# What happens to old hookers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2001, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250 "2001-11-26T05:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Barney111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Barney111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barney111)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/21 "2001-11-27T03:21:20Z")
Here’s an eye opener: [www.hollywoodpolice.org/VIN\_CAT/pic79\_11.htm](http://www.hollywoodpolice.org/VIN_CAT/pic79_11.htm) (Not exactly the marryin’ kind). ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/22 "2001-11-27T03:30:19Z")
_Gaaah…!_ 41 years old? I’ve seen 100year-olds that looked better. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/23 "2001-11-27T03:33:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barney111 \* > \*\*Here’s an eye opener: [www.hollywoodpolice.org/VIN\_CAT/pic79\_11.htm](http://www.hollywoodpolice.org/VIN_CAT/pic79_11.htm) > > (Not exactly the marryin’ kind). \*\* :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Phouchg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@Phouchg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phouchg)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/24 "2001-11-27T04:41:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barney111 \* > \*\*Here’s an eye opener: [www.hollywoodpolice.org/VIN\_CAT/pic79\_11.htm](http://www.hollywoodpolice.org/VIN_CAT/pic79_11.htm) > > (Not exactly the marryin’ kind). \*\* My gosh. I don’t know if I should be scared, sad, angry or what. That is the most horrifying thing I have seen in a long long time. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/25 "2001-11-27T04:44:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by donotprodme \* > This leads me to believe being a prostitute is a **broad** term 😃 ---
**Author:** ![G.Nome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c89c15/32.png) [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/26 "2001-11-27T05:06:40Z")
About the Hollywood Police Hooker photos: Between pictures 6 and 7 I’m fairly sure that woman had her teeth removed. Does that seem likely to anyone else? Her “degeneration” is due more to lack of access to social welfare (and dentures) than anything else. Everyone who loses their teeth and goes without dentures ends up the same. The Apalachian people of the 1930s who were photographed by Walker Evans (friend of James Agee) looked the same and they weren’t crack whores. If you look closely at the mouths of otherwise quite pretty women (and men) in Evans’ photos you can guess dentists were unknown at that time. I’d be interested in a thread asking how people dealt with their problem teeth before dentists came along. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/27 "2001-11-27T12:12:42Z")
Back in the days I worked at a drug rehab clinic I got to meet a lot of prostitutes. Also knew a few putting themselves through college (these folks weren’t at the clinic, they went to the same college I did) There is a broad range of people “hooking”. Those I knew doing it for tuition money got their degree and went on to other work (one earned his PhD that way and became a psychiatrist), except for the gal who got hooked on doing plastic surgery in attempt to change her ethnic group from Asian to European. High-cost “escorts” charging a thousand or more for a date are probably going to be able to maintain their health and appearances for quite awhile. If they’re smart with money they’ll invest some and retire in style. Or marry - possibly marry several sugar daddies in sequence and live off alimony. There are occassional hookers - women who do it to make ends meet but not as a full time profession. Where do they end up? If they stay healthy, probably continue outwardly normal lives. If they catch something nasty – a bad end in poverty might be the outcome. The Hollywood Hooker in the link is prostitution _and drugs_. This kind of streetwalker doesn’t usually live long enough to retire. In fact, 41 is on the old side - she might have gotten involved in sex for money after getting hooked on drugs. It’s true - tooth loss is a major reason for how awful the final pictures look. Well, almost all these folks lose their teeth. Drug users - especially cocaine and crack users - neglect personal hygiene as well as have lousy (or non-existant) diets. We had people loosing teeth to scurvy - they were living on coffee-with-cream and donuts for years at a time. Getting the crap beat out of you frequently also degrades the appearance - another common occurrance for streetwalkers. I knew a couple of these hookers who, getting up in years and looking like two-baggers, started “specializing” in what they called “kink”. I didn’t ask for details, not really wanting to know, but they were obviously servicing deviants who were more interested in their particular fetish than how the hooker looked. It seemed to be a profitable second career for them - in addition to feeding their habits they could afford to get new teeth. But I’d say most of our streetwalkers at the clinic died before 40, either OD/drug use complication, murder, or AIDS. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/28 "2001-11-27T13:24:21Z")
Frick. That series of photos is one of the most depressing things I’ve seen. If only more women were aware at an early age what a downward spiral this _job will suck_ them into. Sheet… how sad! And those of you with stories… Tranquilis, Ron, Broomstick - thanks. Those were equally enlightening. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/29 "2001-11-27T16:33:29Z")
The OP didn’t say anything about male/female so, what happens to male hookers when they get old? ---
