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My antidepressant made me do it!
The Hartman estate says Zoloft was to blame for a murder-suicide.
By Rob Waters
[07/19/99]

Urge
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[07/17/99]

Urge
Three's company; so is four or five
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[07/17/99]

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[07/16/99]

Column
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Kegeling promises to help prevent incontinence and "enhance physical intimacy."  
By Mary Roach
[07/16/99]

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Everyone's got a theory about why hookers have double lives. A guy who finds out will often accuse you of hating men -- but that's just sour grapes ... I once read something by a sociologist who said hookers lead secret lives because they're "stigmatized." Oh, well -- what do sociologists know?

My own informal poll, carried out over the last decade, reveals that we don't tell our boyfriends what we do for a living because:

Nancy Chan: Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl appears in Health & Body every Monday and Thursday. + About Nancy Chan: Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl -- with links to all chapters to date. + Read the Diary from the start.

1. "If he knew I was having sex with other men, he would start sleeping with other women."
2. "He would never understand."
3. "Open relationships don't work, for god's sake."
4. "He would never take me home to Mom."
5. "I don't like it when a guy knows -- it's harder to sneak out and work. He'll try to monopolize your time."
6. "Nobody knows I'm in the business."
7. "I would lose respect for him if he knew."
8. "He would feel emasculated."
9. "I don't want him to know how much money I make -- he might turn into a gold digger."
10. "Every guy has that ego thing, it's just the way men are ..."
11. "If a man loves you, he doesn't want you doing this, so if you tell him, he'll either want you to stop or you'll discover that he's not worth it. Either way you lose."
12. "It's more fun this way."

And so on.

One exception comes to mind: Kelli, a former exotic dancer who worked with Jasmine for awhile. "If a guy answers ... You don't have to hang up. It's Kelli's boyfriend. He'll even book the date for her ... Isn't that sad?" Jasmine once said in a snide-but-sympathetic tone. Everyone assumes that a guy who knows is living off his girlfriend. I would never have a boyfriend who booked my appointments -- but maybe Kelli was happy with this (admittedly bummy-sounding) boyfriend.

For sheer deviousness, I think the medal goes to "Angel," a ditzy-looking blonde I met when I was working for the escort service. She was living with her boyfriend: "He knows I used to work but I made up a story about how my ex-husband was a bastard who beat me and forced me to hook." I don't think I could bring myself to tell a guy such a flat-out crazy story, even if I thought it would help our relationship.

Allison is the only girl I know currently espousing the truth and consequences policy -- and look at the consequences. Basically, if you tell a guy, he'll put pressure on you to quit. It's always those closet good girls who are tempted to tell.
salon.com | July 19, 1999

Episode 4: Busty for an Oriental

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