only
opportunity all week to drop their
guard, be themselves, and relax.
The SPACE within THE CALL is [illusionarily] smooth SPACE--
it is the illusion of smooth SPACE which THE CLIENT is
paying for.
Striated SPACE is SPACE gridded by boundaries: constructed
by VALUEs of THE AGENCY, circuits of THE TELEPHONE,
standards of U.S. Treasury, logic of BwO, etc.. Marks the
edges of illusion of smooth SPACE.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
T H E T E L E P H O N E
Okay. So there you are, sitting at home. Your makeup is
on, you hair is done, your bag is packed, and you're ready
to go. Suddenly THE TELEPHONE rings. Your picking it up
means THE CALL has come through. It means more: you're its
beneficiary, rising to meet its demand, to pay a debt. You
don't know who's calling or what you are going to be called
on upon to do, and still, you are lending your ear, giving
something up, receiving an order.
But you do know
who's calling. You are on call; it's your agent calling
about a potential client. You get the following
information: who he is, where he is, how old he is, and some
other details about him, perhaps his profession, perhaps a
little about his personality. You do know what you are
going to be called upon to do, what you are going to be
called upon to be. You are meeting a demand, receiving an
order but you understand the demand, know the order. You
will be THE CLIENT's fantasy girl in EXCHANGE for a
substantial fee. THE TELEPHONE rings and you are part of
the ASSEMBLAGE of escort prostitution.
theclientopensthetelephonebookfindstheadintheyellowpagesandc
allstheagencytheagentcallsthemodelthemodelcallstheclientthec
lientcallstheagentbacktheagentcallsthemodeltoconfirmthemodel
callstheagentonarrival(aftertheclientgivesthemodelmoney)them
odelcallstheagentagainbeforeleaving(afterthemodelgivesthecli
entaccesstoherbody)andagainwhenthemodelgetshome
Pager/beeper--some girls find it more
convenient to use a beeper, which leaves
them free to go shopping or out to a
movie while they're waiting for us to
call...if you do use a beeper, you have
to be all dressed and ready to go from
wherever you are. Call-waiting--
naturally, you'll want to keep your
phone free. Most of the girls have
call-waiting, and I strongly recommend
it. Car phone--the car phone, if you
can afford it, is the escort's best
friend. It gives you access to the
agency when you are out on the road (you
wouldn't believe how many girls are on
the way to the movie or somewhere else
when their beeper goes off), and it
gives you more flexibility when calling
in to the agency after you've been on a
call.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
V A L U E V A L U E V A L U E V A L U E
"Exchange is only an appearance: each partner or group
assesses the value of the last receivable object
(limit-object), and the apparent equivalence derives from
that" (D&G 439). In terms of the terrain of escort
"limit-object" is not determined solely by rational
assessment but rather must be processed through the logic of
THE CLIENT's BwO--VALUE is a derivation of DESIRE.
I keep hearing from men who want to know
if we have any girls who are more
expensive, and presumably more
beautiful, than the others.
VALUE is not based on use value: "[Use value] is always
concrete and particular, contingent on its own
destiny . . . ."
Use value is determined only after the
EXCHANGE has taken place, and is, itself, "a fetishized
social relation" (Baudrillard 131). VALUE is the
fetishization of commodity's sign system; in escort
prostitution, of the sign system encoded on THE MODEL's
body. The fetishization of this sign system is reinforced
during THE CALL (see FACIALITY).
A working girl doesn't really sell her
body...she gives the client access to
her body for a certain period of time
and at a certain price.
The VALUE of the commodity before the EXCHANGE--in order for
the EXCHANGE to take place--is determined by the
fetishization of the commodity. "[F]etishism is not the
sanctification of a certain object, or value....It is the
sanctification of the system as such, of the commodity as
system: it is thus contemporaneous with the generalization
of exchange value and is propagated with it" (Baudrillard
92).
Reading woman repeatedly as the object of male exchange
constructs a victim's discourse that risks reinscribing
the very sexual politics it ostensibly seeks to expose
and change.
THE MODEL has a dual register, as both object of and subject
of--partner in--EXCHANGE.
Reading women as objects exchanged by male desiring
subjects partakes of a degraded positivism that relies
on an outmoded, humanist view of identity characterized
by a metaphysics of presence; it assumes an
unproblematic subjectivity for 'men' as desiring
subjects and concomitantly assumes as directly
accessible woman-as-object. (Newman 47)
The terrain of escort prostitution, like the terrain of
sex/gender relations, is problematic, in terms of the
"traffic in women" paradigm. Women working as escorts are
not simply victims of some "pornographic mind" as Susan
Griffin claims in Pornography and Silence, where she
equates the "mindset" (read unified, stable, subject
position) of pornography producers with that of Nazis and
the Marquis de Sade.
