Sex Worker Confessions: The Libertine

I've been working in the sex industry for almost ten years in some fashion, since I was 21 or 22.

Describe, as best as you can, your type of clientele in terms of what you see as their need for sex services. (Not just the 'need to get off' but why they hire help; what they are missing in their lives.

A lot of them are married men who travel or have wives who no longer fulfill their sexual needs. Some are just single guys who have trouble meeting women or don't have time to date, or are just too socially awkward or lazy to try to meet women. Others have specific fetishes or fantasies that they can't or are afraid to ask the women in their lives to do, so they call a professional. A lot of times the guys just want someone to talk to that they can be open with.

Do you try to help with those needs, even if the client hasn't specifically asked or even acknowledged this need?

Sure, I usually just try to be natural and comfortable, which they seem to appreciate. If it is a very specific need and they don't ask and just expect me to assume or guess, then no, I don't. The guy's need is usually very basic...he needs company and a little extra and doesn't want to have to be bothered with all the extras that come along with a relationship with someone. For instance, a married man might not want to risk having a affair which could get messy, so he hires a professional. He needs me to be discreet and not call him or expect anything from him in the future, so I fulfill that need.

If you have specific example, like one client you've helped, please tell us about it.

I have a long time client called "The Balls" that originally called me for ball-torture sessions. Just ball-torture, not cock. He later explained that he used to get kicked in the balls in grade school and wanted to re-live childhood fantasies. After seeing him several times, he then told me about a relationship he had in college with a woman where he was her personal live-in house slave. She physically and psychologically dominated him in many different ways and he wanted to re-live that stage of his life in order to "get over it." However he was married with young children and was terrified of having his wife find out about him seeing me and whatnot so he was very paranoid...and very unhappy in his life. I ultimately became like a psychiatrist to him, listening to him tell me stories for hours on end and trying to help him work out his feelings about this woman from his life that he couldn't leave behind. It was very bizarre. I still don't think he's worked through his issues, but I've helped him try to get over his past a bit.

About the interviewer: Secondhand Rose is a former escort who became a writer and then, when she discovered she missed sex work, returned to sex work as a phone companion and conversationalist.