A recent Women's Wire article on working girls suggests that the pimps, not the clients, are the biggest of the girls' problems. The prostitutes interviewed for the story all use condoms with clients — but never with their "managers." Reason and fear of AIDS permeate their work, but the pimp is sacred.

These women were being interviewed because they were forced to — it was part of an "alternative punishment." Which reminded me of the latest craze in Kansas City: John TV. Every Wednesday, the city government broadcasts photos of men (and a few women) "arrested for offenses relating to prostitution." A disclaimer above each photo notes that "this person is innocent until found guilty by a court." One photograph was of a Kansas City Fire Department captain.

Outside of Kansas City, people tend to step a little more lightly around the subject of prostitution. So much so that "sex workers" is the term you'll often find in newspapers these days, replacing "prostitutes." Is this progress or just a euphemism? One writer claims the latter, but he's just a middle-aged man named John who's tired of his name being used to describe sex workers' clients.

Far more interesting than linguistics and kinky firemen however, are the personal stories I found on the Web — like the retired dominatrix who misses the leather, the late mornings, and the control; and the former stripper who's having her breasts reduced so she can study biology at NYU. You might not find policy here, but you will at least find women who know what they're talking about.