Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women
Albert, in medical school while she was doing her ethnographic research with licensed prostitutes in Nevada, presents a good balance of nonfictiony background, history and data and the more interesting stuff--the women’s work and how they came to it.
Instead of lacking family values, as moralists contended, most of the women I came to know there possessed a profound sense of personal responsibility and an unwavering commitment to their families that ultimately drove them to do this “immoral” work.
After a little more inquiry, though, I found that sexual arousal occurred more frequently than not. In fact, over three-quarters of the women confessed to me in private that they had experienced sexual excitement with clients, and a full 70 percent admitted to having had an orgasm with a customer. Ten percent of the women confided that they orgasmed more often with clients than they did with lovers, and 8 percent said they did just as frequently.
Male owners were supposed to stay behind the scenes, leaving day-to-day operations to the female staff. Today, men are permitted to work more visibly--as cooks, bartenders, cashiers, and maintenance people--but wome still hold all the managerial and floor maid positions.