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BOOK REVIEW Title: Brothel Author: Alexa Albert Publisher: Random House Price:$24.95 Pages: 266 Original by VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by JUSTIN HONG

By Howard Ho

Daily Bruin Contributor

The world’s oldest profession gets a face lift from Alexa Albert, author of the new book “Brothel.”

Combining deep research with her personal experience, Albert sweeps away the cobwebs of prostitution’s stigmas and tries to provide the other side of the story, if anyone wants to listen.

Albert’s interest in brothels began when she was a student at Harvard Medical School. During a summer she worked at Streetwork, a center for abandoned kids, located in New York City’s Times Square. Many of the children that she worked with were being sought for sexual services.

Albert saw the vicious cycle of prostitution and wondered why it was still legal in Nevada. Unlike street prostitutes, brothel prostitutes have low rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Wanting to conduct a study on condom use, since reportedly no condom has ever broken in a brothel, she requested that the prostitutes save their condoms to be checked for breakage. This led to Albert’s interest in brothels.

Albert goes into detail about her visit and eventual acceptance into the brothel community at Nevada’s Mustang Ranch, the largest and most profitable brothel in Nevada before it was shut down in 1999.

She dispels her own preconceptions of brothels through the course of the book. Albert writes, “Though very different in appearance, all the prostitutes were surprisingly attractive ... I guess I had expected to find only tough, hard-looking women.”

After finding out most of the prostitutes are married, Albert writes, “At first I couldn’t believe these women hadn’t grown cynical about marriage and monogamy, given the amount of infidelity they witnessed. Their hopefulness in spite of what they knew about human nature made my heart ache. These women were just like the rest of us.”

Many brothels, unlike what some may imagine, are highly ordered. Prostitutes are not free to go out since they could do business outside the brothel. Instead, all prostitutes are confined within the brothel except for out-dates or paid excursions with clients. To work in a brothel a prostitute needs a working card. All prostitutes are checked for STDs monthly, and if they test positive, their working card is taken away. Profits are shared 50-50 with the brothel. Strict rules enforce everything from the price of sexual acts to the amount of wattage allowed for a brothel’s exterior lighting.

In exchange for a loss of freedom, the prostitutes are able to work without pimps, even though many of them still do. Sadly, some of the prostitutes were pushed into brothel work at the behest of their boyfriends, who collect a portion of the paycheck. But many others do not have pimps and perform brothel work because they like the financial independence. Some were even working to support their mothers or children.

Albert found that the women were proud of their work, comparing it to that of a psychiatrist.

One prostitute, Savannah, said, “I believe what I do is a healing job. I didn’t see it as healing at first, but I kept getting clients who just needed to be nurtured and weep in my arms. Sex is just a tool to access these emotions. So I just hold these men and contemplate the psychological needs that drive them into my charge. The humanity of my clients is what I care about.”

To that end, Albert was invited to watch prostitutes working on their clients, or “tricks” as they are called. Her descriptions of taboo sexual acts are quite explicit, but not demeaning to the women involved. In fact, the prostitutes were usually in control of the situation while the men, who were often nervous, waited to be acted upon.

As evidence of the women’s efficacy, some of the men even believed that they offered a sexual service to the women who needed them.

Albert leaves no stone unturned in this thorough investigation of brothels. Aside from her observations of brothel activities, which take up the majority of the book, she also interviews State Senator William O’Donnell, who is against legalized brothels, and George Flint, who paradoxically owns a wedding chapel as well as Mustang Ranch.

Albert’s extensive research shows how the original owner of Mustang, Joe Conforte, became the godfather of brothel legalization. Conforte wielded a large political influence and when he suggested a brothel-licensing ordinance to Storey County, he found little resistance.

In 1971, brothels were legalized in Storey County, sending shock waves throughout Nevada. Eventually, ten out of Nevada’s 17 counties legalized brothels, and now a total of 26 brothels are operating in the state.

Albert makes a strong case for brothel legalization. Though she doesn’t morally agree with prostitution, she acknowledges that brothels nearly eliminate street prostitution, where STDs and violence run rampant. Despite all efforts, prostitution will never be completely eliminated, and therefore must be regulated.

Albert writes, “The demand will be met with supply one way or another, no matter what is legislated. Only when we recognize and validate the work of professional prostitutes can we expect them to practice their trade safely and responsibly.”

Albert’s narrative ends with the final dissolution of Mustang Ranch, which in its heyday earned $25 million a year. Since the brothel community is so small and stigmatized by the rest of society, the community become very tightly-knit. The prostitutes regard each other as sisters. The clothing venders, beauticians and Avon ladies who serve Mustang feel a deep affinity for their clients; Albert clearly does as well.

When the feds finally closed Mustang, Albert writes, “I wanted to scream. ‘Don’t you realize that by eliminating Mustang Ranch, you don’t simply displace ‘a bunch of hookers?’ You eradicate a community, a family!’”

Though Albert’s plea is clearly heartfelt, it forces the reader to question whether he or she is ready to take such ideas to heart.

Nevertheless, “Brothel” makes a very quick and engrossing read, in no small part due to its lurid subject matter. Albert provides a voice of reason in the controversial debate, examining the view that prostitution is a necessary profession like cooking. As such, it should receive government regulation, not prohibition. Hopefully, readers will take this message seriously rather than read “Brothel” for its titillating details of sex.