Belle de Jour revealed
Belle de Jour is the pen name of the blogger who wrote Diary of a London Call Girl. A TV series, based on her diaries, starred Billie Piper.
Bele has outed herself to The Times. Her real name is Brooke Magnanti, and her background is not what most would expect for a hooker – even a high class one.
Brooke, or Dr Magnanti, specialises in developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology. She has a PhD in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science and is part of a team researching the effects of exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos on foetuses and infants.
She took up prostitution, charging 300 pounds an hour, to help keep her out of debt, when she was studying for her PhD.
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Tags: prostitution
November 17th, 2009 at 7:29 am
As I read this story yesterday I wondered how many people would say things such as “…her background is not what most would expect for a hooker – even a high class one.” I also wondered how mnay people will now hound her and try to have her sacked for “immorallity”.
But why should anyone be surprised? There are quite a few NZ uni students doing exactly the same to help survive in Uni. This is a low wage economy, a student working nights in a bar or cafe would be lucky to make 3 or 4 hundred dollars a week and that would come at the expense of study time. Sex with a few selected clients can earn that much in an evening and leave the rest of the time available for study.
Maybe this is one more reason girls are outperforming boys at Uni …
November 17th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Superfreakonomics had an argument that prostitution could pay well if one provided specialist services- Levitt and Dubner were criticised that they made prostitution look empowering, but perhaps in some cases some women get something which they regard as worthwhile.
November 17th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Good for her. Prostitutes don’t have a lot of positive role models, here’s someone who made it work.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:21 am
This isn’t the first time that the Times have “outed” a blogger. They did this to Girl With A One Track Mind a few years ago. IIRC, they rang her and said that they were going to name her and if she didn’t cooperate with them then they’d essentially shit all over her in public. She wrote:
“I have been in hiding for the last seven days, scared to go out, because I don’t want to be confronted by the journalists pursuing me or have more ‘paparazzi’ shots taken, like that secret, hidden, shot of me last week. This isn’t just my paranoia speaking: photographers have been camped outside my home, and also my parents’ home, ever since that despicable article which named me was printed. Journalists have also been contacting people from my past – even the vaguest acquaintances of mine – and offering them money to talk about me, or provide photographs of me. I have not known how to deal with any of this new, odd, unwanted ‘celebrity’-type interest in my life: I’ve had no guidance to assist me. All I’ve felt I can do, is apologise to everyone potentially affected – my family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, acquaintances, lovers – for any intrusion into their lives. Needless to say, I’m not sleeping very well right now.”
http://girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com/2006/08/response.html
I suspect this case isn’t any different. A multinational media organisation publishes an article that satisfies the prurient curiosity of their readers and sell more advertising. Their target has their life ruined. I don’t think it is fair.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I hope it was worth it.
Seems like selling your soul to me….Giving up the most precious thing you have for money.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I thought she’d be hotter myself. And there’s nothing “high class” about the fungus dress from Glassons
Good on her for making a bob though.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Looks lovely to me. She’s certainly a hot writer. I think the outing is deliberate on her part (the ex boyfriend story sounds contrived). She’s exhausted the anonymous side (blog, book, TV mini-series) so the next step is to come out and open up another avenue of income. So to speak. Interviews, columns, TV etc. She makes Abi Titmus look like an amateur.
Hardly. Her most precious asset is clearly her mind. And a fine one it is.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
GMMcK
Yeah, I thought of ‘Alie’ (the woman from Superfreakonomics) as I was reading that too.
Sadly, I get the feeling they are unrepresentative of the ‘real’ face of prostitution – the creme of the crop, as it were.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
What’s that saying?
… your sins will find you out.
While we might like to think our private lives are just that – private, when someone sets up a blog bearing their soul, selling books, etc about their life as a call-girl I consider them to be no more than a victim of their own making.
And not a lot different to Hollywood stars who like the money and the fame, but then complain they’re being hounded by the tabloids and that their lives are no longer their own.
Excuse the pun, but if one makes their own bed then one must also be prepared to lie in it.
Perhaps it is pertinent to mention here to those university students (girls) who think prostituting themselves out as a means of subsidising their studies is the easy option, and will have no downstream effects, that ten years down the track when they’re in a well paying job and have developed respect and credibility, that perhaps having their past life as a prostitute come out may not be the best outcome for their career, let alone family, children, friends, etc.
Scenario:
Child: “Mummy, how did you pay your way through university?
Mother: “Darling, Mummy entertained men for several hundred dollars an hour – much better than flipping burgers at Mac Donalds.”
Child: So Mummy, you would recommend that I take this same course of action when I attend university?
Mother: Of course, darling, what self respecting women wants to work at Mac Donalds.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
The reason prostitutes don’t have a lot of positive role models is because – they’re whores.
Hope that helps
November 17th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Is it just me or are sex bloggers always funny looking?