Griffin's argument, as well as
many other feminist arguments which want to label
prostitutes and other women working in the sex industry as
"innocent victims" fallen prey to "false consciousness,"
presumes a unified subject and thus needs to be reexamined
in the light of post-structuralist theories of subjectivity.
As both producer of commodity and embodiment of that
commodity, the escort participates in disruption of "traffic
in women" paradigm.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
E X C H A N G E <-> E X C H A N G E <-> E X C H A N G E
When each party has something the other wants, and they're
able to make a deal, that constitutes a fair EXCHANGE.
The priest did not turn to the west. He knew that in
the west lay a plane of consistency, but he thought
that the way was blocked by the columns of Hercules,
that it led nowhere and was uninhabited by people. But
that is where DESIRE was lurking, west was the shortest
route east, as well as to the other directions,
rediscovered or deterritorialized. (D&G 154)
You go into the bathroom to spiff-up, to
fix your face but this is harder than it
sounds. You look in the mirror and see
that your eye makeup has run onto your
face, your lipstick has disappeared and
your hair is completely disheveled. In
addition to fixing your face you have to
wipe your crotch for wetness and odor,
put on your underwear, bra, hose, and
garters, all without spending too much
time in the bathroom. You panic.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
F A C I A L I T Y
facialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacial
ityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfac
ialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfacialityfaciality
THE MODEL's face is part of THE CLIENT's BwO (see
FETISHISM). It is a signifier marking the boundaries of the
object of his DESIRE. Her face envelops the face of the
prom queen from his high school, of the girl in the
centerfold of his magazine, of his mother....
Tell me who's boss.
"All faces envelop an unknown, unexplored landscape; all
landscapes are populated by a loved or dreamed-of face,
develop a face to come or already past" (D&G 173). To
come....
Tell me what you like.
"The signifier is always facialized. Faciality reigns
materially over that whole constellation of
significances and interpretations." (D&G 115)
Tell me how much you like it.
When THE CLIENT says, "tell me how it feels" or some other
such thing, it's not just about the words (he could say them
himself) but about FACIALITY, watching the words being
spoken by THE MODEL, watching the significance process
through FACIALITY.
After you knock on the door, stand back
a couple of feet. A face is such a
subjective thing. It's important that
the client gets the full image of you
when he first opens the door--the total
you, rather than just your face. If you
stand too close to the door, your face
is all that he sees. And you might not
be exactly what his fantasy was,
because, let's face it, there's almost
no way you could be.
(The BwO contains gaps and ruptures, never to be closed
...see BODY WITHOUT ORGANS.)
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
T O O L S
CONDOMSLIPSTICKVIBRATORSTOCKINGSBEEPERBREATHMINTSL
UBESMALLCHANGECREDITCARDSLIPSBUSINESSCARDSEYELINER
Some men are frightened by the sight of
the vibrator. It's about fourteen
inches long and you always keep a
nine-foot extension cord attached to it.
Sometimes a man will say, 'What the hell
is that?' or 'Are you going to use that
on me?' You say, 'It's a vibrator, and
I wouldn't think of using it on you.
Not a chance. Don't you wish I would?'
Then you use it on yourself while they
watch.
TOOLS exist only in relation to the interminglings they make
possible or that make them possible. (D&G 90)
You start telling him what a bad boy he
has been. He says 'Yes Mistress.' You
go to the dresser in your five-inch
heels and pick up a wooden hairbrush.
You tell him to stand up and bend over
the bed. You pull down his panties, to
expose his cheeks, and smack each cheek
a few times. In between smackings you
tell him what a bad boy he has been.
TOOLS and DETERRITORIALIZATION: "there is an entire
system of horizontal and complementary
reterritorializations, between hand and tool" (D&G 174).
suitbriefcasejewelrycocktaildressgartersstockings
brasbustierslatexglovesbubblebathmassageoil
TOOLS form the appendages of the CYBORG ASSEMBLAGE....
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
F E T I S H I S M
Two kinds of FETISHISM occur during THE CALL--that of the
commodity as VALUE and that of THE MODEL as object of
DESIRE. The fetishization is not of use VALUE or meaning;
rather it is about being drawn to the system of
signification, it is a generalization of the structural code
of the object: "it is thus not a fetishism of the
signified, a fetishism of substances and values (called
ideological), which the fetish object would incarnate for
the alienated subject. Behind this reinterpretation (which
is truly ideological) it is a fetishism of the signifier.
That is to say that the subject is trapped in the
factitious, differential, encoded, systematized aspect of
the object" (Baudrillard 92). This entrapment can be called
DESIRE.
people who want me to wear costumes,
people who want me to sit with them
while they watch dirty movies and jerk
off, people who want to be tied up,
people who want to wear diapers and be
given a bottle....
Beauty as FETISHISM: we are "bound up in a general
stereotype of models of beauty . . . the generalization of
sign exchange value to facial and bodily effects"
(Baudrillard 94). Thus for clients FETISHISM is being drawn
to media representations of women, fascination with the
system of encodement represented on women's bodies through
images in magazines, porn movies, television, advertising,
etc..
