The world is cruel, we judge people on our set of principles. West will term people fighting for their rights as terrorists and will turn diaries of a former call girl into a national legend. Belle de Jour has finally unmasked herself. I am glad that she has decided to do it. Times on Sunday did the deed, and carried a long story on her.
According to BBC…
Dr Brooke Magnanti wrote under the pen name Belle de Jour to describe the encounters she had as a high-class call girl while earning money for her PhD. The 34-year-old said she decided to unmask herself because the stress of the deceit was making her paranoid. Interest in her identity increased when her memoirs became a television series. Dr Magnanti, who now lives in Bristol and is a research scientist for The Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health, became a prostitute because she needed a job that left her enough time to complete her studies. She kept her double life a secret even when she started the blog describing her experiences and the books which followed. Dr Magnanti told the Sunday Times she worked as a prostitute from 2003 to late 2004, and found it "so much more enjoyable" than her shifts in another job as a computer programmer.
Keeping aside issues of the morality, it's a bold decision on part of a professional to reveal her true identity. My respects for Dr. Brooke and I wish her luck in forthcoming days.
Story in Sunday times - http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6917495.ece
Belle de Jour Blog - http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com/
