Lyn: A Story of Prostitution

Written by Bernie Weisz Historian E Mail: BernWei1@aol.com Pembroke Pines, Florida U.S.A. May 28, 2010 Title of Review: "Lyn-a very mixed up woman with a very confusing story!" Being an avid reader of history, I thought I would be treated to an "in-depth" scoop of the prostitution trade in Ireland. After all, prostitution is labeled the world's "oldest profession" I can't say that Lyn Madden enlightened me much. Madden, now a reformed prostitute, wrote ostensibly about her twenty year experiences as a prostitute on the streets of Dublin, Ireland. She starts as a young child, and goes through her experiences that rapidly that led up to her introduction into the trade which she called her life "on the game". However, very little of this book talks about the intracacies and subtleties of the "ladies of the night". Instead, this book centers on Madden's relationship with her lover and pimp, John Cullen. In graphic detail, she describes how her career ended as a prostitute the night she watched Cullen throw a molotov coctail fire bomb through the window of Deloris Lynch, a fellow prostitute who snitched (this book calls it "grassing) on Cullen seven years prior to this which resulted in a 3 year jail sentence for him. Deloris had quit "the game" without Cullen's consent, and perished in this fire along with her elderly mother and aunt. However, Madden realizes that Cullen is a monster on the loose and she herself goes to the police and tells the authorities who the culprit is. Madden wrote this book in 1987 while awaiting the trial of John Cullen, which resulted in an 18 year sentence. Unfortunately, while struggling with the meaning of "Irish expressions" I have never heard, this was a very frustrating book to read. Madden constantly goes back to a pimp that beats, brutalizes and pawns her out to the highest bidder. It actually took a murder to shake John Cullen's grip on Lyn. However, there are some interesting tidbits in this book. Who would visit a prostitute? Madden writes: "All sorts: politicians, business and professional men, priests, and the guy who puts money aside each week for the purpose". After being robbed and beaten by johns in her early ventures into prostitution, Lyn runs into a married man, her pimp, John Cullen. Here is Madden's description of pimps: A unique feature of the pimping scene in Ireland is that they are often "happily" married men, supporting families on the girlfriend's earnings. However, after a multitude of beatings, a scene where Cullen violents beats up Lyn, she writes in the 3rd person: "Whatever it was that attracted John to Lyn in the beginning, it did not matter any longer. He thought that she was beaten, and that now Lyn was his property. If her spirit was broken, all the better:it meant he would have more freedom to do whatever he desired and she would not dare to question him. It did not occur to him that she might leave him. He had won the war. Lyn knew the way his mind worked. What he did not realize was that she had become terrified to answer him back, she seethed in her head. As a prostitute, she could have forgiven the whipping; she accepted the urge to flagellate. But she regarded herself as John's lover, not his prostitute, and the episode had brought her down". Obviously, this relationship, which frustratingly takes up 80% of this book, is inherently doomed. However, Madden does give us some insight into the "world of prostitution". Madden writes about jumping into a car with a "john": "Getting into a car was even more scary. Your heart raced as you assessed the client. And as you got into the car, you checked that it had a door handle on the inside and a window catch, in case you had to get out in a hurry. The silent ones were the worst. "Why doesn't he speak?" So you small talked, and I mean small talk. And if your client was the silent type your palms were sweating with fear and you heard yourself asking inane things in an effort to get him to say something so you could hear the tone of his voice. Was there any kindness in it? If he made any sudden moves you jumped out of your skin even though he was only reaching for his wallet. I could go on, but you've got the picture. It does not end when the night's work is over. You go home and if you haven't a pimp to deal with, you get into bed and you're in what psychiatrists call "a state of extreme arousal". I can only describe it as being like "hearing stars". I've seen stars, when I got a punch on the jaw. Hearing stars is different. It takes alot of sleeping tablets to take you down from being so high". Lyn cullen ends her book with the following conclusions; "I hate to think about the men, now. They came from all walks of life. Back then, I just thought I needed them as much as they needed me. I always thought that a good comparison could be made with wildlife. I watched lots of wildlife programmes on TV and learned how animals survive off other species, like the birds who ride on the backs of beasts and feed off their parasites and so on, down to the small fishes that clean the gills of larger fish. So clients and prostitutes needed each other, I figured. It was that sort of relationship, except that people are not wildlife. I needed those men more than they needed me. They could have masturbated". Lyn lamented on the way her "john's" viewed her: "I don't know how they saw me, except that when we met under different circumstances, they pretended not to know me". Lyn concludes this book with her changed feelings towards prostitution. Madden quips: "I did numerous interviews in the past where I justified prostitution, believing everything I said at the time. Through therapy and the love of friends, I've learned that there can be no justification for that life. It is no way for people to relate to one another, and every woman is far too precious to be wasted on "the game". Surely, this ending, as well as the endless mistreatment Lyn cullen endures from her pimp and customers can potentially discourage any woman considering this very dangerous career. Lyn warns the reader: "Most women on the street need something to help them get down to work at night. With Irish women it is usually booze, although drugs were used as they became more readily available. She warns the reader that her trick in succeeding in prostitution was her ability to "turn her mind off" as she had sex with her clients. She writes: "What was going on with my body had nothing to do with me. I just "switched off". My mind was my own". That is scary! Remember, this book was written in 1987, before the AID's crises hit full bloom. Needless to say, "Lyn:A Story of Prostitution" is a quick, informative read, and is worth one's time!

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