Male Order

"Male Order is an original collection of life stories from four boys and two transsexuals who sold sex on the streets of London." "Described in their own words, the experiences of these young people range from 'cardboard city' to a champagne lifestyle with the rich and famous, taking in drugs, violence, glamour, money, safe and unsafe sex, brothels and worries about HIV. By turns shockingly matter-of-fact, appalling, hilarious and often very moving, these stories convey above all the loneliness, isolation, disgust with sex and lack of self-worth of these individuals and their longing for love and security." "The unique feature of Male Order is the way in which the detailed accounts of the boys' childhoods can be seen to relate to their lives on the street. Most grew up in a divided or violent family, coming to see men as abusers they could not trust. Leaving home as teenagers they found that selling their bodies was their only means of support, but this was also a way into a criminalized and stigmatized subculture. In seeking 'punters' to provide the rewards they lacked as children, they found sometimes affection but more often a vicious circle of exploitation and dishonesty. The voices in Male Order raise questions not just about buying and selling sex but about a society in which some teenagers learn to grow up as outcasts."--Jacket.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of LGBTQ+, Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.