Now that Seattle has become quite a metropolis you will find on every downtown newsstand free newspapers exploding with ads. These ads range from cultural events and sightseeing opportunities to telephone sex or even an exotic massage. One female massage therapist was getting calls from men expecting more than massage. If they only knew her sexual orientation they would not have called her. Soothing massage is a sensual experience so it is no wonder that men, who usually outnumber women in paying for sexual experiences, hint at receiving sexual favors. Travel agents are aware of the sin cities around the world where usually the male of our species can find exciting sex vacations. Of course there are men who supply sex as well but they aren’t advertised so prominently in the ad sections.
Have you ever perused the ads in these weekly papers? There are women capitalizing in flaunting their breast and butt implants in order to compete in plying their trade. It has been the habit of some rich men to flaunt their sexy partners and to pay dearly when divorce courts strip down their riches. Rich men in eastern empires make no bones about searching the world for gorgeous women to enhance their sex lives.
One weekly paper that I once wrote a column for went under financially because the publishers would not publish liquor, tobacco or shady personal favor ads. Since the West Seattle Herald is a family newspaper, it has to try harder to compete with the outside world of “anything goes” advertising. No doubt that in some circles sex sells. Alaska, an early outpost of the USA, still generates tourist interest by focusing on its early history of prostitution. Tour boat passengers walk up and down the Skagway main street where former bordellos are showcased as tourist attractions. In the windows are replicas of early prostitutes in their flaming garb once beckoning to the men who dominated the Alaska population in earlier times.
In Port Angeles, where the boat was the only transportation, the local prostitutes met the boat when it came in to dock. My mother, Myrtia Bright, who spent many of her early years in Port Angeles, told me a story about coming home on the boat and being helped up the hill to town with her bags by a friendly woman. Later an acquaintance gossiped to my grandmother by saying, “The other day I saw Myrtie walking up to town from the dock with a shady lady who was carrying her suitcase. How could Myrtie associate with a prostitute?” My grandmother retorted, “It doesn’t matter who the person is that is willing to help someone.”
People use the ads to advertise for partners. Older women have a disadvantage in using the ads or the internet to find a partner since many men are looking for younger women. Recently I met a fellow whose wife is 30 years younger. No wonder that women my age usually remain single. If a man 30 years older had asked me out, he would have to be 121 years old—an impossibility. I was fortunate that some men like older women thus increasing my odds of finding a partner. As I say on the comedy stage, “I am not going to buy a hot sports car just to attract a younger man.” And luckily I didn’t have to.
Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 206-935-8663.
