Scandalous (17 page)

May 2007

T
HIS LAST MONTH
in Paris has been intense. My
search for work bore fruit after two weeks, bang on
the limit I'd given myself. In the end I managed to get a
job as a waitress in a smart restaurant in the middle of
Paris. I'm still living with Sandra and the commute to
work is exhausting but at least I'm earning money. I
make the most of the long Métro journeys to read the
work I've put in my bag before setting off in the
morning. I force myself to concentrate even though I can
hardly keep my eyes open. My hours vary a lot and
sometimes I finish late at night after the Métros have
stopped running. The first time it happened I took a taxi.
I didn't really have any choice. I don't know my
colleagues well and couldn't see myself asking if anyone
could put me up for the night. When I saw the price
clocking up on the counter I promised myself I'd never
do it again. It wouldn't make sense to spend all the
money I earn on taxis to get home.

I'm confronted with a vicious circle again: I've got a
job, yes, but I won't be able to hang on to it for long if
I can't sort out these late nights. So I'm trawling through
the small ads looking for somewhere to live. As far as
prices go, I thought I'd seen how bad it can get in V but
Paris is a whole different story. I can't find anything in
my tiny price range, not even a miserable little room.
Flat-shares can be more affordable but they want lots of
guarantees, sometimes even more than for an apartment.
I suppose landlords have to put more pressure on sharers
to pay on time: the more tenants there are, the higher the
risk of not getting their hands on their money.

In the early days Sandra kept saying, 'Just don't worry
about it, you can stay here as long as you like, you're no
trouble at all!' When she saw that I really needed to live
near my work she started helping me as best she could.
She asked friends and acquaintances if anyone had a
room free. Nothing, not even a rabbit hutch!

Her kindness has gradually changed to ordinary politeness.
As my efforts to find an apartment have failed,
she's got more and more distant with me, which is only
human. We don't eat together any more and she doesn't
speak to me much. As predicted, she's beginning to find
it a pain having me here. I can tell I'm disrupting her
day-to-day life. Her apartment's not very big and the fact
that I'm taking up the living room doesn't help much.

One evening I come home from work very late, as
usual. I'm exhausted and there's only one thing I want:
to go straight to bed. I find her in the living room with
two friends, chatting over a glass of wine having had
supper together. When she sees me Sandra pulls a face
which says it all: she'd much rather I wasn't there so she
could enjoy being with her friends. I feel terrible and try
to make myself invisible, slipping off to the bathroom for
a shower. When I get back out her friends have left.

'Have your friends gone home?'

'Yes, we couldn't go on chatting here because this is
where you sleep.'

I've overstepped the limit of what she can tolerate.
Without a word, I open out the sofa bed and get into it.
I know that I'll have to leave tomorrow, before Sandra
throws me out in exasperation.

At work I ask one of the other girls, who has a big
apartment in central Paris, whether she can put me up.
We get on well and I know she won't say no. I hate this
sort of situation.

'Not for long, just till I find something suitable.'

She agrees with a smile. It's often like that at first,
people say yes, glad that they won't be alone any more,
but after a while they realise they're better off with their
own creature comforts. And in Paris, where apartments
are mostly very small, you're always getting under each
other's feet. I know this is only a temporary solution and
I'll have to find something else quickly. For her sake, but
also for mine. I can't be and don't want to be dependent
on other people any more.

I pack my bags when I get home that same evening.
Sandra hugs me, surprised I've made a decision so soon.
She probably feels sorry for me too, and might feel
guilty. But I know that when I'm gone she'll do what she
hasn't been free to do for a month: collapse on the sofa
and enjoy having the place to herself.

My constant tail chasing often brings back my dark
thoughts. What if I gave it all up? What if I accepted
Joe's suggestions? I'd get out of this hell. I know deep
down that isn't a solution, or only a temporary one. It
shines out because of all that money on offer, but when
you get closer it looks dirty and dangerous.

