tame. For each of the two months she spent at the Chicken Ranch, she cleared $14,000. She didnât enjoy sharing her earnings with management, but she did like the feeling that she was safe inside the brothel walls. âI knew I wasnât going to be harassed,â she says.
Joi, who is now an independent sex worker running her own escort service, says there is still drug use among women working in and outside the brothels in Nevada. âI still keep up with things, and from what Iâm seeing, they have a heroin problem really bad in Reno. Heroin and meth are kind of taking over,â she says.
At Sheriâs Ranch, however, management says it has zero tolerance for illegal drugs. âThe girls know that drugs are totally illegal at the ranch; their luggage is subject to be searched when they come to the ranch,â owner Chuck Lee says. âAnd we check the entire premises with trained dogs,â including the womenâs private rooms. Their alcohol intake is also restricted. According to Anna, she and the other ladies are allowed six drinks a day, one per hour. And thatâs fine with her. âThat helps keep us sharp and not make silly decisions while weâre negotiating,â she says.
If management does find drugs in the workersâ rooms or luggage, they are asked to leave, says the madam at Sheriâs Ranch, a plump, maternal-looking woman in her forties who wished to be identified by her first name only: Dena. âSome brothels are more tolerant,â Dena says. âI know we lose certain girls because we are so strict about it. But we donât want them here anyway.â
Dena first came to Sheriâs Ranch on a tour with her then mother-in-law, who was a member of a senior womenâs group called the Red Hats. Dena had been working in the Las Vegas casinos and was a stay-at-homemother at the time. But she seemed so curious about life at the brothel that the general manager asked if she would like to work there part-time as a hostess.
âIt eventually evolved into a full-time job,â Dena says. The job of a hostess is to chat up the customers who walk in the door and see what theyâd like. Some have already been corresponding by email with a specific woman (the womenâs work emails are posted with their profiles on the Sheriâs Ranch website), so they will ask for her directly. Other customers might venture into the dimly lit bar, where they can sit and drink with several of the ladies and make their choice that way. And still others prefer the old-fashioned ritual of the lineup.
The day I was at Sheriâs Ranch, a twenty-something couple dressed casually in jeans and T-shirts strolled in, the woman hanging nervously onto her partnerâs arm. Dena greeted them in the bar and later told me they asked for a lineup. âThreesomes are one of our specialties. Usually, thereâs a lot of correspondence between couples and a particular woman, but this is a very young couple and they may not have known they could do that,â she says. âThey wanted to base their decision off visuals. Theyâve done this before; theyâre from Iceland.â
The lineup takes place in the main lounge at Sheriâs Ranch, a large, elegant room with high ceilings, ornate light-yellow couches, and a wall of windows open to the pool and waterfall in the backyard. Several large paintings of Rubenesque nudes adorn the walls, and a black baby grand piano sits in one corner of the lounge, right next to a mounted poster explaining the services that Sheriâs offers, everything from a âstraight layâ to a drag party and a ménage à trois.
The lineup for the Icelanders occurred while I was having lunch with Dena and two other staff members in a red-leather booth in the bar. Several of the scantily dressed ladies who had been sitting in the bar began strolling out into the main lounge, although I didnât really take note until the music
Joi, who is now an independent sex worker running her own escort service, says there is still drug use among women working in and outside the brothels in Nevada. âI still keep up with things, and from what Iâm seeing, they have a heroin problem really bad in Reno. Heroin and meth are kind of taking over,â she says.
At Sheriâs Ranch, however, management says it has zero tolerance for illegal drugs. âThe girls know that drugs are totally illegal at the ranch; their luggage is subject to be searched when they come to the ranch,â owner Chuck Lee says. âAnd we check the entire premises with trained dogs,â including the womenâs private rooms. Their alcohol intake is also restricted. According to Anna, she and the other ladies are allowed six drinks a day, one per hour. And thatâs fine with her. âThat helps keep us sharp and not make silly decisions while weâre negotiating,â she says.
If management does find drugs in the workersâ rooms or luggage, they are asked to leave, says the madam at Sheriâs Ranch, a plump, maternal-looking woman in her forties who wished to be identified by her first name only: Dena. âSome brothels are more tolerant,â Dena says. âI know we lose certain girls because we are so strict about it. But we donât want them here anyway.â
Dena first came to Sheriâs Ranch on a tour with her then mother-in-law, who was a member of a senior womenâs group called the Red Hats. Dena had been working in the Las Vegas casinos and was a stay-at-homemother at the time. But she seemed so curious about life at the brothel that the general manager asked if she would like to work there part-time as a hostess.
âIt eventually evolved into a full-time job,â Dena says. The job of a hostess is to chat up the customers who walk in the door and see what theyâd like. Some have already been corresponding by email with a specific woman (the womenâs work emails are posted with their profiles on the Sheriâs Ranch website), so they will ask for her directly. Other customers might venture into the dimly lit bar, where they can sit and drink with several of the ladies and make their choice that way. And still others prefer the old-fashioned ritual of the lineup.
The day I was at Sheriâs Ranch, a twenty-something couple dressed casually in jeans and T-shirts strolled in, the woman hanging nervously onto her partnerâs arm. Dena greeted them in the bar and later told me they asked for a lineup. âThreesomes are one of our specialties. Usually, thereâs a lot of correspondence between couples and a particular woman, but this is a very young couple and they may not have known they could do that,â she says. âThey wanted to base their decision off visuals. Theyâve done this before; theyâre from Iceland.â
The lineup takes place in the main lounge at Sheriâs Ranch, a large, elegant room with high ceilings, ornate light-yellow couches, and a wall of windows open to the pool and waterfall in the backyard. Several large paintings of Rubenesque nudes adorn the walls, and a black baby grand piano sits in one corner of the lounge, right next to a mounted poster explaining the services that Sheriâs offers, everything from a âstraight layâ to a drag party and a ménage à trois.
The lineup for the Icelanders occurred while I was having lunch with Dena and two other staff members in a red-leather booth in the bar. Several of the scantily dressed ladies who had been sitting in the bar began strolling out into the main lounge, although I didnât really take note until the music
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