The Aging Prostitute

For prostitutes, the ages of 16 to 22 are the most sexually attractive ages, and precocious 14-year-olds can readily look 17 or 18. The value of prostitutes for attracting customers declines quickly into the late twenties. Many prostitutes do not yet show the effects of drug abuse and a fast life by 21, but then the tendency to show their age accelerates. The younger ones attract more pickups, leaving the older ones to linger and to act more overtly to attract customers. Indeed, many younger prostitutes can do business simply by sitting on a bench acting unpretentious.

Marcus Felson, Crime and Everyday Life, Second Edition, 1998