# Who needs a pimp? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231 "2003-05-05T18:02:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/1 "2003-05-05T18:02:52Z")
Inspired from [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=181326) thread, which seems like it will have a short life expectancy, I am compelled to ask: Who needs a pimp? It seems like a streetwalker would make much more money if she didn’t have to share it with an abusive guy. What services to pimps render in exchange for this rather large cut? ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/2 "2003-05-05T18:07:42Z")
I think its often more of a slave-master relationship. Also I think pimps provide muscle for their hookers if need be. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/3 "2003-05-05T18:13:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qwertyasdfg \* > \*\*Also I think pimps provide muscle for their hookers if need be. \*\* As I was typing my question, this crossed my mind. Better to give away half than not collect at all, or to get robbed, no? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Smasho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@El\_Smasho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Smasho)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/4 "2003-05-05T18:40:15Z")
What makes you think they all have pimps? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/5 "2003-05-05T19:29:17Z")
The movie _American Pimp_ changed my life. One, it made me realize I’m in the wrong business, and secondly, it made sense of pimps. So why does a prostitute need one? If she’s good with money, she doesn’t. Thing is most prostitutes aren’t. Somehow at the end of the month they’re still struggling just to make rent as they’ve blown all their money on drugs, jewelry, other misc. stupid stuff, etc. Pimps are managers of sorts. They keep a large chunk (if not all) of their, err, _clients’_ money and distribute it only when necessary. They pay their rents, buy them food, pay for other necessities while making sure their “clients” don’t go broke. They keep their hos (hehe, I said hos) off drugs, as apparently drug-free women are worth more money. Seriously, who wants to boff a crack-ho? They’re just business men, really. They scout out “higher” clientele, keep their hos off drugs, take other various measures to make sure they’re making the most amount of money possible and manages their finances. One of these days, I aspire to be a pimp too. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/6 "2003-05-05T19:32:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Smasho \* > \*\*What makes you think they all have pimps? \*\* I don’t. But obviously, quite a few do. So I guess another question might be: Do pimped-hos and non-pimped-hos operate within the same districts? Do some pimps hold monopolies in various areas? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/7 "2003-05-05T19:35:55Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by MeanOldLady \* Thanks. I was starting to suspect as much. Sounds very vaguely like some aspects of feudalism, in a twisted sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/8 "2003-05-05T20:07:23Z")
Beyond Mean old Lady’s analysis, many pimps are probably also running a protection racket. Since what the hookers are doing is illegal in most places they have a hard time going to the cops when a pimp threatens them. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/9 "2003-05-06T03:00:26Z")
I’m gonna second **MeanOldLady** ’s reccommendation for _American Pimp_. It answers this question and a lot more, and gives a look at how much money is in the business. Pimps driving fully customized Rolls Royces, wearing “snakeskin down to the ground”- hat, trenchoat, pants, boots. My knowledging of the pimping biz comes mostly from the film, but it seems as though everything has been said. To summarize, pimps[ul] [li]Manage- tells the girls when and where to work, along with how much to charge[/li][li]Control the money- as mentioned before, the prostitutes themselves don’t always have the best financial manegement, so the pimp gets around this by not paying them but buying them whatever they need[/li][li]Protect the women- if someone is out robbing/killing/raping/whatever the women, they can’t go to the police. So the pimp tries to put a stop to it, mafia style[/li][li]Protect themselves- I don’t want to give the impression that pimps are altruistic gentlemen. They are doing all this stuff to make money for themselves. They will try to run each other out of the business, steal girls from one another, or do anything else to make a buck or two.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-a-pimp/173231/10 "2003-05-06T19:24:44Z")
You forgot the most important bit of a pimp’s “job”. Maintain fear and terror among the whores. Slap them around and make sure they “know their place” and NEVER try to leave the business until they can’t get any more customers. Then dump 'em and let 'em starve to death on their own.