300 pound an hour……. hell no
November 17th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
November 17th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
She took up prostitution, charging 300 pounds an hour, to help keep her out of debt, when she was studying for her PhD………………….Bit of a cheapie, Lisa Lewis charges $1200. Billie Piper might be worth a bit more though.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I discovered her blog quite early on and followed it religiously (sorry Kris
) for a while. I loved her writing for the sparseness of her prose while still drawing a vivid picture. She was all class and I am sure will produce a very good novel.
As far as outing herself, well, the concept of sin is pretty well passe these days and there can be a certain glamour attached to those with, shall we say, stories from the twilight world.
Maybe she will run for office one day and bring a bit of realism to some debates.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
As a prostitute, you’re nothing more than a container for men to masturbate into. And those aren’t my words, they’re the words of an ex-prostitute. Just because you can make money doing something doesn’t mean it’s right. I am still disgusted that it was a government run by women (Helen Clark and her cadre) that legalised prostitution in this country. The Govt had people from the UN begging us not to make it legal (even a famous feminist lesbian visiting the country) but old Helen wouldn’t have a bar of it; more money from taxing it, I guess (and now that it’s taxed, it makes the Govt a pimp).
It’s nothing more than the use and abuse of women – using them for sex them tossing them away like a used condom.
It might have seemed OK to Brooke, but most women employed this way are kept there by pimps and being hooked on drugs and can’t get out even if they wanted to.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Actually the book wasn’t anything to write home about. Writing which works well on a blog can make for a flaky book. I agree about her writing style – very tight. Probably because we read so much on the web which is poorly written, when we see a decent bit of prose we’re taken aback.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
That’s certainly a characteristic of illegal prostitution. Do you think legalisation helps to prevent this? That was one of the stated aims.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
malcolm 1:31 pm,
I guess I do come from the premise that prostitution is at best a ‘bad choice’, and at worst is a ’sin’ and is self destructive – both to the woman and the recipient of her wares.
No doubt many here will agree with Luc that “sin is pretty well passe these days”. But is it really? We like to think it is, but those who are actively involved in immoral (sinful) behaviour often have many emotional/mental issues as a consequence.
You may remember a recent topic on Kiwiblog where we were considering the mental health issues surrounding women who had had an abortion(s). Women who had aborted their unborn child had significantly higher mental health issues compared to women who had not.
I floated the idea that perhaps there is a direct correlation between immoral behaviour and mental health issues. And it would be my view that the primary driving force behind our societal increase in mental health issues is EXACTLY paralleled by the increasing immorality within our society.
So while you may think Brooke Magnanti is very clever at writing, and perhaps her choice to prostitute herself was just a good business decision, I really do believe that the downstream ‘costs’ to her will far exceed any benefits to date.
In my opinion, even ‘high class’ prostitutes would likely have much a higher degree of mental health issues than women who commit themselves to one man within the bounds of marriage. Many women (and men for that matter) today who are promiscuous are little different to women on the game – giving away or selling yourself for sex must and does stuff with your mind. Our refusal to acknowledge sin does not eliminate the consequence of that sin – worsening mental health issues would be a good barometer to show this.
November 17th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
300 pound an hour……. hell no
Remember SSaSttL, that Belle’s clients are not going to be paying her for the mediocre activities they could get from their wives. Those guys are paying for the really kinky action that most uptight trophy wives wouldn’t touch with a barge pole…
November 17th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Well, SF talks about street prostitutes as well.
I don’t have my copy handy, but as I recall, they said that 80% of street prostitutes were drug addicts. The wages they commanded were low, they gave freebies to cops to stay out of jail, they used condoms in fewer than half their jobs, and they faced a constant risk of violence from clients. That’s surely not empowering.
November 17th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Perhaps they’re just paying for an hour or two with someone who is always pleased to see them and won’t demand anything in return?
It’s easy to imagine that if you marry for looks (trophy wife), your home life might not be the calming sanctuary you might desire..
November 17th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
“Remember SSaSttL, that Belle’s clients are not going to be paying her for the mediocre activities they could get from their wives. Those guys are paying for the really kinky action that most uptight trophy wives wouldn’t touch with a barge pole…”
yeah but with today’s “empowered” young women they could probably get the real kinky stuff for 2 vodkas
November 17th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
You can find more info on Dr Farley’s Prostitution Research & Education site.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
You can read more in the PDF HERE
November 18th, 2009 at 8:16 am
It would be hard to make that case, given that a lot of mental health problems are strongly attributed to other things (e.g. drug use on top of genetic propensity, runs-in-the-family (a biggie) etc). So even if immorality was causing some mental health problems, it would take a backseat to these known causes. Yet I’m sure you’d agree there is now almost universal immorality (e.g. pre-marital sex), so wouldn’t we see significantly more mental health problems?
I don’t see it. Almost everyone I know in my generation would be considered immoral by your standards (pre-marital sex at least), yet I don’t know anyone with mental health problems more serious than depression (in the one case I know of it’s a runs-in-the-family thing and is treated with lithium). I’m sure there are others but they’re treated to the point that I’m not aware of it. And there was plenty of this in the past – just not diagnosed or treated.
