Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women

Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women began as primarily a public health study. This was back in the early 1990s when HIV was still a big deal. The State of Nevada was the only state at the time that allowed legalized brothels, and one of the positive effects claimed from this was that the rules for brothels could more effectively require and enforce condom use than other forms of random prostitution or even less formal sexual arrangements. Although she was denied access to the Nevada brothels for several years, the author was eventually allowed to visit the Mustang Ranch Brothel, the largest and most famous in the state, and see how the workers there maintained their record of not becoming HIV Positive or infecting any of their customers. Evidently, this was the result of strict monitoring on the part of the brothel management along with strict regulations at the state level that they had to meet. New hires were extensively tested to be sure they had no STDs when they arrived, and condom use for everybody was strictly enforced – not always an easy job when customers complained that it interfered with their enjoyment. By the time the initial study was completed, the author had become friends with many of the prostitutes at the brothel, and she returned for brief periods at intervals over several years to find out more about their lives and culture. The book contains many anecdotes about the lives of the individual women and also goes into the history of legal brothel prostitution in Nevada in general and of the Mustang Ranch in particular. Curiously, the brothel’s founder, theoretically no longer associated with it by the time the book was written, was a flamboyant character who actually caused quite a bit of trouble for the brothel and the idea of legalized brothels in general. Eventually, he was accused of some kind of financial malfeasance that resulted in closing it down altogether. This turned out to be sort of sad because by the end of the book the author, and by extension the rest of us, had become rather fond of many of the girls and other workers at Mustang Ranch. Although they worked in a strange environment, they seemed to be mostly just regular people. This is another book I had wanted to read because I will never get an opportunity to personally observe, never mind experience, life in a brothel. And inquiring minds want to know.

Bought a copy for a foreign friend , having had mine for years. My best friend Worked there so my view is a bit different. I think the book is insightful. Into a world most only guess at. I only wish it was longer and in more depth about the girls. My friend said they did not talk much about the AMOUNT of virgins! And handicapable men. She rather liked! The virgins, as she said it was 5 mins of fun and 50 minutes of chatting. She did primarily S and M, and got a lot of work! She said also, that a lot if the customers stank. Uhhhh she made everyone shower. Christ, ya gotta love that. She made amazing amounts of money and bought a new car once in cash. Everyone's dream, eh? She is very, very sultry so she said it was easy to eye-**** a client coming in, to secure them. She actually, loved it there, her few months a year. Loved. She was in awe, over people's life stories, alone. She is long retired now and has amazing pics of her " working" outfits and thank u notes! Love that. She basically, made for some happy people. All the haters out there, walk the walk.! The book? Buy it and eat some forbidden fruit.

When I was in my 20's, I knew 2 girls that worked the clubs; one, I hung out with, so, I saw, so much. They were from so many directions; many raced to see who could make the most money, and that was always interesting. The Navy base was here, and those guys would spend their whole paycheck, quickly, week after week. All of girls were dancers, and, private entertainers, taking the guys to back rooms; fish bowls, and bottles of champagne, flowed like water... and a few times someone stole a few of the little drink ''swords' , from another girl, and that was always- entertaining. There were many clubs for the girls to work in; some were sleezy ; others, so-so ; one, the girls made their own outfits, SLINKY AND GLITTERY, as they were strippers; ALL of them were interesting, and the girls always visited each others clubs, for lots of reasons; they were all like one big family round-up. Some of the guys who owned the clubs, the girls would fight over them; Joe, and Larry, were right out of the movie, 'Grease' , and they both owned their own clubs. Johnny had his; Dave had his, and they were good to their girls. When the clubs closed, we partied at a place that had a band, and we would pay the band to play through sun-up. I have a friend who had been to the Mustang Ranch, and I became curious, as to how that place worked/how it functioned/how it was different from the clubs that I had known. I found the book very interesting, and much like the clubs that I had known; the girls were from various backgrounds. The men were of differences/ they had their favorites and came to see the girls, often. I really enjoyed the book; it really took me back into time, and I remembered- MANY fun times! One SO FUNNY, some of us had gone to a CLASSY club; Sherry, just had to make a SEXY entrance to some of the well dressed men, but when she went to go down the inside steps, in a CLASS ACT part of the club, one shoe heel broke, and she rolled down at the mens' feet... so much for making a GRANDE' entrance!

Brothels by Alexa Albert touch on some of the reasons why the author chose the topic being written about, prospective customers being greeted by at least 20 to 30 women of various bodyshapes and ages, some of the reasons why prostitution was supressed near military bases and installations around 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was still alive, some of the reasons why employees of the brothel(s) were required to stay at the brother of residence during their workweek unless they had paid excursions with their clients and more.