I call my friend from uni who sends me notes, to give her
my new address. Once again, she doesn't question what
I'm up to. Thank goodness, because there's no way I could
come up with a new lie for her. She's right in the middle of
revision and is beginning to stress about exams coming up.

'Laura, you are coming back to take your exams,
aren't you? I could put you up if you like.'

I say of course I am, and thank her for her offer, which
I'm going to have to accept because I haven't got
anywhere else to go for our exam week in May.

So now I have to negotiate with my boss at the
restaurant, and work twelve hours a day for a fortnight
to compensate for the week I'll be away. With all the
extra hours, I can take five days off. Exactly how long I
need to sit my exams.

I let my mother know I'm coming back, but tell her I
won't have time to go home and see her, or my father. I
can tell she's very disappointed, but at the same time I
know that in her heart she's proud of this daughter who
never gives up and faces up to her responsibility.

The exam week finishes me off. There's just one thing
I want: to lie down on a bed and sleep for hours and
hours, and stop worrying about all this. Even so, I don't
stop for a minute and work late into the night with my
friend. We motivate each other. The human body is
adaptable, and the fact that I know the university year
will soon be over stops me dropping with exhaustion
now. I so badly want to succeed this year, it would be
too unfair – after everything I've been through – if I
don't. I've done too much studying and too much
revising to collapse in a heap at the last minute. I won't
let it happen. I've given my all this year, even my own
body. No way am I going to fail.

After the exams I say a huge thank you to my friend
for taking me in and being so supportive, and I hop on
a train for Paris. She didn't ask any questions, obviously
feeling my private life was my own business.

I go straight back to work, still at the same hectic pace.
I don't even have time to think about how the exams
went or my results. I did my best, now all I can do is
wait.

A couple of weeks later I'm sitting in front of my
computer waiting for the results to come up. I've had
today's date buzzing inside my head for a fortnight. I
type in my student number; in a few seconds I'll be able
to access my results. I'm shaking, I'm so stressed. What
if I've failed? Maybe my essays weren't persuasive
enough. The fact that I was so tired and fed up might
have shown in the things I wrote . . .

All at once the result's there. I've passed, I've got a
B+. I'm sitting in front of my computer with tears of
happiness rolling down my face. Everything I've been
through this year hasn't been in vain after all.

5 September 2007

S
O I PASSED MY FIRST YEAR
exams and I'm still in
Paris. I'm nineteen years old and it's the start of a
new year. I've carried on working at the restaurant all
through the summer, trying to put aside as much money
as possible. I'm still living with my colleague and,
contrary to expectations, it's going pretty well. I give her
everything I can towards the rent which helps her out a
bit with her expenses. Our flat-share is nothing like the
arrangement I had with Manu. She's struggling too; she
understands me.

I talk to my parents on the phone frequently: our
relationship has changed a lot. I had to grow up much
faster than most people last year, and it shows in the way
I behave. I can tell I've got their support. I know from
my mother that my father was impressed by my courage
and the fact that I passed my exams. They've never
understood why I left and I hope they never will. I also
know they regret the fact that they still can't help me
financially, but their moral support gives me a lift.
They're now proving what I've known all along: that
they'll always be there, whatever choices I make.

I'm still looking for somewhere to live though. I'm
going to enrol for my second year of uni in Paris and I
want the right sort of conditions to get on with my work.
I don't want to go back to V. Everything's been mapped
out in advance for me there, I know that. And I don't
want to go on abusing my friend's kindness. The
restaurant have offered me an open-ended contract for a
part-time job, and I've accepted it. With that guaranteed
salary I would imagine things will be easier.

But it's proving harder than I thought. Trailing round
looking at studios and garret rooms, I soon realise my
case doesn't hold much weight compared to other
people's. I don't have any guarantors and, even with a
work contract, landlords are happier handing over the
keys of an apartment to someone who's got a back-up in
case things go wrong. That's what I don't have. Apparently,
my parents aren't making enough money. It's no
joke.

