Sonia Rossi

Het oudste beroep ter wereld maakt veel mensen nog steeds nieuwsgierig. Wie zijn de dames van plezier die zich laten betalen voor seks? En wie zijn toch de mannen die hen bezoeken?
Sonia Rossi, deeltijdhoer en studente wiskunde in Berlijn, schetst een kleurrijk beeld van de alledaagse én onalledaagse werkelijkheid van een vrouw die als prostituee in de clubs van Berlijn werkt. Op openhartige en sympathieke wijze vertelt zij over haar werkomgeving waarin het niet alleen draait om geld en snelle, onpersoonlijke seks, maar juist ook om vriendschap en vertrouwen.

‘Het is geen boek over slechte mannen en zielige vrouwen, maar een boek over mensen, die allemaal zo hun eigen behoeftes hebben. Vaak is er ruimte voor sympathie en solidariteit, op een plek die daar niet geschikt voor lijkt.’ Brigitte Magazin

Sonia Rossi werd geboren in Italië en verhuisde van Sicilië naar Berlijn om wiskunde te studeren. Om bij te verdienen ging ze als prostituee werken. Ze heeft een zoon van twee.… (more)

A book about a young Italian women from a nice middleclass background coming to Berlin to study mathematics. She falls in love with a former rent boy, so gets in touch with the sex worker scene and soon realises that working in a massage parlour is a way to make a living.

She successfully studies maths, so I was surprised to find her not very bright. As soon as she earns a few hundred she spends it on an ipod and a short holiday, still thinking she'll be able to give up the sex work soon. She doesn't seem to be able to make long term plans regarding her income, frequently finding herself without money and then having to resort to sex work again. I also don't get her strange loyalty to jobs where she earned badly and was treated badly - she never had difficulties finding new work as a prostitute. Why did things have to get very bad before she looked for a new place?

She seems disgusted by her work, but still finds explanations and excuses for her customers, blaming their girlfriends, wives or women. She claims she tries to get out of sex work, yet she isn't prepared to do anything else, that pays less. She feels she *has* to work as a sex worker because there is no other way, yet she gives up jobs outside the trade within two weeks because they are just too hard and don't pay enough to support her and her boyfriend and his partying ways.

I can't relate to her supporting him at all. He disapproves of how she earns the money, but doesn't have a problem with spending it. He hardly ever contributes financially. She suspects him of cheating on her with other men and women. I don't get why she keeps returning to him or taking him back.

The end is rather optimistic with her having managed to start a new life without him, but somehow I don't feel very optimistic about her future.… (more)