I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now but I’ve repeatedly put it on the back-burner due to fear of criticism.
From Cardi B singing about her life as a stripper to Euphoria’s Kat making it big as a masked cam girl, sex work is finally being portrayed in pop culture as a legit career move and as good a way to ‘secure the bag’ as any other. And yet, many people believe sex work is automatically exploitative and damaging. Others bully and troll sex workers online, before minimising Twitter and jacking off to a lass being bukkaked on PornHub.
“What if brands stop wanting to work with me?” I thought to myself before embarking on this project. It’s interesting that I worry money tips for sex workers could be considered unprofessional while powerful men in male-dominated industries think nothing of holding business meetings in strip clubs.
I’m open to civilised discussions with those who are respectfully concerned about how we can prevent the exploitation of vulnerable people and the sexualisation of women in day to day life, but I also believe it’s possible to be a feminist and pro-sex work.
Besides, whether you’re happy about the sex industry or not, it’s going to continue. Prostitution (a very small part of the industry) is one of the oldest professions and as long as humans have sexual desires that need to be fulfilled, the demand for sex as a service shall continue.
You being uncomfortable about it is not going to make the industry go away, nor will this discomfort empower those who make good money by stripping, camming, or escorting to get a 9-5 job in HR for £21,000 a year.
In fact, there’s a lot to be said about how the shame, judgement and stigma surrounding sex work prevents those within the industry from embarking on a career change. The lack of respect we have for these workers is utterly sickening and I’m hoping that by talking about sex work and money, we can tackle that.
Here’s a recent Twitter thread where I talked about the lack of respect so many men (though some women are responsible too) have for sex workers - despite regularly consuming their content for free. Click through to read it in its entirety.
Sex workers need money advice just like the rest of us. I always say that money gives us freedom, power and choices and if you ask me, empowering sex workers by enabling them to make their finances as strong as possible is one of the best things we can do to ensure their work is a choice rather than a necessity.
Sex workers need Fuck Off Funds. Sex workers need safe homes. Sex workers need pensions. Sex workers need employment rights and protection from abuse and harassment. I’m hoping that sex workers looking for money tips will find Can’t Swing a Cat and learn just as much from it as social media managers and nurses do.
I also welcome feedback from sex workers with open arms and if anyone within the industry would like to share their stories or money tips, I’m here. I’m also open to amplifying the voices of anyone who has a story to tell but wishes to remain anonymous. Email jenni sarah hill @ gmail. com or DM me on Twitter or Instagram.
