A Worthwhile Job
I decided I wanted to be a prostitute when I
was seventeen. Almost all my female friends
were older than I and many of them were sex workers.
Unlike my run-of-the-mill friends, they never worried
about rent and almost always had money for nice things. Good
They weren’t rich by any means. Most sex
workers aren’t but they were secure.
They were also incredibly cool. Of course,
I wasn’t so stupid to think the job was easy.
The fact that they could juggle both the outside
prejudice and the layers of euphemism (even deceit)
their professions required was inspiring to me.
Sex Work & Play
A Californian sex worker activist coined
the gender-neutral term “sex work” in 1978
to describe the myriad ways that people
exchange sexual services for money.
Including street prostitution, phone sex,
stripping and erotic massage. Do we include
meals, jewellery, holidays and marriage?
The beauty of the term ‘sex work’ is its expansiveness.
If both sex and work are part of everyday experience,
what exactly constitutes sex work? Go ahead.
Think about that meaningful glance you got from
the bank teller when you were making a deposit.
Still, the most recognizable forms of sex work
remain deeply stigmatized, with talk-show hosts,
evangelists, reporters, lawyers, academics,
prison wardens and psychiatrists endlessly
rehashing “expert” opinions that range from
pathologization to sensationalism.
Sex Work Therapy
Customers will pay sex workers
to simply sit and talk with them.
There is flirtation and sex but there is also
bitching about stresses at work or at home.
Once the sex is over, there is nakedness,
vulnerability and a sort of unspoken intimacy.
Sex can break open emotional floodgates.
Men are under a lot of pressure to be
strong and fix their own problems.
It’s ironic that some resort to talking about
their feelings in a taboo, forbidden context.
Sex Workout
It depends on how enthusiastic you are about keep-fit sex.
It can be great for the core muscles. If your partner is
thrusting towards you, you want to have an equal and
opposite thrust back. That requires a lot of core strength.
It actually will start burning off fat.