Girlfriend experience

Last updated

A girlfriend experience (GFE) is a commercial sex service. It ranges from a transactional sex relationship [1] to a client paying a sex worker to pretend to be his girlfriend during the session. [2] If the sex worker is male, the service is called a boyfriend experience. [3]

Contents

North America

In the sex industry of the United States and Canada, the term GFE is used to describe a sexual encounter in which the sex worker and the client provide each other with reciprocal sexual pleasure and some degree of emotional intimacy. [4] The girlfriend experience, often provided through an escort agency, is a popular service [2] that involves more personal interaction than a traditional call girl offers. There is a focus on not just having sex, but also having more of a comprehensive experience. The details vary widely. [5] The sex workers impart a sense of authenticity in order to make the experience more pleasurable for their customer, as well as to make the outcome more lucrative for themselves. [6] According to sociologist Elizabeth Bernstein, this makes it more meaningful for both client and sex worker as it involves emotional labor. [7]

The term "client" is often used to describe a person who pays sex workers for sex. [8] However, in the escort agency code that has grown up around the GFE, clients often call themselves "hobbyists" and refer to a sex worker who provides a GFE as a "nice girl". [5] A GFE client pays for time spent with a sex worker, which can include social interaction, dating, or sexual acts. Many clients seek a feeling of closeness without the commitment of a relationship, and to a certain extent GFE can eliminate the feelings of guilt or fear of "addiction" that some people associate with a relationship. [4]

Elements that make up a GFE such as conversation, affection and mutual sexual pleasure can occur in street prostitution but they are more commonly found in indoor prostitution. [4] This includes the use of massage parlors, saunas, brothels, strip clubs and escort agencies. [9] Some ranch brothels in the United States advertise themselves as GFE establishments, including Dennis Hof's Love Ranch South, [10] Moonlite Bunny Ranch, [11] Kit Kat Ranch, [12] Sheri's Ranch [13] and the Chicken Ranch. [14]

Southeast Asia

Research in Cambodia published in 2010 identified a number of waitresses and bartenders who were also working as "professional girlfriends" with "western boyfriends". They relied on these relationships for their livelihood but did not regard themselves as "prostitutes" and often sought love and marriage as well as material comforts. In these relationships, there was a performance of intimacy which lay somewhere between the feigned and the genuine. [1]

In Thailand, some independent sex workers are reported to work as "professional girlfriends", providing company and affection to foreign men and middle-class Thai men, and only having sex with their clients occasionally. Their remuneration is provided in the form of things such as clothing and visits to the cinema. [15] This sort of relationship, which lies between girlfriend and prostitute, exists as part of Thai culture and is often used by bargirls hoping to turn their foreign clients into boyfriends and husbands. [16] It is not uncommon for their one-night transactions to develop into relationships resembling holiday romances, with the couple travelling around the country as boyfriend and girlfriend. [17]

In the Philippines, Angeles City is known for the GFE provided to sex tourists by its sex workers, lasting anywhere from one night to a month or more. The US military facility Clark Air Base was located near the city until 1991. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex worker</span> Person who works in the sex industry

A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex tourism</span> Travel to engage in sexual activity

Sex tourism is the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships in exchange for money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly operates in countries where sex work is legal. The World Tourism Organization of the United Nations has acknowledged that this industry is organized both within and outside the structured laws and networks created by them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex work</span> Offer of sexual services for compensation

Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to voluntary sexual transactions; thus, the term does not refer to human trafficking and other coerced or nonconsensual sexual transactions such as child prostitution. The transaction must take place between consenting adults of the legal age and mental capacity to consent and must take place without any methods of coercion, other than payment. The term emphasizes the labor and economic implications of this type of work. Furthermore, some prefer the use of the term because it grants more agency to the sellers of these services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street prostitution</span> Soliciting prostitution from a public place

Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a prostitute solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a provocative manner. The sex act may be performed in the customer's car, in a nearby secluded street location, or at the prostitute's residence or in a rented motel room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Call girl</span> Type of sex worker

A call girl or female escort is a prostitute who does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency. The client must make an appointment, usually by calling a telephone number. Call girls often advertise their services in small ads in magazines and via the Internet, although an intermediary advertiser, such as an escort agency, may be involved in promoting escorts, while, less often, some may be handled by a pimp. Call girls may work either incall, where the client comes to them, or outcall, where they go to the client. Some porn stars are known to escort as well.

