By Odeisel

In a world where nothing is truly equal and difference is occasionally celebrated but mostly divisive, many have fought for the mythical “equality.” Race, sex, sexual preference, you name it, all strive to be the equal of some ideal that has done a fantastic job of equating inequality with inferiority. So it goes on planet Earth.

We have been audience to titanic struggles between groups, from Women’s Suffrage, to the Civil Rights Movement, to the current battle for gays to have equal rights with regards to same- sex marriages.

The latest entrant into this equal rights conversation has come into play and the battle ground isn’t a Montgomery bus, or Stonewall, but a place far less immense in scale: a mattress somewhere in the Nevada desert. No longer will hitting your knees be the sole domain of the legal prostitutes of the Bunny Ranch and other legal brothels. Ladies, you too can now trick if you got it; we have the very first legal gigolo. That’s right ladies. For the price of airfare and accommodations, you too can be romancing the stone!

The Shady Lady Ranch brothel, a bit over two hours from Vegas proper, was given the okay to sanction such an interesting “position,” which was filled very shortly and with great fanfare by “Markus” an ex-Marine who was less than honorably discharged from the service for reasons he doesn’t want to disclose. After a brief tenure (two movies) in the adult industry and a brief sojourn in a Santa Monica homeless shelter, Markus chose a bed of a different sort and is presently ready to stand and deliver for any shady lady that has that cash.

What does this do for the existing paradigms of human sexuality? Apparently the price of dick is on the rise. And what sort of man would lend himself to this revolution? Details magazine caught up with Markus and he seemed pretty eloquent with his arguments and his rationale. But along with that rationale comes the same childhood memories of pain, desensitization, and feelings of abandonment that accompany many of the women who choose to take up the cross of the crotch.

I don’t know whether this is a good or bad thing. Obviously there is a level of Judeo-Christian morality that precludes the sale of “beef” by the pound, but I’m in the media business where morality and reality make for strange bedfellows, so I can’t look at it from that angle. After hearing admittedly silly arguments from both sides on whether flesh peddling is either empowering or exploitation, I’ll also take a pass on that approach.  Markus likened himself to Rosa Parks and you KNOW I’m not going there. The Rosa Parks of gigolos my ass.

But his employment occupies a peculiar space at a very interesting time in American society/culture as gender roles are no longer static but dynamic. The decay of the marital/nuclear family structure and the deterioration of man/women relationships have brought us to a place where, as bread earners with no attachments and with Mick Jaggerian chicks who can’t get no satisfaction, perhaps it is only fair than men be allowed to earn a living from their backs too without prosecution. Since Adam and Eve went into the Garden with an apple each, and Eve came out with two, pussy for pay is probably the oldest transaction still in existence.  Now that turnabout is fair play, maybe now we can take a real look at the factors that go into flesh for funds.  Perhaps now is the time to address it with legislation and see how we can fill the municipal coffers with funds from a well regulated sex industry. Maybe we’ll see a more even handed discussion with a bit of hypocrisy removed once we see the same sociological effects on young men who are in the commercial sex trades that we see now with young women.

Whatever his reasons, Markus’ place in history is assured whether he’s a bronco or a bust. He has effectively leveled the sexual playing field and possibly de-stigmatized women’s ability to go out and get it and men’s opportunity to sling dingaling. It’s not necessarily a good idea to double up on wrongs in an attempt to make right, but this latest entry at least reopens dialogue from a fresh and interesting angle.  Hopefully those that love to screw can get turned ON for profit and those that are searching for love and acceptance and an escape from pain can be prevented from being turned OUT.

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