The following account is from B oys for Sale. Though published the next year, it is part of a wider study of New York boy prostitution which describes boys' circumstances as "present" in We have interviewed boys in certain correctional institutions as well as boys in several American cities. If it were possible to interview all boy prostitutes, the results might have been different.
Even so, we found the following tabulation interesting and very much to the point. This is a sample of boys in the New York City area.
The predominance of two major factors was made clear by our interviews. This seemed to be the subject most frequently referred to. The other important conclusion we could draw concerned the actual introduction to prostitution that these boys had. Of the cases cited, 3 out of 18 had had previous sexual experiences with adults: one with an employer, one with an uncle and the last with a schoolteacher. Some of the boys were from good families whose standard of living reflected above average income.
We found boys who were happy living at home with their parents, yet prostituting themselves at every available opportunity just to earn money for extras like records and presents. Many did not intend to become involved in anything else but it is inevitable that the young prostitute โ for money, curiosity, or under various pressures โ gradually succumbed to the lure of variety.
The dominance of money as a prime factor was further illustrated to us by an interesting fact not indicated in the table. All but one of those interviewed claimed that there were certain types of sexual acts in which they would never engage. Some said no passive sodomy and a dozen of them drew the line at analingus. All but one changed opinions when larger sums of money were suggested.
