“It’s because I do see sex as sacred and potentially spiritual that I believe in commercializing it and making this potentially holy experience more easily available to all.” —Chester Brown
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Finished with love but unwilling to give up on sex, Brown eventually decides to get some the old fashioned way—by paying for it. As he learns the ins and outs of johndom—how to find “whores” (as he sometimes calls them), when to tip, where to look for reviews online—he also becomes a more and more adamant proponent of legalization. The book alternates between Brown’s sexual transactions and his arguments with friends, family, and the hookers themselves about the morality of prostitution.
His case, by and large, is convincing. Admittedly, I’m biased—I thought criminalizing sex work was a bad idea before I read the book. But Brown pushed hard against my already liberal opinions, arguing forcefully that prostitution should be unregulated as well as legal. In his 23-part appendix, he points out that state-sanctioned prostitutes in Nevada often aren’t allowed to leave the brothel without permission and are sometimes forced to buy condoms and food from the brothel owner at exorbitant prices. He even insists that prostitutes shouldn’t be subject to mandatory health testing. “Medical treatment,” he writes, “should always be voluntary—it should never be forced on anyone.”
And that’s what’s sacred to Brown. As a libertarian, he worships the individual, and paid sex involves neither commitment nor community. It’s an expression of the individual autonomously pursuing pleasure. Sex is sacred because it’s private.
Wed 5/11, 7 PM, Quimby’s, 1854 W. North, 773-342-0910, quimbys.com.
