personalities. Those who did well as day girls were more reserved and conventional, whereas night girls needed to be able to hustle and party. Irene preferred to start all new turn-outs as day girls. Mustang was open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and women worked twelve-hour shifts (fourteen hours on Fridays and Saturdays): early (eleven A.M. –eleven P.M .) middle (three P.M .–three A.M. ), or late (eleven P.M. –eleven A.M. ). I discovered later that brothels in more rural, outlying areas, with less traffic, had all their prostitutes work the same shift—from noon or one to two or three A.M. , at which point lineups were suspended and the prostitutes were allowed to go to bed. Those who’d done the least business were given the choice of being “early up” girls, servicing customers who came in between four A.M . and one P.M . A few brothels used photo albums to introduce available women rather than to rouse them from their sleep.
Irene was respectful throughout the interview, but I heard horror stories from some of the prostitutes about other managers and owners with unorthodox interview practices. A few required women to disrobe to examine their bodies, checking for track marks as well as for the quality of their physique.
When Eva, Irene, and I finally emerged from Irene’s office after the thirty-minute interview, the UPS man was delivering ashipment of five thousand condoms ordered forty-eight hours earlier, direct from the manufacturer. This reminded Irene of something that had almost slipped her mind. “Eva, you know you have to use condoms with all your customers?” she said sternly. Since 1988, the Bureau of Disease Control and Intervention Services for the Nevada State Health Division has required brothel patrons to use latex condoms for all sexual activity with brothel prostitutes. Eva already knew this, having seen the sign on the front gate. Houses of prostitution were required to post a public health notice stating that although Nevada state law required that every brothel prostitute be tested regularly and that customers wear condoms, this did not guarantee freedom from STDs. As he stood there waiting for Irene to sign the receipt, the UPS man couldn’t help interjecting, “And the condom companies love you for it.”
I tagged along as another prostitute showed Eva down Hallway D to a vacant room. Like mine, it was about twelve feet by ten feet, painted dusty pink, with pink-champagne wall-to-wall carpeting. The walls were bare, save for a litter of pushpins and pieces of Scotch tape left by the previous tenant. White bedding covered the full-size mattress situated on a wooden box frame. The only other piece of furniture was a dresser made from particleboard, on top of which sat a black plastic ashtray. A crooked vertical blind covered the lone window, which looked out onto the desert landscape. The other prostitute advised Eva to fix up her room a bit, using pillows, artificial plants, posters, pictures, and mirrors. Plain and bare, the empty room looked more like a cell than a boudoir. Indeed, it was difficult to imagine a customer finding this roomerotic. Eva was also told she should store her valuables in the closet and padlock the door.
Eva hadn’t brought much with her. She had hoped to go home before starting work. Women with more experience generally came to their interviews loaded down with suitcases and garbage bags filled with personal belongings. Irene suggested that Eva begin the time-consuming process of getting licensed, and then the brothel runner could drive her home to collect some of her possessions. Irene also gave her a list of essentials: water-based lubricant; condoms; Betadine and baby wipes to clean the customers; mouthwash; vitamin E capsules to insert in her vagina to soothe the irritation of frequent intercourse; Mentholatum to spread on tampons, also to help relieve vaginal soreness; cosmetic sponges for use during menstruation to absorb heavy flow;
Irene was respectful throughout the interview, but I heard horror stories from some of the prostitutes about other managers and owners with unorthodox interview practices. A few required women to disrobe to examine their bodies, checking for track marks as well as for the quality of their physique.
When Eva, Irene, and I finally emerged from Irene’s office after the thirty-minute interview, the UPS man was delivering ashipment of five thousand condoms ordered forty-eight hours earlier, direct from the manufacturer. This reminded Irene of something that had almost slipped her mind. “Eva, you know you have to use condoms with all your customers?” she said sternly. Since 1988, the Bureau of Disease Control and Intervention Services for the Nevada State Health Division has required brothel patrons to use latex condoms for all sexual activity with brothel prostitutes. Eva already knew this, having seen the sign on the front gate. Houses of prostitution were required to post a public health notice stating that although Nevada state law required that every brothel prostitute be tested regularly and that customers wear condoms, this did not guarantee freedom from STDs. As he stood there waiting for Irene to sign the receipt, the UPS man couldn’t help interjecting, “And the condom companies love you for it.”
I tagged along as another prostitute showed Eva down Hallway D to a vacant room. Like mine, it was about twelve feet by ten feet, painted dusty pink, with pink-champagne wall-to-wall carpeting. The walls were bare, save for a litter of pushpins and pieces of Scotch tape left by the previous tenant. White bedding covered the full-size mattress situated on a wooden box frame. The only other piece of furniture was a dresser made from particleboard, on top of which sat a black plastic ashtray. A crooked vertical blind covered the lone window, which looked out onto the desert landscape. The other prostitute advised Eva to fix up her room a bit, using pillows, artificial plants, posters, pictures, and mirrors. Plain and bare, the empty room looked more like a cell than a boudoir. Indeed, it was difficult to imagine a customer finding this roomerotic. Eva was also told she should store her valuables in the closet and padlock the door.
Eva hadn’t brought much with her. She had hoped to go home before starting work. Women with more experience generally came to their interviews loaded down with suitcases and garbage bags filled with personal belongings. Irene suggested that Eva begin the time-consuming process of getting licensed, and then the brothel runner could drive her home to collect some of her possessions. Irene also gave her a list of essentials: water-based lubricant; condoms; Betadine and baby wipes to clean the customers; mouthwash; vitamin E capsules to insert in her vagina to soothe the irritation of frequent intercourse; Mentholatum to spread on tampons, also to help relieve vaginal soreness; cosmetic sponges for use during menstruation to absorb heavy flow;
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