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Overly analytical guide to escorting

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Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#161

Post by pizza234 »

hzay wrote: post #152

I felt very sorry when she said it's difficult to take deposits because payment processors are cruel, that she can't report a horrible client to police, that the govt refuses to acknowledge the work but takes the taxes, and all the precautions escorts have to take against cops. This work should be legal.

The legality is addressed in the article:

> You can in fact get issued an escort license in some cities (e.g., San Francisco or Grand Chute, or Jefferson County, WA). I don’t know if this is a good idea, neither I nor anybody I know has applied for this, though I seriously considered. It’s possible it might grant you some legal protection, but also possible it might give you some legal issues, as it puts a lot of information about you in a government file that clearly states you are in fact an escort.

Based on that, from an escort viewpoint, the legal protections are not a worthy tradeoff for privacy.

Ultimately, in the context of the country/culture, legal protection is a progressive position, but it's not sufficient, unless complemented by a degree of anonymity. Not sure how that could work, though!

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#163

Post by hzay »

pizza234 wrote: post #161
hzay wrote: post #152

I felt very sorry when she said it's difficult to take deposits because payment processors are cruel, that she can't report a horrible client to police, that the govt refuses to acknowledge the work but takes the taxes, and all the precautions escorts have to take against cops. This work should be legal.

The legality is addressed in the article: > You can in fact get issued an escort license in some cities (e.g., San Francisco or Grand Chute, or Jefferson County, WA). I don’t know if this is a good idea, neither I nor anybody I know has applied for this, though I seriously considered. It’s possible it might grant you some legal protection, but also possible it might give you some legal issues, as it puts a lot of inf…

> Ultimately, in the context of the country/culture, legal protection is a progressive position, but it's not sufficient, unless complemented by a degree of anonymity. Not sure how that could work, though!

Legal, non-anonymous and socially respectable escort services used to exist, you know. It existed in south india as a practice for hundreds of years before the british came.

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#164

Post by c21h30o2 »

manquer wrote: post #79
emerged wrote: post #22

I actually read the entire thing. It was worth it imo. Some stand outs were her kind words about her clients (almost strange to see men as a class described with such positive words). She is clearly a very rational and intelligent person and this is a business to her like any other. Yeah I really don’t get why this stuff is illegal, even though I have no interest myself.

Her experience is not a good indicator or whether it should be legal or not . She is an exception even as an escort, and also high end escort work she describes here is very very different from the run on the mill prostitution. Her strategy of avoiding trouble by keeping price higher even if lower frequency engagements may not be feasible for many, they may be unable to get clients at higher price points and like any…

The question of whether it's good and wholesome is orthogonal to the question of whether society should punish those who do it.

Scenario A: Resourceful, successful, happy. Should she be forced to accept dangerous working conditions and live under the constant threat of eviction, imprisonment, harassment and stigma? Why? What's the argument in favor of making her life difficult?

Scenario B: Physical or mental disability, unattractive, can't afford to refuse clients even though they make her unsafe, doesn't have any other way to pay for rent, food, meds and diapers. Should she be prevented from going to the police when someone beats, rapes or robs her? Should she be prevented from organizing with her friends for mutual protection? Should she be prevented from advertising online and instead forced onto the streets? Again, why? What's the argument in favor of making her life even more difficult?

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#165

Post by eevilspock »

Yoric wrote: post #156

Very interesting article. Do I understand correctly that sex work is still illegal in the US? If so, what's the rationale? Why can't consenting adults do what they want with their body?

If a woman is poor, struggling to survive or trying to give a child a decent life in a society and economic system that is very sink or swim, do you consider it "consent" if she agrees to have sex with you so she can pay the rent, or have a decent meal, or buy the drugs she got hooked on dealing with depression and alienation, sold to her by a predatory drug dealer?

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#166

Post by durnygbur »

refurb wrote: post #41
dustintrex wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same stats also note that the median income for an escort is $5000 per month , or $60k/year. And for what it's worth, flying to many places with a family of four can cost $1200/hour even in economy class.

There was an article about prostitution in Germany (legal) where Eastern European women will offer services for as low as 10 EUR. Race to the bottom?

One must be really a hopeless ugly German to pay a woman from EE for sex. They hope for a relationship anchoring them in the country and need a guide through the ruthless rules and bureaucracy, you receive sex free of charge. Bulgaria, Romania, Moldavia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine - you pick the flavour. Historical justice... not.

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#167

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

> if your options for romance are with men who don’t like sex work

Well, that's a very positive way of formulating this. This could be put more accurately as: "If you decide to enter a long-term relationship, you will have to either find a partner who wouldn't mind sex work (might be difficult!) or lie to them (ouch!)"

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#168

Post by tablespoon »

> Once you start seeing clients, expect to get used as a reference and to start getting emails from other providers asking about clients you’ve seen. It’s considered extremely good form to respond; this is a collective safety system we all use to help each other, you rely on their information and they rely on yours.

I wonder if the police could exploit this practice to make arrests. Arrest an escort, get access to their email as evidence, then start going after the people who made reference requests. I suppose the email address could even be used to fake a reference for a sting, but I doubt that would be legal in the US. Probably the only reason this system works is the police don't care enough to exploit it.

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#169

Post by lelandfe »

Yoric wrote: post #156

Very interesting article. Do I understand correctly that sex work is still illegal in the US? If so, what's the rationale? Why can't consenting adults do what they want with their body?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_the_United_S...

It’s illegal everywhere but certain parts of Nevada. When you walk around the streets of Las Vegas you’ll therefore see hundreds and hundreds of fliers for girls.

As for the history… it’s a sordid one. Read e.g https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamberlain–Kahn_Act. The US imprisoned women with venereal diseases found near military bases. Things sort of went from there, and also involves the “morality” of the American Christian and fears of the Progressives. Some more good reading: https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/10512...

Today it is a partisan issue and one worked on at a state level. Manhattan’s DA vowed to “no longer prosecute prostitution and unlicensed massage” as of this April.[0] …meanwhile the Texas governor in August made buying sex a felony in August, the first state to ever do so.[1]

I don’t expect any significant national progress on this in my lifetime. But there has been a sea change in blue states over the past generation.

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/nyregion/manhattan-to-sto... [1] https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/567760...

Re: Overly analytical guide to escorting

#170

Post by c21h30o2 »

system2 wrote: post #138
LurkingPenguin wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And also: > 8% reported legal trouble > 8% reported being arrested > 16% reported physical assault > 17% reported contracting a STD > 29% reported being stolen from > 41% reported sexual assault So no doubt the rates are in part a reflection of the risks providers take in the course of offering their services.

> 17% reported contracting a STD I wonder if any money is worth having an extreme risk of getting a deadly virus.

Without looking at the numbers at all I'm pretty sure that number can be ignored almost completely. It's all but guaranteed to be vastly underreported, but fortunately none of the common STDs are deadly. HIV and hepatitis are both rare in Western countries and syphilis can be cured with antibiotics.
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