Strapped for Cash : A History of American Hustler Culture

Rating:
Summary: An Important Document, A Very Interesting Read
Review: Mack Friedman has done his research very well indeed and has the ability to write historical data accurately and with style. STRAPPED FOR CASH: A History of American Hustler Culture is not the usual titillating gossip book that the unfortunate choice of cover and format might suggest. Friedman has studied the history of sex workers from the 1600s to the present. His emphasis is on male and transgender sex workers which he reports to be as old an industry as the 'world's oldest business - prostitution'. He very smoothly and with considerable style writes about centuries of documents which reveal the fact that male sex workers (now known as hustlers) have been active throughout the world in the major cities. His resources include many papers form the Kinsey Report and he follows the lives and reportings of a number of Kinsey's informants, pages of interesting and illuminating facts. Friedman also devotes an entire chapter to the history of male nude photography, at times accompanying the photographs with notes about the models and the photographers. He addresses the changes in the sex worker culture that accompanied the Industrial Revolution and both World Wars, the influence of the military on the sex market, the introduction of drugs as an accompaniment to the field, the use of the media ads including the Internet as a replacement for the brothels and street corners, and then adds the impact of AIDS and the gentrification or urban development in the major cities on the lives of those sex workers dependent on the streets for their livelihood.

Friedman closes his book with a chapter on first hand oral histories, sensitive interviews with all types of male sex workers. He has the ability to reveal facts in a scientific way while making the reader understand the plight of the sex worker. He does this in such a way that he is not disregarding the dangers of the occupation both to the workers and to the clients; Friedman is able to demonstrate, through his careful historical evidence, that sex work is here to stay and pleads a powerful case for the sociological plight and for the care of those young men who enter this trade. It is a quiet but plangent plea presentd in a way that causes thoughtful concern for the reader.

The book is well illustrated with both old and new photographs and each chapter is extensively footnoted with references. It is an excellent contribution to gender studies. And though the cover and format are likely to enhance sales of the book (for many of the wrong reasons), I think this tome deserves more dignity in presentation.