After Mommie Dearest, suddenly there
were guys who wanted to be hit with wire
coat hangers.
FETISHISM is integral to logic of, to construction of, THE
CLIENT's BODY WITHOUT ORGANS: "the boots now only determine
a zone of intensity as an imprint or a zone on a BwO" (D&G
156).
The only concession we make to overt
sexiness is the highest heels you can
manage to walk in without falling over.
In our experience, men just adore high
heels.
"Tattoos, stretched lips, [etc.]: anything will serve to
rewrite the cultural order on the body; and it is this that
takes on the effect of beauty" (Baudrillard 94). For THE
MODEL, it is not usually tattoos but rather, high heels,
garters, bustiers, lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, painted
toenails, long fingernails....
When these men were young the first
naked women most of them had ever seen
were usually dressed in frilly
undergarments in a magazine like
Playboy. As a result, seeing a woman
dressed only in lingerie would create a
powerful, nostalgic yearning that many
men found irresistible. [See TIME] This
made the experience more pleasant for
the girls, because the more excited the
man was as the evening became intimate,
the easier things would be when it came
down to the nitty-gritty.
If he likes it I like it. That's part
of his fantasy. It isn't even a
question of whether I like it or not.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
D E T E R R I T O R I A L I Z A T I O N
THE MODEL performs a DETERRITORIALIZATION on her BwO during
THE CALL, reterritorializes it onto the commodity form money
(via cash, check or plastic), which stands in for her own
DESIRE.
Your BwO is my physical activity: fucking, sucking,
spanking, bending, straddling, arching, moaning, gasping,
etc.. I am a material girl.
The impossibility of the BwO being ever reached is
reterritorialized by THE CLIENT onto DESIRE, onto orgasm,
onto THE MODEL as object of DESIRE.
"The more the system is systematized, the more the fetishist
fascination is reinforced" (Baudrillard 92). DESIRE (for
the object of DESIRE) is reterritorialized onto [see
FETISHISM] the coded female body, through the system of
media representations then again through the escort system.
(Escorts are fetishized as "live" versions--but are in fact
part of a further systematization--of the system of media.)
"Act like you're enjoying it."
Notes
1. Donna Haraway, “A Manifesto for Cyborgs,” in Elizabeth Weed, ed., Coming to Terms: Feminism, Theory, Politics (New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc., 1989), 149.
2. Mary Ann Doane, “Commentary: Cyborgs, Origins, and Subjectivity,” in Weed, ed., Coming to Terms, 210.
3. Stuart Hall, “Signification, Representation, Ideology: Althusser and the Post-Structuralist Debates,” in Critical Studies in Mass Communication, vol. 2, no. 2 (June 1985): 93.
4. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, In Other Worlds: Essays On Cultural Politics (London: Methuen, Inc., 1987), 273.
5. Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1987), 165. Cited in the text hereafter as D&G.
6. Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991), 311.
7. Avital Ronell, The Telephone Book: Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric Speech (Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1989), 2.
8. Jean Baudrillard, For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign (Saint Louis: Telos, 1981), 130.
9. Karen Newman, “Directing Traffic: Subjects, Objects, and the Politics of Exchange,” in Differences, vol. 2 (Summer 1990): 47.
10. Susan Griffin, Pornography and Silence: Culture’s Revenge Against Nature (New York: Harper and Row, 1981).
Works Cited
[Some unreferenced portions of this paper contain reworked material from Mayflower Madam (Sidney Biddle Barrows), Working (Dolores French), and the journals of the authors.]
- Barrows, Sidney Biddle with William Novak. Mayflower Madam. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986.
- Baudrillard, Jean. For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign. Saint Louis: Telos, 1981.
- Doane, Mary Ann, “Commentary: Cyborgs, Origins, and Subjectivity.” In Elizabeth Weed, ed., Coming to Terms: Feminism, Theory, Politics. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, 1989.
- French, Dolores with Linda Lee. Working. New York: Windsor Publishing, 1988.
- Griffin, Susan. Pornography and Silence: Culture’s Revenge Against Nature. New York: Harper and Row, 1981.
- Hall, Stuart. “Signification, Representation, Ideology: Althusser and the Post-Structuralist Debates.” In Critical Studies in Mass Communication, vol. 2, no. 2 (June 1985).
- Haraway, Donna. “A Manifesto for Cyborgs.” In Elizabeth Weed, ed., Coming to Terms: Feminism, Theory, Politics. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, 1989.
- Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991.
- Newman, Karen. “Directing Traffic: Subjects, Objects, and the Politics of Exchange.” In Differences, vol. 2 (Summer 1990).
- Ronell, Avital. The Telephone Book: Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric Speech. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1989.
- Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. In Other Worlds: Essays On Cultural Politics. London: Methuen, 1987.