Last week I had a client - let's call him Michael - who works in tech management and makes about three times what I do annually. He spent most of our time together telling me how 'liberated' and 'progressive' he is, which is always a red flag. These guys always want to believe they're different.
What he actually wanted was a very traditional fantasy: the working class girl who's secretly grateful for his attention. The psychological gymnastics men do to make themselves feel complex never cease to amaze me. He wasn't hiring an independent professional. In his mind, he was rescuing me or something.
I've learned that class isn't about money. It's about power dynamics, expectations, who gets to tell what story. Michael thought he was buying an experience. What he was really doing was revealing how desperately he wanted a narrative where he was the hero.
The economics of sex work are always more complicated than outsiders imagine. We're not victims. We're not saints. We're workers who've made rational choices about how to convert our labor into income. Simple as.
Sometimes I wonder if these guys even hear themselves talk.