A friend recently messaged: 'I've decided to give sex work a go!' My chest sagged, knowing I'd be bombarded with questions from someone who thought my job was easy, quick money with limitless rewards. That can be true with the right mindset. But soon she qualified: 'Obviously, I can't show my face because of my other work. And my boyfriend, my mum, the kids…' Well, obviously. 'And I don't want to actually meet men because, as a woman, I'm worried about my safety.' Quite so—about 41 to 61% of sex workers experience workplace violence. 'And I don't want to degrade myself by showing other body parts either. But I can make money just by selling pictures of feet?'
The Saturated Market of Feet Content
You can. But millions of women are trying that same trick. Feet content is already the highest revenue generator year on year for porn site Clips4Sale, with countless creators raising prices by 56% for boot worship and 36% for dirty feet. The market is saturated. Then you saunter in, waving newly pedicured trotters near your phone, thrilled by your daring, and expect to be a millionaire by sunset? Dream on.
The Reality of Building a Client Base
Sometimes kinkier clients ask to sit in on my sessions, deliver a feeble blow to a regular's kidney, then expect gratitude and a slice of the fee. Give a girl a client, she'll eat for a day; teach a girl to net a client, she'll eat for life. I try to guide them: advertise, market yourself, get your own clients, practise walloping a pillow. But no. They prefer to turn up at my house and simper at how easy I make it seem. They want my money without running any risks, doing any work, or spending decades building contacts and a reputation. Kinksters are slow to trust—their lives are in your hands.
Underlying Assumptions
Underneath my friends' pleas I hear: 'Obviously, I'm too valuable to degrade myself with the disgusting muck you undertake, but I want all your money, and this conundrum is now your problem.' Sorry. I can't. I realise how lucky I was to start sex work so young, with nothing to lose—no proper job, no kids, no boyfriend—and to come from a low social class with no parental expectations. My family were never respectable, thank goodness. The dreadful strain of respectability wears a decent girl down. Being bold and admitting who you are can earn grudging respect from the respectable world—it even scored me a column in Metro and a place on the reality show Nobody's Fool.
What You Must Decide
You must decide what you want most. If it's money, sex work isn't a bad option for a woman—but it involves closing off many other options. For me, it is money, and I regret nothing. Becoming a sex worker reminds me of the Little Mermaid who chose to walk, every step agony. You must surrender any hope of a normal life. It will be painful, and in the first few months you'll make almost no money. Even with my help, you'll be just another lonely lady screaming into the abyss, begging the abyss to scream back.