An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort's residence (incall). Some agencies also provide escorts for longer durations, who may stay with the client or travel along on a holiday or business trip. While the escort agency is paid a fee for this booking and dispatch service, the customer must negotiate any additional fees or arrangements directly with the escort for any other services that are not provided by the agency involved, such as providing sexual services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Thailand</span>

Prostitution in Thailand is not itself illegal, but public solicitation for prostitution is prohibited if it is carried out "openly and shamelessly" or "causes nuisance to the public". Due to police corruption and an economic reliance on prostitution dating back to the Vietnam War, it remains a significant presence in the country. It results from poverty, low levels of education and a lack of employment in rural areas. Prostitutes mostly come from the northeastern (Isan) region of Thailand, from ethnic minorities or from neighbouring countries, especially Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. In 2019, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonlite BunnyRanch</span> Brothel in Nevada, United States

The Moonlite BunnyRanch is a legal, licensed brothel in Mound House, Nevada, United States, 6 miles (10 km) east of Carson City. First opened in 1955, it came to national attention under Dennis Hof, who owned the brothel from 1992 until his death in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Male prostitution</span> Act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment

Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male prostitutes have been far less studied than female prostitutes by researchers. Even so, male prostitution has an extensive history including regulation through homosexuality, conceptual developments on sexuality, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic impact. In the last century, male sex work has seen various advancements such as popularizing new sexual acts, methods of exchange, and carving out a spot in cinema.

Transactional sex refers to sexual relationships where the giving and/or receiving of gifts, money or other services is an important factor. The participants do not necessarily frame themselves in terms of prostitutes/clients, but often as girlfriends/boyfriends, or sugar babies/sugar daddies/mamas. Those offering sex may or may not feel affection for their partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in the United States</span>

Prostitution is illegal in the vast majority of the United States as a result of state laws rather than federal laws. It is, however, legal in some rural counties within the state of Nevada. Additionally, it is decriminalized to sell sex in the state of Maine, but illegal to buy sex. Prostitution nevertheless occurs elsewhere in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Hof</span> American businessman and politician (1946–2018)

Dennis Leroy Hof was an American businessman and politician. He owned seven legal brothels in Nevada, most notably the Moonlite BunnyRanch. Hof was also a Republican candidate in 2018 for the Nevada Assembly, to which he was posthumously elected less than one month after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Love Ranch</span> Legal brothel in Mound House, Nevada

The Love Ranch is a legal, licensed brothel located about 7 miles (11 km) east of Carson City, Nevada in the unincorporated town of Mound House, in Lyon County, at 95 Kit Kat Drive, also known as The Love Ranch North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bargirl</span> Female worker in bars and brothels

A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar or nightclub. Variants on the term include "B-girl" and "juicy girl". Many bargirls work as a bar hostess, engaging individual customers in conversation. They may also provide them with sexual entertainment such as a lap dance, or offer to sell them sexual services. Some bargirls work as a bar dancer providing more public entertainment, often in the form of an erotic dance, go-go dance or striptease. The exact nature of the entertainment varies widely from place to place, depending on the venue.