There seems to be an element of wishful thinking on your part. I don’t mean that you wish people problems, but that you feel vindicated in your faith because you can draw a tenuous relationship between mental health problems (something concrete) and our descent into a moral-less sink-hole (something subjective, but which your religion predicts and needs). Social issues are complex and society is changing fast so there are lots of correlations. If you’re so inclined you can see causations which fit your views and ideas. But you’re in danger of getting into a positive feedback loop where you have an increasingly pessimistic view of society and retreat further and further into the apparently clarity and salvation of your religion.
If you’re prepared to take a pass on real evidence then you can find false evidence for almost anything. I know NZ has many problems, most of which I would put down to the blight of welfare dependency and softness on crime. I don’t think they’re caused by harmless immoral behaviour between consenting adults.
Anyway, back to prostitution.
Even if working as a prostitute increased your chances of having mental health problems, I wouldn’t think that was a reason to consider it a bad thing. Plenty of jobs and situations cause mental problems (unemployment, stressful employment, bad marriages, drug use, bad luck, family propensity etc). It’s part of life. And plenty of jobs take a toll on people. But ultimately people should make their own judgements on risk and reward without artificial moral judgements. I consider morals around sex to be predominately religious in nature, outdated and baseless. I’m not talking about having kids and not looking after them or cheating on your partner, but just plain old sex between consenting adults when no one else is harmed. For that reason I can’t see any fundamental problem with legalised prostitution.
When you say ‘costs’ I assume you’re referring to your ever-present threat of going to hell? If we put hell and mental health issues aside as unproven, do you have any other objections to Brooke Magnanti having sex in exchange for money?
November 18th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Malcolm 8:16 am,
I think the information I cited earlier regarding women who have had abortions and the relationship to their mental health is indicative of the relationship between immorality and mental health in general within society.
Things like drug taking and excessive alcohol consumption no doubt contribute to the mental health of individuals that partake of them. But once again this would reflect upon the general permissive attitude towards these things within society which in and of themselves are moral choices. According to the Bible drug taking opens the individual up to the spiritual realm. This creates a spiritual pathway through which demonic entities can play havoc with the mind often resulting in mental health problems for the individual concerned. This is why drug taking, or sorcery, is condemned in Bible.
The fact that New Zealand leads the world in youth suicide statistics would also be indicative of the increasing mental health problems of young people in our society. Without a moral framework children are cast adrift in a sea of moral relativism and are increasingly encouraged to make bad moral choices. In fact often they do not know the difference between right and wrong.
Fletch’s two posts above highlight many of the mental health issues that women involved in prostitution suffer from:
Regarding my faith; it is not a matter of wishful thinking on my part to justify my beliefs, but purely observing the evidence that confronts me. No one would doubt in our modern society that we observe increasing mental health problems compared to that of a generation ago. The question is why are these figures increasing? It is my belief that there’s a direct causative link between immoral behaviour and the mental health of those involved in such activities.
It’s not really a matter of getting into positive feedback loops or having an increasingly pessimistic view of society, but rather letting the facts speak for themselves.
You put down many of the problems within our society to being in a result of welfare dependency and our softness on crime. But aren’t these just society’s attempt to treat the symptoms, rather than address the root causes of the degradation of our society. One must ask the question as to why we have increasing welfare dependency along with increasing crime.
Single women are increasingly encouraged by the state to have and raise children Independent of a husband or partner. And do we not see these children who come from welfare dependents homes over represented in statistics in the areas of antisocial behavior, lack of self respects, and lack of respect for others. In later life many of these children become involved and criminal activity, violence, excessive drug and alcohol abuse and suicide. Would we not attribute much of this to the mental health of the individual concerned?
You seem to attribute mental health to stress, drug use, bad luck, family propensity, etc. Why do you distinguish between morals around sex from morality in general? Isn’t much of what we see in society today the result of the changing values and acceptance of lifestyles which would have been frowned upon generation ago? It is my belief that the main victim to these changing values has been family and especially those that do not have the benefit of being raised within a stable family unit. We only need to look it’s the makeup of those that fill our nation’s prisons to see this born out.
And when I mentioned ‘costs’ I was in fact referring to the mental health aspects and not to the subsequent Biblical judgment.
Of course I contend that morals come from God, and that we are given these values for our ultimate protection. One of God’s main concerns is for the family unit and its members. Sex before marriage, outside marriage, or with prostitutes, only leads to the breakdown of the family unit and results in increasing divorce statistics, screwed up kids, and broken men and women. This I believe is one of many major contributing factors towards mental illness in the men, women and children of our society.
Another group we could consider would be homosexuals. Many who choose this lifestyle have a much higher instance of mental health problems when compared to individuals who make up the general populace.
So in summary I believe there’s a reasonable case to link an immoral lifestyle with mental health problems.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Thanks Kris, I will reply to this later today as I know you put a lot of effort into your replies.