My future is still uncertain then. I've got a head full of
dreams but society keeps bringing me back to reality. I
want to carry on with my course, I want to go on
learning, but there are always obstacles in my way. Will
I manage to find an apartment? Will I be able to combine
work and studying? But, most importantly, will I be
strong enough to resist slipping back into prostitution?
Money from sex is too quick and there's too much of it
for me not to think about it. I know what I want, but I
also know it doesn't always fit in with the real world. Big
hopes but small means.

'In France nearly 40,000 students (of both sexes) turn to
prostitution so that they can carry on with their studies.'
This statistic was released by the SUD-Étudiant union in
spring 2006 to counter a movement opposed to the
'equal opportunities' law, and was intended to draw the
French government's attention to the realities of student
life. Of all its arguments, this union has highlighted the
difficult living conditions currently experienced by a
certain proportion of students (the scarcity and costliness
of accommodation, their very restricted budgets, the
difficulties of combining salaried work with university
courses, etc.), and it points out the contradictions in
solutions suggested by state organisations to circumvent
these problems.

In autumn 2006 the media (particularly the press and
television) picked up on this information and brought the
issue of students' precarious economic situations into the
public eye in a new, vote-catching light. In the context of
pre-electoral campaigning, that '40,000' was something
of a cat among the pigeons. Curiosity, surprise, indignation,
incomprehension, scepticism, fantasy . . . the subject
of student prostitution stepped onto the public stage,
provoking much debate and mixed reactions.

In our society, whatever form prostitution takes, it
remains highly stigmatised and prostitutes
²
are still
perceived in the collective imagination as 'marginal'
figures because they are 'reduced to selling their bodies'.
When it comes to student prostitution, the feeling of
unease is only amplified. The image we have of a
prostitute – a foreign woman waiting for clients on street
corners
³
– seems incompatible with the way we perceive
students. And yet, as Laura's testimony proves, student
prostitution is very much a reality in France. Why is it
then that in a major world power whose education
system – although criticised with good cause – is often
cited as a fine example, some students should have to
turn to prostitution?

To date there has been no serious study to put an
accurate figure on the scale of the problem – the oft
quoted '40,000' is not based on any scientific investigation
and is therefore merely an estimate – but Laura's
story and my own study of the world of student escorts
bring certain elements to light and offer a number of
keys to understanding the huge question of student
prostitution.

In the present day there are as many different social
categories
⁴
of prostitute as there are places in which
prostitution takes place and ways in which a person can
prostitute themselves. With this in mind, the anthropologist
and political analyst Janine Mossuz-Lavau explains
that it would now be more appropriate to refer to
'prostitutions' in the plural rather than 'prostitution',
'because the circumstances are so diverse'.
⁵
Each location
(studio apartments, bars, nightclubs, the internet, massage
parlours, motorway services, woods, camper vans
. . .) corresponds to a particular version of prostitution
with its own key players, its own codes, specifics, rates,
clients, restraints and risks. Of course, students who turn
to prostitution are also subject to this diversity. So some
students may choose to work the streets
⁶
while others
solicit on campus or in 'small ads', and receive clients in
their student halls of residence, and still others prostitute
themselves in alcoves in much publicised 'hostess bars'
(also known as '
bars à bouchon
') or 'massage parlours',
and some – like Laura – elect to use the internet to sell
their sexual favours. Student prostitution is, therefore,
not a homogenous reality since it covers a diversity of
forms and practices.

Even so, the democratisation of access to new means
of communication – such as Minitel in the 1980s and the
internet and mobile phones now – seems to have
intensified the development of 'amateur' (as opposed to
'professional') and 'occasional' prostitution, areas in
which the student category is fairly visible.

