Q: I’m a 24-year-old gay male with few resources and no “marketable” skills. I have made a lot of bad choices and now I struggle to make ends meet in a crappy dead-end job, living paycheck to paycheck in an expensive east-coast city. Recently, someone on Grindr offered me $3,000 to have sex with him. He is homely and nearly three times my age, but he seems kind and respectful. I could really use that money. I have no moral opposition to prostitution, but the few friends I’ve spoken to were horrified. Part of me agrees and thinks this is a really bad idea and I’ll regret it. But there’s another part of me that figures, hey, it’s just sex—and I’ve done more humiliating things for a lot less money. It makes me sad to think the only way I can make money is prostituting myself, because my looks aren’t going to last forever. And let’s face it: prostitution is an ugly and messy business, and it wouldn’t impress a potential future employer. —Stressed Over Taking Elderly Man’s Payment to Eat Dick
Massage therapists who haaaaate seeing their occupation referenced in conversations about sex work—all those hardworking, never-jerking massage therapists—might wanna check their privilege, as all the cool kids on campus are saying these days.
What about regrets?
You may find detaching from yourself in that way to be emotionally unpleasant or even exhausting, SOTEMPTED, but not everyone does. If your first experience goes well and you decide to see this particular guy again or start doing sex work regularly, pay close attention to your emotions and your health. If you don’t enjoy the actual work of sex work, or if you find it emotionally unpleasant or exhausting, stop doing sex work.
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