Want to know what being a pimp -- as well as a prostitute for a pimp -- is really like? Then read the first twenty pages of this opinion by Justice Turner.
My sense is that this is a pretty accurate account of both how pimping works as well as how young women -- sometimes very young -- get turned out. It's a very different story than the one churned out by Hollywood. Although the one thing that television and movies apparently get right is the role of Greyhound bus stations in the practice.
I once watched an excellent documentary on pimping a couple of years ago, which had extensive interviews of both pimps and their prostitutes, which was consistent with everything I read in Justice Turner's opinion. Let's just say it isn't a glamorous life. At all.
