Prop. K Could Thrust Prostitutes Into Pop Culture

Nov. 4, 2008 — -- Pretty soon, a "pretty woman" may be able to work the streets of San Francisco legally.

The city's residents will vote today on Proposition K, a ballot measure that would stop police from enforcing laws against sex workers and eliminate funding for anti-prostitution programs. If it is passed, the measure will make San Francisco the first major U.S. city to decriminalize prostitution. (In Rhode Island, prostitution is legal as long as it's conducted indoors. In Nevada, prostitution is legal in counties with under 400,000 residents, which means it's still against the law in Las Vegas.)

The measure comes at a moment when prostitution's popping up throughout pop culture.

In the United States, Showtime's "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" and "Californication" explore what hookers do on and off the clock (and take full advantage of the freedoms granted to them by premium cable).

Earlier this year, prostitutes became the punch line du jour when then-New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer's indiscretions turned Ashley Dupree into the poster woman for high-end escorts.

Abroad, the French movie "Cliente," about a TV anchor and director who develops a thing for gigolos after her marriage falls apart, is sparking a discussion about accepting prostitution as part and parcel of human sexuality.

True, prostitution and pop culture go back like, well, prostitution and the dawn of time.

"If the old cliché is true, that prostitution is the world's oldest profession, one could speculate that stories about prostitution are pretty close to being the world's oldest stories. Who can resist that subject matter?" said Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University professor of television and pop culture.

"They tend to fall in two categories: the prostitute as protagonist. 'Pretty Woman' would be the best example of this -- 'Cinderella' retold where Cinderella is a hooker," Thompson said. "The other side is the warning tales of the dangers of prostitution, the made-for-TV movies about teens who run off into the sex trade: the slaverylike conditions, the violence. Both sides seem to be alive and well in American culture."

Those supporting Proposition K hope voters are moved enough by the horror stories to enact legislation that can make life better for sex workers by addressing health and safety issues.