Business as usual

I've mentioned here that I'm a behavioral statistician, a person who looks for trends and patterns in the sometimes bewildering array of human behaviors. It's a skill that serves me well when traveling.  But back home, I earn money by applying that skill to sexual behavior d STD prevention. There is a long and weird pathway to becoming a professional observer of the nation's sexual health, but that's a whole other blog.

Here in Europe, I find myself automatically checking out the sexual trends. Apart from teens making out, 20-something people arguing passionately, and some trophy-wife types of relationships, the most observable trend for a tourist is in commercial sex. There aren't so many differences from the States, though I'm aware that some of the hotel-based sex traders are less visible than the streetwalkers, of whom I have seen relatively few, compared to Atlanta. But here are a few things I'm noticing around town.

The first one hits you when you come in from the airport, and an enormous billboard advertises the Apricot Call Girls. The fact that the advertisement says, "Very discreet," in probably 5-foot-tall lettering, is kind of ironic.  Do discreet people have billboards? And are "call girls" legal here?  Do they mean the same thing as in US? I haven't checked.

As you drive into town, there are sex shops with signs that indicate whether the shop features glory holes, private cabinetas, etc. Do shops in the States advertise glory holes so blatantly? I honestly can't recall whether I've seen that or not. It surprised me to see sex venues advertising quite so openly. I've seen that in the big cities in the States, but even then they try to cloak them as "steam rooms," "bath houses," or "men's clubs."

I haven't seen specific STD clinics or GUM clinics yet, but I haven't really looked. I'm just noting what the tourists see. There isn't any condom litter like in Atlanta, but the Durex brand has great presence in shops.

The funny thing is that I'd like to ask around, and find out what some of the trends and norms are here. But my Spanish isn't good enough to explain that I'm not LOOKING for sex, nor do I want to look AT sex, but rather I STUDY sex. Statistically. Almost academically (but not quite). That's tough enough to explain to Americans, in their own mangled language.  So for now, I can only see what is in front of me.

In sexuality related observances, I've been near some LGBT centers in BCN and Paris, and of course the Pride parade in Rome, and I've seen various gay venues, but nothing has been very active when I've been around. I'm on tourist time, so I'm not likely to see a lot of real activity, but I'm looking for trends in tolerance and out-ness. Roman pride was fairly tame, by US big-city standards, but the crowd was a great mix of straight, gay, kid-carrying and not-kidful, trans, etc. The best thing I can say is that it was often tough to tell who was with whom, nor did anyone seem to care.  Are the parades more tame because the issues are already out in the open and acceptance is better? Or because there is more hiding going on? Gay couples seem much more accepted and can be more open in Barcelona than anywhere else I've been to date, but Paris seemed pretty open minded as well. At least in Marais. Nowhere have I seen any of the pursed-lip disapproval that I often see in the States.

And finally, in a non-sexual way, everyone kisses everyone in Rome and Paris (haven't seen it so much in BCN). Men kiss men, women, and probably exceptionally well-groomed pets, as a way of saying hello. People in Miami do that, a single kiss on the cheek, but here it is usually a kiss on each cheek.

And no, not butt cheeks. Get your minds out of the gutters. Those gutters are MINE. I'm a professional.