Cathouse: The Series is an HBO television series that documents the professional lives of the workers at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, a legal brothel in Nevada. The 11 episodes of the first season were originally broadcast in 2005; 6 episodes of the second season aired two years later in 2007. The series was the direct successor of the HBO documentaries Cathouse (2002) and Cathouse 2: Back in the Saddle (2003), which also focused on the Bunny Ranch. On New Year's Day 2008 at 12:05 am, HBO aired a special episode of the series titled "Cathouse the Musical." Also in 2008, two standalone episodes aired - "Cathouse: Come to the Party" and "Best of Cathouse."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Mexico</span>

Prostitution in Mexico is legal under Federal Law. Each of the 31 states enacts its own prostitution laws and policies. Thirteen of the states of Mexico allow and regulate prostitution. Prostitution involving minors under 18 is illegal. Some Mexican cities have enacted "tolerance zones" which allow regulated prostitution and function as red-light districts. In Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of the state of Chiapas, there is a state-run brothel at the Zona Galáctica(Galactic Zone). In most parts of the country, pimping is illegal, although pimp-worker relationships still occur, sometimes under female pimps called "madrotas"("Big Mothers"). The government provides shelter for former prostitutes.

Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring infections. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in the field is usually called a prostitute or sex worker, but other words, such as hooker, putana, or whore, are sometimes used pejoratively to refer to those who work as prostitutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex industry</span> Field of business

The sex industry consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related services, such as prostitution, strip clubs, host and hostess clubs and sex-related pastimes, such as pornography, sex-oriented men's magazines, women's magazines, sex movies, sex toys and fetish or BDSM paraphernalia. Sex channels for television and pre-paid sex movies for video on demand, are part of the sex industry, as are adult movie theaters, sex shops, peep shows, and strip clubs. The sex industry employs millions of people worldwide, mainly women. These range from the sex worker, also called adult service provider (ASP), who provides sexual services, to a multitude of support personnel.

Violence against prostitutes include violent and harmful acts, both physical or psychological, against individuals engaging in prostitution. It occurs worldwide, with the victims of such acts of violence being predominantly women. In extreme cases, violent acts have led to their murder while in their workplace.

Prostitution in Cambodia is illegal, but prevalent. A 2008 Cambodian Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation has proven controversial, with international concerns regarding human rights abuses resulting from it, such as outlined in the 2010 Human Rights Watch report.

References

  1. 1 2 Hoefinger, Heidi (2010). Negotiating Intimacy: Transactional Sex and Relationships Among Cambodian Professional Girlfriends (Doctoral thesis). Goldsmiths, University of London. Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  2. 1 2 Flowers 2011, p. 151.
  3. Weitzer 2007 , pp. 28–33
  4. 1 2 3 Huff 2011 , pp. 111–125
  5. 1 2 Anka Radakovich (29 March 2012). "The real-life girlfriend experience". GQ . Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  6. Bernstein 2010
  7. Fulcher, James; Scott, John (2011). Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 662. ISBN   9780199563753.
  8. Cameron & Kulick 2003 , p. 20
  9. Farley 2005 , p. 952
  10. "Menu - Love Ranch Vegas". loveranch.net. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  11. "The Girlfriend Experience". Moonlite Bunny Ranch. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  12. "KitKat Ranch home page". KitKat Ranch website. Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  13. "Sheri's Ranch Sex Menu". sherisranch.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  14. Flanigan, Jessica; Watson, Lori (2019). Debating Sex Work. Debating Ethics Series. Oxford University Press. p. 123. ISBN   9780190659882.
  15. Chia, Jasmine (24 September 2017). "Men and their mistresses". Bangkok Post.
  16. Ervik, Kristianne (2013). "The Superior Thai-Western Relationship: A Culturally Negotiated Re-embedding Practice". In Bråten, Eldar (ed.). Embedded Entrepreneurship: Market, Culture, and Micro-Business in Insular Southeast Asia. BRILL. pp. 135–136. ISBN   9789004255296.
  17. The Rough Guide to Thailand's Beaches & Islands. Apa Publications (UK) Limited. 2023. p. 183. ISBN   9781839059315.
  18. Simons, Margaret (2 March 2019). "'Do you ever think about me?': the children sex tourists leave behind". The Guardian.

Further reading