The History of Sex: Istanbul -- How to 'Cure' a Homosexual (or Not) -- (Chap. II, Pt. 13)

Of course, if you're religious enough to care about purifying your penis, surely you shouldn't be sticking it in a prostitute in the first place.

By all accounts, there's a reason that prices start at around 30 lira, or just £10 ($15).

'To be honest, you're probably better off not going in the genelev,' he shrugs. 'You might never want to have sex again!'

Romanticizing the genelev

Unfortunately, his first time with a woman was in a genelev.

Mehmet knew from the age of eight that he was attracted to men, but as a young Kurd in tin-shack Anatolia—the Asian side of the country—he wasn't able to seek counseling until he was sixteen.

'The doctor was sick himself. He told me a lot of stupid things, like "stay out of the sun", "don't eat salty food" and "go have sex with a woman".'

After the first two failed, Mehmet tried a brothel, the only outlet for heterosexual singles in Islamic societies—apart from infidel divorcees at tourist resorts. 'The genelev definitely didn't help,' Mehmet recalls, shaking his head.

The prostitute took him to Room 41—he still remembers the number—and ordered him to undress.

'She laid down, closed her eyes and told me, "Do it." I told her, "Shouldn't you be moving or something?" But she just laid there. She didn't even open her eyes.'

'So that put you off women for good?'

'For sure!'

'THE ASS IS ALWAYS BIGGER'

Of course, you can't blame the women.

Forever stigmatized by society as registered prostitutes, many actually live on the same dead-end streets where they work; if they try to move out or quit the game, the local vice squad tracks them down.

So girls who enter the genelev as teenagers—with punters queuing out the door—may end up staying until they're in their sixties.

'The women stand in the windows in their bras and panties, like in Amsterdam, but you'd be amazed that anyone could ever have sex with them,' Mehmet says. 'Most of the women are very much used-looking and old and fat.'

Still, that doesn't put off Turkish men.

'People don't mind fat women here, especially in Kurdish culture. In Eastern Turkey, being fat is a big plus.'

A bit of heft implies wealth in a society where people aren't skinny by choice.

As Mehmet puts it: 'You know the English expression that "the grass is always greener"? Well, there's a Kurdish saying where I come from that "the neighbour lady's ass is always bigger."'