I have yet to set eyes on year-old Mario, but I already know more private things about him than I do of my closest friends. I know his measurements and that the only things he does not consent to sexually are sadomasochist or homosexual acts.
Everything else is a go. We shake hands, as befits any business meeting, and a few minutes later he is showing me nude pictures of himself over coffee. That is the way it goes in this trade; you meet a person and the next moment you see them in all their glory. Mario is a male prostitute.
A gigolo, he corrects me, a semi-professional version of the once-famous Yugoslav "seagulls", men who "entertained" middle-class female tourists during the summer months in return for a gift or an all-expenses-paid night on the town.
He is one of 10 Croat gigolos I met β and many more whom I contacted over the phone or via email β while investigating male prostitution in Croatia after stumbling over a website that listed Croatia as one of the top destinations for female sex tourism in Southern Europe. Prostitution is generally considered a female-only profession in the Western Balkans, where patriarchal and conservative values dominate. So it was something of a surprise to find heterosexual male prostitution is a thriving β if largely unorganised β business.
Fifty men offered their services as male prostitutes within just two days of placing an ad for gigolos on two Croatian websites. In fact, offers flowed in for weeks, from Istria to Dubrovnik, from Herzegovina, Montenegro and Belgrade. Most appeared serious, providing a detailed price list, photograph, physical description, contact numbers and an explanation of what was on, and off, the menu.
