Would you consider doing sex work?

A good friend confided in me recently that she'd had a male friend who would pay her to dress in lingerie and hang out at his home with her. It started like a very normal friendship. They had met in a yoga class or some such thing. She had a boyfriend when they met, so they became friends. They would go for coffee occasionally, meet for yoga classes - a guy and a girl who spent time together—chatting, having coffee—the usual.

As she tells the story, they were hanging out one day — she had since broken up with her boyfriend — and a bit of her bra was visible. He commented like, "looks nice… how about a peek". She said, "what's it worth to you?". Long story short, he offered her 20 dollars, and she took her blouse off. That was it. She took off her blouse. He got a good look at her, in her bra. And she put it back on, and they continued their chat.

In the weeks that followed, he said he would gladly pay her regularly to sexy it up a bit as they hung out. I don't know all the specifics, but he gave her money, and she would strip for him, hang out in lingerie, tease him a little. It was maybe once or twice a week. And she never touched him sexually, and he was never undressed in her presence. She said she just showed a little skin and got paid for it. This went on for months. She said that it probably was a light form of sex work as she looked back on it. She has no regrets about it, but she said she found it interesting that, upon reflection, she would consider it sex work.

It makes you think … how much of this form of 'quasi sex work' goes on? And would you do it?

Another friend told me, years ago, a man once paid her to dress in lingerie, undress him, and rub cool whip all over his body. It was someone she met on a dating site, so not a friend… just a casual connection. She insisted he keep his underwear on, and she said she would not touch his penis. He was game. She found it a little weird but felt it was a pretty easy way to earn 200$.

My wife and I were talking, the other day, about camming. Although I know she would not do this in real life, she thought the idea of camming — showing her body off for money — was a sexy notion. The idea of a bunch of strangers watching her.. and her in the safety of her home. She got off on the picture. The idea of getting paid for it… was kind of like a tangible way of knowing they liked it. As I said, she wouldn't do it in real life, but she certainly saw the appeal of it.

If you thought about it, I'm sure there would be dozens of services or interactions that, with a bit of imagination, could cross into light sex work. Some we've probably heard of — a maid service delivered in sexy lingerie, a haircut, and a shave from a topless barber. Some of these go a little further.. maybe into more explicit forms of sex work — a massage with a happy ending, for instance.

I'm not judging at all. From my perspective, these are all absolutely fine arrangements, as long as everyone is on board with it. In fact, in these dreary times of isolation and economic hardship, they may be precisely what we all need.