# Have you ever been mistaken as a prostitute? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632 "2014-01-13T03:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/21 "2014-01-13T09:21:44Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Offering a girl money for sex doesn’t mean she’s been mistaken for a hooker, necessarily, just that the guy thinks she’ll turn into one if offered enough money. **Man:** Would you sleep with me for one million dollars? **Lady:** Sure. **Man:** How about for ten bucks? **Woman:** What do you think I am? **Man:** We’ve already established what you are. All we’re doing is bargaining about price. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/22 "2014-01-13T09:52:08Z")
Twice, on different occasions, both when I was a student in my early twenties. Once while hitchhiking, with my friend, We had backpacks and everything. The guy knew we were hitchhiking students, but he tried anyway. We demanded to be let out of the car. Once while I busily doing errands on my bike, biking at top speed from A to B. He came up next to me on his bike and asked me how much it was. I wore a coat, a faded 50’s ballgown, a rough knit sweater, and glittery fishnet stockings. I suppose it was an honest mistake. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/23 "2014-01-13T11:36:15Z")
Since my given name is Fred Garvin, all the time. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/24 "2014-01-13T12:06:49Z")
… Errands … Bicycle … Gown … _head explodes_ ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/25 "2014-01-13T14:05:09Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > … Errands … Bicycle … Gown … _head explodes_ I like the fact that the guy assumes she’s a bike prostitute - as if that were a thing - and asks how much, as opposed to assuming ‘performance artist’, ‘loon’, ‘someone who woke up hungover and naked in a thrift store’ or ‘candid camera actor’. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/26 "2014-01-13T14:14:30Z")
Been mistaken for a john once before, because obviously why else would a man be out washing his car on a sunny Saturday morning? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/27 "2014-01-13T14:16:19Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I have no idea what is up with this, as I was operating under the assumption, apparently mistakenly, that I look like a regular, upstanding citizen. Well, I do wear a hoodie, so maybe it’s that. You might want to stay out of Florida. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/28 "2014-01-13T14:26:03Z")
It happened to me, once. I was walking down the street one night in DC, not far from Chinatown. A guy drove by and called out to me drunkenly. Can’t remember exactly what he said, but it was obvious that he thought I was selling sexual services. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/29 "2014-01-13T14:39:45Z")
Does attention whore count? ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/30 "2014-01-13T15:00:32Z")
When I was a teen in DC, it happened several times. Middle-aged men on the street or on the subway propositioned me. The first time it was funny. The second time it was annoying. After that, it was just creepy and I got to go through the whole line of questions: “Do I look gay?” “Is it the way I’m dressed?” “Am I doing something to encourage them?” Most of them left me alone after I told them to go away. The one on the subway was so persistent I had to stand up and make a scene so he’d go away. It hasn’t happened since I left DC so my personal, uneducated, hypothesis is that I looked like a homeless runaway who might be willing. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/31 "2014-01-13T15:45:19Z")
Once when I was in San Antonio. I had an excruciating sunburn from sitting at the Gulf of Mexico all day then I’d had two drinks at Coyote Ugly. I had just hurled into a garbage can on the sidewalk and my friend and I were waiting for her husband to come get us. I was leaning against a building - nice cool brick on a sweltering night - and a middle-aged man walked by. He stopped and asked me “Do you want to party?” I was like “Pardon?” He repeated - “Do you want to party with me?” I was confused (still dizzy & nauseus) and I said “No.” He said “Okay” and walked away. I said to my friend “WTF was that…OMG EW he thought I was a hooker!!” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/32 "2014-01-13T15:52:40Z")
It’s quite common for “good Thai girls” walking with farangs (Westerners) to be assumed to be prostitutes even if there is no discernible age difference. My wife got a little of this when we were younger, but she’s always dressed conservatively to begin with, which is the usual advice to Thai girls dating foreign men here. Now that we’re both in our 50s, I can’t remember the last time that was assumed of her. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/33 "2014-01-13T16:03:29Z")
Out late with two friends in Florence, Italy, dressed fairly normally but skimpily, bearing in mind it was summer. We were all 18 year old girls. Apparently not a common sight in Italy; I guess socialising is more likely to take place in mixed sex groups or in the home. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/34 "2014-01-13T16:14:32Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > … Errands … Bicycle … Gown … _head explodes_ > [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I like the fact that the guy assumes she’s a bike prostitute - as if that were a thing - and asks how much, as opposed to assuming ‘performance artist’, ‘loon’, ‘someone who woke up hungover and naked in a thrift store’ or ‘candid camera actor’. In my defence, it was the 80’s and Cindy Lauper was my fashion icon. Maybe he thougt that a bike prostitute (if there was such a thing) would offer a really quick service (in transit) so the price would be reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/35 "2014-01-13T23:52:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It’s quite common for “good Thai girls” walking with farangs (Westerners) to be assumed to be prostitutes even if there is no discernible age difference. My wife got a little of this when we were younger, but she’s always dressed conservatively to begin with, which is the usual advice to Thai girls dating foreign men here. Now that we’re both in our 50s, I can’t remember the last time that was assumed of her. I’m white and my wife is Chinese. Once we were walking around Hangzhou at night and some guys were pointing at us from across the street. My wife explained that they probably thought she was a prostitute or possibly just a gold-digging “interpreter”. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/36 "2014-01-14T00:34:25Z")
For a hooker and for a cop, in the same neighborhoods, wearing the same type of clothing, which did not include either sequins or guns. By potential customers and by working girls. And once, when I was all gussied up, by a poor bastard on who stole my bag, ran about a mile flat out (I later found the bag), all for a lipstick and a pack of tissues - he didn’t even get my cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/37 "2014-01-14T00:42:13Z")
Need pics from the women who answered yes. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/38 "2014-01-14T01:16:00Z")
No, but I have been asked a few times if I would consider being a trophy wife/kept woman. I said no. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/39 "2014-01-14T01:21:28Z")
A prostitute once mistook me for a sailor. Only hilarity ensued. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/40 "2014-01-14T01:58:45Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Once while I busily doing errands on my bike, biking at top speed from A to B. He came up next to me on his bike and asked me how much it was. I wore a coat, a faded 50’s ballgown, a rough knit sweater, and glittery fishnet stockings. I suppose it was an honest mistake. I thought you weren’t allowed to sell anything at Burning Man? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632.md?page=3)