Amongst the many different facets of student prostitution,
this postface is intended to shed some light on a
particular form of prostitution – the very form practised
by Laura – and that is voluntary prostitution, exercised
independently (without a pimp) and sporadically by
students using the internet.

The Internet and Student 'Escort Girls'

In the world of prostitution, the Minitel of the 1980s
with is famous '
messageries rose
' and now the internet
offer not inconsiderable advantages as much to clients
(demand) as to those wanting to prostitute themselves
(supply). Apart from the diversity of choice and constant
updating, the internet means that – at any time of day or
night, in any place and at minimal cost – people can meet
discreetly with complete peace of mind because it
provides 'comfortable and reassuring anonymity'.
⁷
Furthermore,
the internet naturally makes the work of the
police more laborious: 'Prostitutes operating via the
internet risk very little because, although they could be
pursued for soliciting, they do not constitute a priority
for the police.'
⁸
In the light of this, many former street
prostitutes and other 'anonymous' ones – including
students – are turning to this area of activity for
themselves.

The most visible offers of paid sexual services on the
internet are for 'escorts'. Originally, this service simply
meant acting as an escort for a client, accompanying
someone (usually a man) to parties, restaurants, theatres
. . . In this situation, sexual activities are not included in
the contract but are still implicitly possible, considered a
private act between the escort and his or her client. This
ambiguity explains the fact that escorts are often compared
to 'high-class prostitutes', because they fulfil a
specific requirement. 'They are expected to be charming,
attractive and distinguished, but also to have intellectual
qualities suitable for escorting clients who often move in
elevated social circles.'
⁹
This sort of 'accompaniment'
activity still exists and is mostly handled through agencies,
but the term 'escort' is now used by virtually all
prostitutes operating on the internet, whatever 'level of
service' they may be offering. As a result, the word
'escort' covers a variety of meanings: 'Former street
prostitutes driven off their patch, professionals with
diaries full of appointments, foreigners exploited by
prostitution rings
¹⁰
or even occasional "call-girls".'
¹¹

Escorts, whether they are 'professional' or 'amateur'
like Laura, solicit and communicate through advertisements
on specialised or more general websites which
have sections called '
rencontres vénales
' (meetings for
payment) or '
rencontres pour adultes
' (meetings for
adults). These advertisements essentially give precise
information about the services offered. They might
include, for example, the escort's body measurements,
age, availability, rates and the area in which he or she
works, and occasionally a brief paragraph detailing his
or her services as well as 'taboos'.
¹²

A fair number of escorts also have their own website
or blog. These personalised sites are generally fairly
rudimentary in design and interface, and most follow a
standard layout. First a window opens and makes it clear
that the surfer should be eighteen or over to investigate
further. Once inside the site, there is a text – often
written by the escort herself – describing her in some
detail. Some restrict themselves to physical descriptions
while others refer to their interests, marital status and the
reason they have turned to prostitution . . . This text also
gives the escort an opportunity to reveal her expectations
of a paid appointment with a client and of the client's
behaviour (how, when and where they can meet, views
on sexual practices, type of client . . .). Then a number of
different headings are used to pinpoint the exact service
offered by the escort. Usually, there is a list of acceptable
services and one of those the escort refuses to practise;
her rates (by the hour, for an evening, the whole night or
more); availability ('work schedule'); and lastly a contact
page where the escort gives her email address and/ormobile
number. Very often there is a 'photo gallery' to illustrate the
blog and show the escort in various different lights. It is true
to say that very few 'non-professional escorts' show their
faces in these photographs. Generally speaking, those who
choose to hide their faces do so essentially to disguise their
identity because their friends and family are unaware of
their activities as a prostitute and/or escorting is not their
only occupation. Thesewomen often have another 'official'
occupation (as a student, for example) and turn to
prostitution occasionally (a few times a month).

