History Main / Streetwalker

-> ''"I couldn't make the rent. I was too ashamed to go home. That's when I met Kit. She was a hooker, and she made it sound so great. So one day I did it. I cried the whole time. ... It's not like anybody plans this. It's not your childhood dream."''

* ''Series/TippingTheVelvet'': For a period of time, Nan works as one, servicing gay men who mistake her for a man. She conducts all her business on the streets since she can only give out handjobs and blowjobs since they might find out otherwise if she had anal sex.

* In Creator/JeanRenoir film ''La Chienne'', a cold-hearted streetwalker manipulates the meek older man who falls in love with her. In the [[ForeignRemake American remake]], ''Film/ScarletStreet'', the woman isn't explicitly stated to be a streetwalker but it's pretty obvious.

* The first season of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' has Nick falling for a hooker, who is indeed killed by her pimp. Her pimp claims she was going back to school to ''recruit'' for the job and leave him. She is, of course, incredibly beautiful and doesn't suffer from abuse or drug addiction, unlike most real-life prostitutes.

** A rather similar thing happens to Warrick in the eighth season.

* Wendy, a meth-addicted prostitute in ''Series/BreakingBad''.

* Atti in ''Film/AGirlWalksHomeAloneAtNight''. The film doesn't just hint that she's at risk for male violence, it shows how the drug dealer treats her, and also shows another man tying her up and inject heroin into her body despite her protests.

* Patty The Daytime Hooker on ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''. As they explain when she's introduced the first few times, it takes a special kind of woman to work the streets in the day instead of at night.

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' has plenty of ladies of the night who [[ArtificialAtmosphericActions aimlessly wander the streets]]. They're convenient for the vampire player character, since they can be paid to go someplace discreet for [[KissOfTheVampire a bit of fun]].

* Greek history makes this OlderThanFeudalism: A famous sandal with markings on its sole that would leave prints reading "''ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΕΙ''" ("akolouthei," i.e., "follow me") was found in Athens, probably dating from the classical period (c. 4th century BCE). It appears that the streetwalkers were not the lowest rank of prostitutes in Classical Athens; as free and independent businesswomen, they seem to have been the middle of the scale, between the cheap slave prostitutes of the public brothels established by Solon (which by statute had prices of one obol, or a day’s wages for a laborer) and the higher-class ''hetairai'' (courtesans, generally expected to be intellectually and artistically talented as well as hot). And as the shoe shows, some could even attract the kind of relatively well-off clientele who could read, suggesting that a streetwalker might be able to work her way up into ''hetaira'' status in some cases.

Contrast HighClassCallGirl, who may look at a streetwalker with pity (glad not to be in their shoes) or fear (of ending up there once their own beauty starts to fade). Or sometimes rueful respect,as they too started out as a street girl.

Contrast HighClassCallGirl, who may look at a streetwalker with pity (glad not to be in their shoes) or fear (of ending up there once their own beauty starts to fade).

-->''See them out on the street at night, walkin' ''
-->''Picking up on all kinds of strangers''
-->''If the price is right''

[[folder: Video Games]]

They usually are women from a marginalized population, often use some form of [[HookersAndBlow illegal drugs]], and meet potential clients along city streets in run-down areas. Their HollywoodDressCode includes tiny skirts, six-inch plastic heels, [[PrettyInMink rabbit fur]] or [[ItsFakeFurItsFine fake fur jackets]], a gallon of makeup, and crop tops, [[ExposedToTheElements even if it's freezing outside]].

* Briefly depicted in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' in "The Ultimate Thrill" and subsequently in the flashback scenes from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker''. [[FanNickname Freckles and Blondie]] don't have a single line, but it's not hard to guess their occupation from the way they're dressed.

[[folder: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[folder: ComicBooks]]

[[folder: FanFic]]

* Towards the end of ''Film/TheLifeOfOharu'', Oharu, who goes on a long slide from noblewoman to homeless beggar, is working as a streetwalker in a sad, dusty 18th century Japanese village. She is humiliated when a man pays for her services, only to instead show her to his band of religious pilgrims as an example of the fate of sinners.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* ''Series/TippingTheVelvet'': For a period of time, Nan works as one, servicing gay men who mistake her for a man. She conducts all her business on the streets, since she can only give out handjobs and blowjobs, since they might find out otherwise if she had anal sex.

[[folder:{{Music}}]]

--> ''See them out on the street at night, walkin' ''
--> ''Picking up on all kinds of strangers''
--> ''If the price is right''

[[folder:{{Theatre}}]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'' has Butterscotch, a teenage girl who propositions the Shinto-Buddhist priest Kamimura. Due to his simple, sheltered nature he seems not even to understand what she's offering.
* The basis of ''WebVideo/{{Manwhores}}'' is the characters acting as these, with much of the early comedy revolving around their ineptness and awkwardness at it. Gems include Kevin awkwardly shouting "Sex for money, sex for money" repeatedly on a street corner. Randy actually turns out to be quite good at it, apparently due to to the power of his PornStache.

[[folder:{{WesternAnimation}}]]

* Greek history makes this OlderThanFeudalism: A famous sandal with markings on its sole that would leave prints reading "''ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΕΙ''" ("akolouthei," i.e., "follow me") was found in Athens, probably dating from the classical period (c. 4th century BCE). It appears that the streetwalkers were not the lowest rank of prostitutes in Classical Athens; as free and independent businesswomen, they seem to have been the middle of the scale, between the cheap slave prostitutes of the public brothels established by Solon (which by statute had prices of one obol, or a day’s wages for a laborer) and the higher-class ''hetairai'' (courtesans, generally expected to be intellectually and artistically talented as well as hot). And as the shoe shows, some could even attract the kind of relatively-well-off clientele who could read, suggesting that a streetwalker might be able to work her way up into ''hetaira'' status in some cases.

-> ''“I couldn’t make the rent. I was too ashamed to go home. That's when I met Kit. She was a hooker, and she made it sound so great. So one day I did it. I cried the whole time. … It’s not like anybody plans this. It’s not your childhood dream.”''

* Arthur Bach spots two hookers on a corner at the beginning of ''Film/{{Arthur}}''. He picks one of them up, then tells his driver to "Give her friend a hundred dollars. She came in second."

** Also in the same series, the last Nan of ''A WizardOfLondon'' hears of her mother is that she has reached the bottom rung of a woman in Whitechapel by becoming one, roaming the streets with nothing but the clothes on her back and soliciting men to further her alcoholism and addiction to drugs.

* Vinessa Shaw in ''Film/EyesWideShut'' was an absurdly attractive example of one.

* "Slabwalkers", as they are known, crop up from time to time in ''Comicbook/{{Judge Dredd}}'', where they are distressingly often [[{{Disposable Sex Worker}} murder victims]]. They have to compete with {{sexbots}}. The most notable is America Jara, who was the most prominent and aggressive pro-democracy advocate.