Call Girl- Outed

One of my favourite bloggers, Belle de Jour, has been outed.

Belle de Jour (Magnati, left) pictured with Billie Piper who plays her on ITV.

Those of you who have read my blog, but more so those of you who have had some sort of relationship with me online- via discussion forums, chat, and email- know how obsessive I am with my privacy. As I've mentioned I do live my life somewhat in the eye of the public and although it seems ridiculous- all I do is chat with some nice people on the internet about something that everyone thinks about- sex- and I occasionally (barely) post things about it on a blog. That said, if it came out, I'd lose my job. Of that I'm quite certain.

Escorts have always fascinated me. Not even in a sexual fantasy-world sort of way. I've always wondered what it would be like if sex were, literally, work. Chosen work- let me clarify. In the study of prostitution- from a anthropologic/sociological perspective, prostitution is normally broken down in to several categories. How many and how they are defined depend on who you ask. A couple examples you no doubt have heard of- child prostitution and survival prostitution (for drugs, food, etc- force by circumstance). But the type that has always intrigued me (where the others sadden me, in my opinion those are not issues of sex and sexuality, but of power, poverty, and global politics) is where prostitution is chosen. What affect would it have on your actual sex life? On your love life? Your view of people? Your sexuality itself- orientation, fantasies, libido, and so forth?

Aside from a few documentaries here and there, my first in-depth look of the world of escorts came when I read Jeannette Angell's memoir Callgirl: Confessions of an Ivy League Lady of Pleasure. A fascinating personal account if you're heading to the book store any time soon. Angell was a university professor in Boston. Academia doesn't pay well- as a sessional prof, she was paid per course, per term- at the end of the term. Meaning no regular paycheque. Of course, this was very inconvenient when her boyfriend left her and cleared out her bank account and there would be no income for months. She didn't want to lean on friends or family. It was time for a second job. I don't want to spoil the book- but this is what began her journey as a callgirl.

Later, Showcase (think the Canadian version of Cinemax) began airing ITV's (UK) Secret Diary of a Callgirl where "Belle" is played by Billie Piper. It quickly became my favourite show (although, sadly, Showcase only showed the first season). It was witty, smart, sexy, and definitely a much more optimistic take on Angell's memoir. Oh television. It was later that I realized that the program was based on a series of books, which were based on a blog, which is based on the life of Belle de Jour. Recently outed as researcher Brooke Magnanti.

As I said, it is one of my favourite blogs. Smart, witty, and insightful. Not smutty and lazy like my blog, for instance. In fact, Belle de Jour has mentioned sex blogs like mine an others in her posts before- calling them out for being complete nonsense. Ah well. Pornography, erotica, cybersex... I don't think anyone has ever doubted their fantastical nature.

Magnati's outing fascinates me almost more than her 14 months as an escort. I can't imagine what it would be like if my family found out about my online habits and my sexual nature. But again- really- it's all pretty tame for me. Magnati certainly has a higher profile than I do, and certainly had more to be outed for. And yet she's handled this with class and poise and I can't help be a little more in love with her than I was before.

Perhaps the part that made me smile about her coming out story was when she mentioned her mother's reaction: ""I rang my mum. She lives in New York; we’ve had our ups and downs, as most do. Obviously, I worried about her reaction. But she was immediately supportive. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” she said. “In my day we were giving it away for free.”"

Magnati also received her fair share of hate mail, fan mail, threats, and tabloid attention, but from the tone of her blog she seems to be the very embodiment of Keep Calm and Carry On. I'm also thrilled that she continues to update her blog. Although their are no clear answers to some of the general questions I mentioned at the beginning of the post- how would having sex for a job affect you- Magnati certainly offers an interesting case study.

Article on Magnati's Outing (written by Magnati): here.
Belle de Jour's Blog: here (and always linked at the left).