Sex workers are people too!
18 August 2016
I am a sex worker. Or, as it is more commonly known as these days, an escort. Though that does not define who I am as a person outside of my work. I provide a service that is needed and desired by many, and I’m not ashamed at all of what I do. I make a positive difference in many people’s lives, on a daily basis. And no one should be ashamed to see an escort! Fortunately these days, people are becoming more understanding of the fact that escorts exist, and the fact that there is nothing wrong with seeing one.
However, unfortunately there are a some people who think of sex workers, or escorts, as being ‘lesser people, and think that there is something wrong with them, that they must have been through something bad in their lives that made them decide to become an escort, or they must be in desperate need of money..
I have a lot of friends who are female escorts, and there is nothing wrong with them! They aren’t desperate for money, they don’t have drug problems, and have had an average past with nothing bad that happened to make them decide to become an escort. They are nice people, and deserve respect.
We shouldn’t let our jobs define who we are. Everyone deserves the same amount of respect, as a person, no matter what they do for a living. Should you treat someone differently or show them a different amount of respect, if they are either a doctor or a garbage-truck driver? A shop assistant or an accountant? No, we all deserve the same level of respect.
Society’s views of groups of people who were once marginalised is, fortunately, becoming more liberalised. People are finally becoming more equal. Think gay and lesbian people, and more recently transgender people. It’s time to embrace everyone’s unique and individual personalities, views, beliefs, and way of living. Not judge others.
People should not be marginalised or discriminated against depending on their culture; whether they might be overweight; what their sexual orientation is… Or whether they are a sex worker.
The friends and family of an escort should not be discriminated against or marginalised. Let me tell you a story about something that happened to a friend of mine who is a female escort. We’ll call her Mary (not her real name of course). Mary had been a sex worker for more than five years, and had kept her work secret from all but her closest friends, and her partner. Yes, some sex workers do have partners – as their work life is separate to their private life, so who are we to judge? Mary happened upon an out-of-control stalker client, who wanted her all to himself, and as he couldn’t have her, decided to interfere with her personal life. He found out her name, where she lived, and let some of her friends know that she worked as an escort. As you can imagine, it caused a lot of trouble in Mary’s personal life. Two of her closest friends decided not to spend time with her anymore, knowing what she did as a living.. Which made her quite upset. Would they have stopped seeing her if she had said she was gay? Or if they found out some other thing about her that was personal to her, and none of their business?
Well, they shouldn’t have reacted in that way. Some people can be so old-fashioned, right? I mean, if you found out that your brother, your best friend, or your daughter, was gay.. Would you want to stop seeing them? I don’t think so. Or if you did, well you wouldn’t be a very nice person, most would agree.
What if you found out that your brother, best friend, or daughter, was a sex worker? That’s a bit harder to think about, isn’t it? But at the end of the day, people who are escorts are still everyday people, just like you and me. Or like you and your friends and family.
People who are escorts should not be marginalised or discriminated against, and neither should their families or friends!
Everyone is different, and everyone has their own reasons for doing whatever they do, and should not be judged for it. After all, did Matthew 7:1 not say “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” ?
Thankfully Mary who I mentioned above is now happily still with her partner, happy with her life and her family, and an escort. She lost a few friends, but made new ones. Any of the people in her life that know about what she does, keep their opinion to themselves. And they know Mary as who she is, not by what she does.
In my life, I keep a separation between my personal life and my work life. I keep my work discreet, which makes things better for me, my clients, and my family and friends. Very few people in my personal life know that I’m an escort.
Anyone who is an escort, should be treated with the same respect as everyone else, and so should their friends and family.
After all, sex workers are people too!
