Portland's Prostitution Scene gets Noticed by New York Magazine

New York Magazine talks to a woman named Chelsea Lane who evolved from Reed College student to prostitute, another example of why Portland has a reputation of being a center for the sex trade.

She tells the magazine she was a freshman at Portland's Reed College when someone in her class showed her a Tumblr about being a prostitute.

"I started reading sex workers' blogs," she told the magazine. "And within Reed, it was like, 'That's cool. That's edgy.'"

The blogs led her and other students to debate whether they could sell their bodies.

And while Lane describes herself as "fat and hairy" and so pale she almost glows, she decided that, ultimately, ultimately, the answer was yes.

She ended up posting an an ad in her freshman year and soon got a bite from someone who she met a hotel.

"The sex was really bad," she told the magazine. "But he was a decent guy. He was in his mid-40s. He told me that I was the second person he’d ever slept with, other than his wife. He put the money in my purse.

"As soon as I got in my car, I counted and was like, ‘Holy shit, that’s $300!’ At this point, I’m 18 and working at Sears. I was excited."

The magazine uses Chelsea's story to examine the question of whether being a prostitute is just another a job.

Chelsea. for her part, has moved from Portland to San Francisco where she continues to work the sex trade but is also in school, looking to be a lawyer who represents sex workers.

She also has her own blog.

And, the whole New York Magazine story can be found here.