Introduction
A psychologist who conducts an extensive series of group therapy seminars in San Francisco has declared that the predominant problems of most people who seek his psychiatric help are: first, the fear of growing old, and second, the fear of losing their sexual attractiveness. It would seem to follow, then, that the dominant concerns of the overwhelming majority of people are youth and sex. And when those two qualities - youth and sex - are combined in one attractive and experimental package - a teenager-the ingredients are there for an explosive reaction!
Today's culture is definitely youth-oriented, and is rapidly becoming even more so. The secondary underlying theme in our culture is sex. It is only natural, therefore, that these two dominant themes should meet and blend, giving us the most sexually-aware teen-aged generation that the world has ever known.
The general sexual permissiveness, and, to some extent, the easy security of The Pill, has given today's young Alices a whole new sexual Wonderland to explore and enjoy, complete with deviate Mad Hatters and predatory Queens of Hearts.
Today's early teen-ager - the thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl - possesses a sexual precocity and a sexual knowledge and experience that her mother or grandmother probably did not achieve until she was twice that age. And we are speaking now of the average teen-ager, and not the unusual one. Youth is indeed at the forefront of the sexual revolution, and the extent of its takeover is reflected even beyond the sexual sphere. For instance, when Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was filmed in 1936, the leads were played by actress Norma Shearer, who was then 32, and by the late actor, Leslie Howard, who was then 43. In today's film version of Romeo and Juliet, the lovers are portrayed by teen-aged Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting!
Columbus was 46 when he sailed 3000 miles to discover a new world. Today, Neil Armstrong, in his thirties, rockets a quarter of a million miles to establish man's first footprint on the moon!
It is little wonder that youth feels an exuberance, a self-assurance, that extends all the way down to the early teen-ager. And one of the first reactions of exuberance and self-assurance is sexual exploration, often followed by sexual indulgence and over-indulgence.
"All of our values today are sex values," says James Wood, an important advertising executive. "We sell cars with it, we get people to donate money to all sorts of organizations by using it, we even promote political candidates through the subtle use of sex. So, we've given our youth sex with a capital 'S'. How can we blame them when they use it other than we want them to? We can't blame them, not as adults, not as parents, and when we can't blame youngsters, how in the world are we going to discipline them to different, more rigid and proper morals?"
The answer seems to be - "We can't!"
Through all the centuries of history, prostitution has been an adjunct of sex. It has been condemned, it has been prosecuted, nevertheless it has survived and thrived. Consequently, it should not be surprising to anyone that today's teen-age sex situation is being accompanied by a startling upsurge in teen-age prostitution.
The old idea of a blowsy, over-painted, cheaply-dressed (or undressed) whore, is being rapidly replaced today by the picture of a clear-eyed, averagely-dressed teen-ager who has made sex her business. Similarly, the old idea of a girl forced into prostitution because of financial pressures, must also fall by the wayside.
In today's burgeoning economy and helpful welfare to needy families, the teen-ager who turns to prostitution as a way of life, usually does so because she wants to. A streak of nymphomania in her character may find its outlet in prostitution; or, prostitution may be a means of bringing her more of the material things of life than she could otherwise obtain; or, she may be the pawn of a vicious first lover who then becomes her pimp, and for whom she then sells her body willingly; or, finally, she may just turn to whoring for fun, for kicks, which is so important to today's youth.
In any case, teen-aged prostitution - teen-aged hustling - has become an integral part of today's sex. Acceptance, of course, does not make it right, but no one can deny that it exists plentifully; and that it exists due to a variety of motivations and in a variety of backgrounds, as will be exemplified by the collection of case histories in the following pages.