I was so excited to receive this email from Le Pensuer regarding supporting feminism through supporting SWers who are choosing this work, and diffentiating this from those who are forced/coerced into it. Further, I was excited to see some misconceptions broken down through their own experiences and encounters with people in this line of work. Upon reading this email, I wanted to add another category (or subcategory) of women in this line of work, from my own experiences.
One spa that I worked at was considered the "best" for erotic massage as offering extras or full-service was strictly prohibited by the owners and attendants would lose their jobs if this was ever discovered. Because of this, a lot of women who worked here stayed in their jobs for many years. Comparatively, there are high turnovers rates at the majority of spas due to the difficulty of the nature of the job. But at this particularly spa, it was fairly busy and so women never felt compelled to offer any services above and beyond what was required of them and never felt the desire to leave and seek out other spa opportunities.
I experienced the women who worked at this spa to be "comfortable" in their jobs, reaping the rewards of earning a high income and coming into work with predictability of expectations and knowing they will have their schedules filled relatively well. I believe this level of comfortability contributed to spending money in such a way that was not conducive to an early exit from the industry or providing a safety net in the potential of unfortunate life events.
Le Pensuer shared that there are women who are intelligent within the SWer industry, contributing to their future through investments and setting themselves up for potential early retirement. While this is not entirely untrue, my experience at the spa suggested this wasn't always the case. There was a particular attendant who came from an unfortunate background, having little control over their living situations growing up and being used to having nothing. Once they got into this industry at a young age, they started seeing a large amount of money come in and, not having any guidance or ideas of what to do with it, they decided to spend this money on flashy things that they desired or never had before, such as a nice car (with expensive maintenance), surgeries and living in expensive condos (renting, not owning). It seemed to me that everything that this person chose to spend their money on satisfied their need for instant gratification. Due to this person's young age (they were 20 when they started - the brain doesn't fully develop until a person is 25-30 years of age), their past experiences and lack of guidance, this person has been stuck in a loop of working in this industry as they now have financial obligations to fulfill in order to maintain a lifestyle that they are used to.
I do not feel like this is a negative by any means but it is certainly a "cautionary tale" for those who have timelines within this industry. This type of work is physically (and, specifically within the spa environment, sometimes mentally) demanding and, if a person becomes injured or unable to work, there is nothing protecting them financially. Another example that I experienced in this industry was a girl who was severely injured and became physically immobile. Although she received a significant financial settlement, money will always run out and I believe it is best to diversify in such a way that a person can ensure they have the best chances of survival under financial duress. In summary, I believe it is best for a person to balance the enjoyment of the financial rewards with making thoughtful decisions for the future.
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