**Author:** ![DavieCakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DavieCakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavieCakes)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/30 "2015-05-12T02:57:37Z")
Aside from street hookers who can die from abuse, beatings, drugs, thugs, etc, most “escort” hookers die from: a. Diseases, infections, viruses. Most of these ladies have picked up something, usually an insidious disease, infection or virus that they never know about until years later, after it manifests itself in their systems. Just as a matter of interest, there are over 14,440 (yes, 14,400) diseases that prostitutes and escorts can pick up sexually and orally. Of the 14,400, many of various strains of about 1,000 that are known publicly, but which are never talked about. Escorts, hookers and prostitutes carry them all (and condoms do not protect against most of them). b. Sexual exhaustion. Many hookers, escorts and prostitutes are females. Most see at least 5 clients each day, or about 20 men per month. They all engage in sexual acitivity, specifically, intercourse. Sex is NOT exercise; it is STRESS. During sex, and especially before and during orgasm, the body is stressed to its’ maximum with every muscle, vessel, vein, organ being pushed to its’ limit. In the end, parts of the body, especially the heart, simply wear out and quit or fail. Middle aged escorts rarely live to age 60 due to organ or body part failure. c. Suicide. Many prostitutes, and especially escorts, often suffer from depression. No husband, no benefits, having a hard time making ends meet, they frequently contemplate suicide, and such suicide is via drug overdose or cutting wrists. I am a medic. I have seen this many times with these ladies. It’s a rotten life for most of them, especially as they approach middle age. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/31 "2015-05-12T03:42:30Z")
Zombie Hookers? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/32 "2015-05-12T04:06:11Z")
Why bring back this thread! I’m content to believe they meet the man or woman for their dreams and they live happily every after never having to go back to that line of work again. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/33 "2015-05-12T04:51:46Z")
The lady down the street from me is 75 and has been hooking the entire 40 years I have known her. She has a few old sugar daddies that are regulars but can still be found working the streets now and then. She is also known to steal dogs from people and return them for the reward. She has a dog rescure business going where she accepts donations. A pure scam and I don’t know how she has not gotten busted. She is some kind of eatern European, still has heavy accent. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/34 "2015-05-12T09:55:27Z")
In Dutch “old-whoring” means talking, especially gossiping. I assume there’s a reason for that. Also see [this documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2062989/). ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/35 "2015-05-12T10:02:52Z")
> [@DavieCakes](#): > > b. Sexual exhaustion. Many hookers, escorts and prostitutes are females. Most > see at least 5 clients each day, or about 20 men per month. They all engage > in sexual acitivity, specifically, intercourse. Sex is NOT exercise; it is STRESS. > During sex, and especially before and during orgasm, the body is stressed to its’ > maximum with every muscle, vessel, vein, organ being pushed to its’ limit. > In the end, parts of the body, especially the heart, simply wear out and quit or > fail. Middle aged escorts rarely live to age 60 due to organ or body part failure. I know this is a zombie. But anyway. The above paragraph makes two assumptions that I believe are false: first, that the majority of paid sexual encounters involve PIV sex. I think blow jobs are far more common (though I’m going strictly by what I’ve read; perhaps I’m wrong). Second, that hookers orgasm every time they service a john. That’s a charming notion, but seems unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/36 "2015-05-12T10:38:56Z")
> [@DavieCakes](#): > > a. Diseases, infections, viruses. Most of these ladies have picked up something, > usually an insidious disease, infection or virus that they never know about until > years later, after it manifests itself in their systems. Just as a matter of interest, > there are over 14,440 (yes, 14,400) diseases that prostitutes and escorts can > pick up sexually and orally. Of the 14,400, many of various strains of about > 1,000 that are known publicly, but which are never talked about. Escorts, hookers > and prostitutes carry them all (and condoms do not protect against most of them). I keep reading this, and I always find new things 🙂 Are you saying: That there are 14 440 sexually transmitted diseases, of which we know about 1 000? That we publicly know about 1 000 venereal diseases which we do not talk about? That all escorts, prostitutes and hookers carry over 14 000 different venereal diseases? That condoms don’t protect against most venereal diseases? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/37 "2015-05-12T11:34:49Z")
The Downward Spiral: [http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1628/1668/1600/downward-spiral4.jpg](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1628/1668/1600/downward-spiral4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/38 "2015-05-12T11:38:41Z")
Tan them and make wallets? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/39 "2015-05-12T14:18:02Z")
> [@pool](#): > > The Downward Spiral: > > [http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1628/1668/1600/downward-spiral4.jpg](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1628/1668/1600/downward-spiral4.jpg) Interesting. The first photo says 1983, the last 1997. So that’s 14 years almost to the day. It’s hard to read the dates on most of the ones in the middle (upper right and lower left), but they appear to be 1983 - 1985. That’s when she looks the worst. Assuming she was 28 in the first one, she’d be 42 in the last. Seem plausible, and alsthough she’s a well-worn 42, she looks better than she did back at 30 in 1985 in the lower left photos. If sh was really 16 aging to 30 tht’s be a different situation. But the first pic sure doesn’t look 16. Age is different from mileage. IMO the first pic has a bit of mileage, but more age than a teen. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250/40 "2015-05-12T14:44:08Z")
> [@DavieCakes](#): > > … Just as a matter of interest, > there are over 14,440 (yes, 14,400) diseases that prostitutes and escorts can > pick up sexually and orally… That’s gotta include shit like the flu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-old-hookers/95250.md?page=3)