Sex work is work, and work is hard. Sex workers are treated as a morally corrupt monolith, and if not morally corrupt, then pushed to these extreme lengths only by the worst parts of humanity — abuse, poverty, trafficking.
As a result, sex workers are viewed as beings needing to be saved, rather than the workers seeking rights, productive and protective unions, and support through the workforce that they actually are.
And why do johns haggle? Given their higher societal positions, the same people who haggle with sex workers are probably also likely to haggle a plumber.
I do not sleep with women or femmes in sex work, because I love them too much, I think. Being a freelance writer, all of what I make writing goes toward paying my bills. If I want savings, I have to hustle some sex work. If I want to buy some new clothes, I have to send a new photoset of nudes and foot fetish work to my least favorite client …because he pays well. I do not file any of my sex work on my taxes, and I deal primarily in cash, Circle Pay transfers a sex worker-friendly money transfer app , and the occasional and risky use of Venmo or Cash apps.
I work with an agency. Prices vary by region and typically rise every 10 years or so to match inflation, but we keep in mind the industries we serve and occasionally have to adjust ourselves during recessions i.
