Happy-hooker fantasy has got to go

By MP Dunleavey

It's hard to say which part of the Eliot Spitzer scandal is more shocking -- his involvement with prostitutes or the not-so-subtle message emanating from some rosily colored news stories:

Forget the image of the sleazy streetwalker, ladies. Why not become a highly paid call girl for a reputable outfit like, say, the Emperors Club?

That's right, gals. You don't have to move to Las Vegas and sleep with drunken gamblers. You can have sex with high-level politicians and make a mint!

Silly you, ruling out this terrific career option. According to a knockout 26-year-old interviewed on the "Today" show, why be an underpaid social worker when you can be an overpaid sex worker and bring home a cool $500,000 a year?

"And I'm not just lying on my back," this former social worker says. "I'm having intelligent conversation." For $3,000 an hour, apparently.

The fantasy about the money

Some prostitutes do earn a lot of money.

According to investigators' reports, in just the past eight months, the New York governor had shelled out tens of thousands of dollars on his secret sex habit.

For his most recent tryst, on Feb. 13, he allegedly spent about $4,300 in cash for the travel, expenses and other services provided by a petite brunette identified as "Kristen."

Few people fantasize about being a prostitute. But is there a moment when any person might ask herself, at the end of a long week waiting tables, herding schoolchildren or slaving over a cold keyboard, what it would be like to make money like that? You bet.

But to look at an alluring video such as the one from "Today" is yet another brick in the wall as far as women and money are concerned.

Forget Prince Charming -- and forget Spitzer

In the three years I've been writing the Women in Red column, I have made it my mission to help women feel in control of their finances, to show that being the master of your financial destiny is a tremendous accomplishment -- and if I can do it, anyone can.

My job is to research and observe the countless hurdles that women face when trying to get a grip on their finances.

• Video: The lives of high-priced call girls

What's the biggest one? The one that trips us up time and time again, and keeps our money in a tangled, tortured mess?

Fantasy. The wish to be taken care of. The daydream that someone else will take the reins. The hope, the secret prayer that maybe someday you won't have to deal with these lousy money problems yourself anymore -- because Prince Charming will whip out his magic credit card and make them all disappear.

This new spin on the so-called happy hooker -- happy and rich, too! -- is just another outlet for that fantasy, and it's got to go.

Continued: The reality for prostitutes

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