There's a running joke in the Let's Go office that some day I'll write Let's Ho: Prostitution Around the World. Given that my previous Research Writer stints have involved Thailand (including a 5-day visit to Pattaya, renowned for its prevalence of sex workers) and Amsterdam, I've become a touch accustomed to the presence of flagrant prostitution in the cities I'm researching. Ignoring my personal views on the ethics of sex work, let's just say that it's been a little weird that so far I hadn't seen a single trace of anything XXX in London (barring a few bars that turned out to be strip clubs).
Until today, that is. I turned off a main street in Soho, on the hunt for a Belgian bar, and was greeted by a small street packed with erotic toy stores and porn shops. "Gaah!" was my first reaction, "Aaawww this looks just like Oude Zijds Vorburgwal" was my second. Then I actually stopped to ponder my surroundings for a minute. London is touted for being famously diverse -- which is absolutely true, as the variety of ethnicities you'll find in my local grocery store in Hackney can attest. But before now, I had yet to find a city block that contained as much diversity as these parts of the West End did -- British pubs next to gay bars next to student clubs next to sex shops next to the Royal Opera House (ok maybe that one was a block or two away). It was truly astounding that in a city as sprawling as London you could find so many different things packed into such a tiny area. No, it's nothing compared to Amsterdam's Red Light District or Bangkok's Patpong. And I'm glad it's not- I don't mean to glorify the sex industry by any means. But it's nice to know the British aren't quite as repressed as it seems, and that a neighborhood as central to both the tourist industry and the local crowds of after-work drinkers can stand to have a few sex stores in its midst.