Ariel Leve
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I read the other day that Heidi Fleiss has plans to open the first all male brothel for women clients in Nevada. If it happens, I predict a multitude of complications.
For instance, I can’t sleep with someone without wanting to talk on the phone afterwards. Part of the deal would have to include at least an hour of talk time the following day so that we could do the post-mortem. During that call I’d be able to ask as many questions as I wanted. And this would have to be included in the price.
And what about separation anxiety? As soon as whoever I was with would tell me it was time to go naturally I’d respond, “Already?” Then I’d want to know where he was going and who he was seeing next. He’d say, “It’s none of your business” and we’d get in a fight. It would end in tears.
I’d want my money back.
If a male brothel is going to speak to the fantasy women have of men it would list their qualities as opposed to their measurements. “Kind, generous, considerate.” Or “The type of man who would never break up with you in a text.”
I’m curious too what the line-up of men would be like. There would have to be a really old guy – for women who want a father figure. There would need to be a man with a great sense of humour. It wouldn’t matter what he looked like as long as he made you laugh. Then there’s the Ambivalent Man. Lots of women will pick this one because he’s familiar and reminds them of someone they’ve dated. As soon as you pick him, he seems really excited to spend time with you. But a few minutes later he's not sure.
You go to the room anyway and hope Ambivalent Man will show up. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. He’ll keep you waiting, confused, and then just as you’re ready to give up and move on, he appears - and you love it.
A friend of mine said if she went to a male brothel she’d want to have sex with an office worker. Not a high-powered businessman, but someone who works in the IT department. “Someone who, under normal circumstances I’d probably never sleep with.” She said.
This would be an adventure because of the bizarre unlikeliness of the scenario. Like a man meeting a nurse who actually looks like Pamela Anderson.
Another friend of mine says she would want someone who would talk only about all the things they were going to do in the future. Why?
“Because most of the men I know get skittish when I bring up breakfast.”
In her fantasy the man she’s with whispers in her ear: I want to buy us non-refundable tickets to Paris for New Years Eve 2012.
I’m not sure what my fantasy man would be. Maybe a doctor. He’d be dressed in scrubs and have that fresh out of surgery look. Only when I said I wanted him to examine me, it wouldn’t be a euphemism. I would spend the entire time quizzing him on things I think I might have – and even if he couldn’t answer I’d still have an hour of his undivided and intimate attention. What could be more pleasurable?
Here’s how the pricing would work. $1000 buys an hour of uninterrupted complaining. $ 2000 gets you a really good foot massage while he listens to you ask his advice about an ex boyfriend's new girlfriend.
The most popular man at the brothel? The Cuddler. And runner up would be the one who wanted to stay in bed to watch season six of Sex And The City.
Finally, there’s something else to consider. Brothels appeal to men because it's sex with no strings attached. But for women, that’s not hard to find. If I announced I’d like to have sex with no expectations, demands or agenda - I’d have to turn men away. I certainly wouldn’t have to traipse out to Nevada to find it. So while in theory, a male brothel sounds plausible, in practice it wouldn’t work. It’s sex with some follow through that women would pay for.
Ariel Leve writes for The Sunday Times Magazine, specialising in investigative features, in-depth interviews and a humorous weekly column, Cassandra. She was awarded Feature Writer of the Year by the British Magazine Design & Journalism Awards in 2008 and in the same year Highly Commended in the British Press Awards, for which she has twice been nominated. Her book, The Cassandra Chronicles, will be published by Portobello Books August 6th (UK) and HarperPerennial (US and Canada) March 2010. Click below to read her Cassandra column
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Because most of the men I know get skittish when I bring up breakfast.
Nothing like holding a ladies hair back after a night of exuberance to cement a relationship!!!
David, Notts, UK
Have me watch " Sex & the City?" That would cost you ten grand. In pounds sterling of course. No guarantees I won't fall asleep.
Eugene, heidelberg, germany
'Western women are falling into decadence?' Please tell me you're joking...
Isobel, Cambridge,
I think we can all agree that the only way you're going to get a man to watch Season 6 of 'Sex & The City' is to pay him handsomely...
M Jones, Brighton, UK
I'm told I have power, that I benefit from the patriarchy - despite the fact I'm an average bloke on average wages living an average life.
I'd give up all my supposed `power` as a man to have the sexual power women have.
Men rule the elite boardrooms but the real world is a woman's playground
Seamus Smith, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Western women are falling to decadence. All the more reason to dump Western values for Islam in line with government intent.
keith bentham, wigan, uk
Maybe I'm weird. I'm a 46 year old male and have never hired a prostitute and doubt I ever will. Why do my (now married) "old flames" want to keep in touch so much though, and secretly meet me? Why did they marry someone they cheat on?
Jonathan, Tonsberg, Norway
What about all the frustrated married women out there who would just love a good, crazy night...?????
<br/>There must be loads of them....arent they who the market is aimed at....?
<br/>
Jackie Weller, Kent, England
There used to be a brothel for straight women in Switzerland. It didn't work out for a curious reason that you can read all about in a book I wrote called Did David Hasselhoff End the Cold War? 50 Facts You Need To Know: Europe
Emma Hartley, London, Britain
I once read a very interesting article on humour.
To apply the information in this context, women do not fall for men with a good sense of humour, but the men they fancy will always just happen to have one. So, when women say they want a guy with a GSH, what they really mean is ......
P.J., West Vlaanderen, Belgium
$1000 for a good moan? Put another way, you'd like to pay someone with whom you can be mentally and emotionally intimate. Sounds like you need a shrink. But, hey, you've already got one. So, for physical intimacy with no strings attached go to a brothel, for a mind shag go to a psychiatrist.
Robert, Slough,
"If I announced Id like to have sex with no expectations, demands or agenda - Id have to turn men away."
Not me though - I can't stand women with "i'm so attractive and too good for all of you lot" attitudes like these.
Remember, stereotypes are only true for 2/3 of the population.
Colin Haywood, Seaford, UK
I think it was Bill Hicks who said "you don't pay a prostitute for sex, but for the fact that she'll leave when it's over".
Ken Leyland, Liverpool, U.K.
Not gonna touch this one.
Dan, Timbuktoo,
Of course Darling should be taxing prostitution as he is taxing everything else. That way of these self-employed tradespeople might actually contribute to the NHS whose services they and their clients make disproportionate use of.
Paul, Coventry,
Dollhouse, Afterskool, Suzie Wong, Apachi, Rawhide, Long Gun... "The bars are temples, but the pearls ain't free..."
Think you skimped on the fieldwork, love.
Andrew Milner, Yokohama, Japan