Why you should pay for the porn you watch
Originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. A few years ago, after a well-attended academic talk on the porn industry at the Adult Video Network Convention in Las Vegas, I was chit-chatting with several porn scholars. One said, with a great deal of confidence, “The phone sex industry died because of free porn.” This was […]
Q&A with the partner of a sex worker — my husband
Originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. Given that I am very open about both working in the sex industry and being married, I am often asked by journalists, podcasters, non-sex working friends, and (sometimes) clients how my husband feels about my work. I find these questions difficult because he is integrated into much of […]
Working beyond the stigma of the ‘tainted and discounted’ identity that often accompanies sex work
Originally published in Pittsburgh City Paper. The [Ancient] Greeks […] originated the term stigma to refer to bodily signs designed to expose something unusual and bad about the moral status of the signifier. The signs were cut or burnt into the body and advertised that the bearer was a slave, a criminal, or a traitor […]
Why going into sex work isn’t as easy as it sounds
Originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. As a writer who openly reflects on my own experiences in the sex industry, I often have folks of all genders tell me that they are interested in becoming sex workers. When I ask them why they are considering sex work, their answers overwhelmingly fall into a category […]
A Guide to Being a Good Strip Club Customer Part 2: women and couples
Originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. Last week I talked to three Pittsburgh-based strippers — Eden, Iris, and Sheena — and asked them what people could do to be good customers and to have positive experiences in a strip club. What I noticed in talking to all three of them is that the concerns they had […]
A guide to being a good strip club customer
Originally published in Pittsburgh City Paper. Several weeks ago, I found myself in a conversation with a group of Pittsburgh-based strippers who were sharing the nitty-gritty frustrations of customer interactions. It seems important for people to know this stuff, so I decided to reach out to three current and former full-time dancers — Eden, Sheena, […]
How phone sex is like a job interview — a very sexy job interview
Originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. Lying on my bed, I talk to a new phone sex client. I am trying to feel out his desires. I ask him about his past, his sexual experiences, and his unfulfilled fantasies. We casually discuss his feelings about his body, what turns him on, and what he thinks […]
What is giantess porn?
Originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. April Would was first introduced to giantess porn last year. Working as a phone sex operator and audio narrator, she received a custom order for three recordings: “one where I played a very cruel giantess [crushing him at the end], one where I played a very romantic giantess, […]
A new sex trafficking law threatens the livelihood of sex workers
Originally Published in Pittsburgh City Paper. Earlier this month, TribLIVE reported that state Sen. Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) is proposing a state law that would require everyone convicted of sex trafficking and of purchasing sexual services to be added to Megan’s Law, Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry, for 15 years. Those convicted of trafficking minors are already […]
A Valentine’s Day letter to my clients’ wives
Originally Published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. There’s a popular meme among sex workers that reads, “Thinking that a sex worker is going to steal your man is like thinking that a childcare provider is going to steal your child.” The analogy works because it holds a grain of truth. We do not want to […]
Searching for insights into how oppressive beauty standards affect both women and men? Look to the sex industry.
Originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. Sex workers hold men’s secrets. Many of these secrets are the type you’d expect. They talk to us about their marriage frustrations, the kinks that they are afraid to tell their partners about, their anxieties, their relationship regrets, and the panties they wear under their suits. What I […]