For these 'occasional prostitutes' – whether they are
secretaries, housewives, solicitors, unemployed, students,
etc. – their prostitution remains secondary. 'Occasionals'
are therefore mostly independent (working for themselves)
and their activities as prostitutes are undertaken
as a personal choice – made under difficult circumstances
no doubt but none the less a rational choice. Almost
inevitably, as Malika Nor
¹³
points out, occasional independent
prostitutes are generally not recognised as such
by social services (and that, in fact, is why no organisation
– whether institutional or an association – has a
clear idea of real statistics for student prostitution). The
author adds that this sort of 'voluntary prostitution is
usually motivated by money, either because the practice
proves extremely well paid and lucrative, or because it
only represents a complementary source of income or
one needed as a vital minimum'.

The choice of prostitution – and the possibility of
leading a 'double life' – is unquestionably facilitated by the
internet. According to Yann Reuzeau's analysis, 'nowadays,
a goodmany prostitutes start out on the internet. Of
them, a lot would never have done it without this "falsely"
virtual opportunity [. . .], because what's really new about
the internet is that it opens up this profession to absolutely
anyone. A basic computer, an internet connection, a
couple of photos, fifteen minutes tops and bang, you're an
escort!'
¹⁴
In fact, by referring back to Laura's testimony,
we can see that it is precisely by surfing the internet that
students so quickly and easily stumble across a multitude
of explicit small ads. Driven by curiosity and a need for
money, while still feeling 'protected' behind her computer
screen, it is on the internet that Laura finds '[the] solution
[. . . she's] been looking for. A bit of comfort, and soon.'

At first sight, it may seem surprising to find students
on the prostitution circuit. And yet we know that the
student population is far from 'rolling in money', and
that many of them have to have jobs alongside their
university obligations.
¹⁵
Furthermore, a large proportion
of work on offer compatible with a student's timetable is
not very lucrative, or even underpaid. It is, therefore,
hardly surprising that 'for a young person on a fragile
financial footing, it is very tempting when you consider
the draw of the sums involved in this sort of activity'.
¹⁶

It is difficult to establish a 'typical profile' of students
who prostitute themselves via the internet. There is
however one point that emerges clearly within this
population: virtually all the advertisements online are
from girls. In fact a close inspection of press articles on
the subject in the last twelve months reveals that
journalists make no reference at all to male student
prostitution. For many people, practising prostitution is
'a woman's thing' and, by extension, student prostitution
concerns only female students. Granted, advertisements
from male student prostitutes are as good as absent from
the Web but that does not in itself mean that male
student prostitution does not exist.
¹⁷
If we accept this,
then rather than thinking of prostitution as 'reserved' for
women, perhaps we should ask ourselves about this
difference between the sexes. If then, in prostitution,
women are over-represented in terms of supply and men
are over-represented in terms of demand, this derives
from the fact that prostitution is anchored in a complex
unequal system of gender relations. In this system, female
sexuality (a social construct) stays under the control of
male 'sex drive' (perceived as 'natural' when it too is a
social construct). Acknowledging this mechanism of
domination and power by men over women is a
crucial part of understanding the occurrence of prostitution
as a whole and the question of female student
prostitution.

Having said that, we do know that the majority of
student prostitutes are female. Furthermore, according to
various journalistic sources consulted on the subject,
female students who turn to prostitution essentially do so
because they need the money and do not have enough
time to take on sufficiently well paid work while
continuing with their studies. In order to explain the
choice of prostitution, the media put the emphasis on
students' precarious financial situations in the face of a
constantly rising cost of living. These are in fact the very
reasons that drove Laura to prostitution. Like many
students at university, Laura comes from an average
background and her living standards depend heavily on
those of her family. According to institutional criteria
and definitions, though, her family is not 'in need'
because both her parents work full time and are paid
incomes deemed 'adequate' to provide for the whole
family's needs. In reality, however, even with two
people on the minimum wage, many of these 'average'
families have to learn to 'tighten their belts' to lead a
proper life.