Apparently nothing is sacred. For years I’ve read how women and children are sold into slavery, are forced into or turn to prostitution to feed themselves, particularly in poorer countries. I don’t doubt that’s true at all. In fact, I wrote a novella recently about a shrouded caveat in the industry. Needless to say it’s dark, gritty, and isn’t getting much play. I knew it would be a tough sell because no one wants to talk about things like that existing to start with, let alone explore it in their paranormal fetish erotica. Ah well.

Today I ran across something that casts such industry in a different light. An article bestowed the virtues of men in the Carribean who turn to prostitution or become rent boys–specificaly to white female tourists seeking long, dark loving “sexcations”– as a means to see the world, widen their literacy, not to mention make a buck. I get that it’s not exactly the same thing, but fuck. Men can even succeed in human trafficking? Wait a second. There’s this enigma about women who pay for sex to start with, that they’re powerful, assertive, know what they want. But in this dynamic they were painted as intelligent elite who were emotionally vacant, thus unable to succeed or be fully present in a “real relationship.”

It’s ironic that we can pick up almost any dynamic and hold it to the light, but we’ll always overlook the obvious to exploit our own ingrained shadows.