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Houston neighbors pull back the curtains and expose each other’s lives.
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Putting your baggage to good use.
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A fashionable L.A. photo editor exploring all manner of hyper-sexual girls down south.
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Reader Feedback on "Body Work"
I was a prostiute & massage therapist for many many years finally moving on to owning three very profitable whorehouses, I applaude you for your glimpse into a world many only fantise about, I thought your essay was well writen, & look forward to you book on the subject, carry on girl, & for all these jerks, disgusted at the thought of "whoring" it can be a wonderful education on money, men, & self, it was for me.
--Zoe
11/12 |
I really enjoyed "Body Work". Thanks!
--GT
09/02 |
nice essay.
--ted
08/24 |
What separates SS's writing from someone like Rev Jen, or a number of Hooksexup's other NYC writers (or photographers, for that matter), is that SS doesn't let her essay coast on subject matter or her social network. SS writes concrete descriptions of characters, scenes, and settings. Despite the obviously personal nature of the personal essay, there's a certain amount of objectivity throughout the piece, which is refreshing. She's crafted an engaging story, and if she ever crafts a novel or book-length memoir, I'll be in line for the first edition.
--NN
08/23 |
I work in the same field as SS and I have to say YES...there is a difference between sensual massage and therapeutic massage...but that doesn't make what we do any less valid. You strictly attend to the physical needs of a client; the body and its pains—we all need that kind of care. What we do is very different…we tend to the physical—and the emotional, spiritual, exotic, fetishistic, sad, lonely, needy, arrogant, mean, crude, smelly, disgusting, funny, shy, sweet, vain, sensual—pretty much every side one can show too much or not enough of to the rest of the world. Many of us have gone through a fair amount of training—enough to be licensed in most other states—but we choose not to go to the Swedish Institute because we don’t want to be Massage Therapists…and from multiple readings, I don’t see one instance where SS claims to be one. Casting us aside as mere prostitutes only shows that you have limited experience with human nature…but in your world I’ll wear that title proudly.
--VF
08/23 |
It was a nice essay, I have to say though as a licensed Massage Therapist I resent you calling what you do massage. You are a prostitute, and thats fine, but call a spade a spade, you are not by any stretch of the imagination a Massage Therapist.
--EAM
08/22 |
KOC: ugh. this is what i hate about some haters on Hooksexup's comment boards..........hey. dude........."personal essay"=navel gazing. Yeah! Crazy, huh?.....A "personal essay" is an Essay about someone's Personal life. A.K.A things that have happened to the writer, Personally. Why wasn't this author looking for a "real job"? uh...so she doesn't have to hang out with douchebags like you for $20 an hour? "writerly prostitution." hm. interesting idea. so...writers who write about themselves and their gross un-pretty desires to be little maidens in the big city ( aka "sell themselves") are "much less honorable" than sex workers. I'd go into all the problems with that statement...but...well....honestly, I find the very notion of assigning "honor" to various occupations to be the most ludicrious, absurd, judgemental, pretentious, bitter, sad, and useless way to spend one's time. What's "honorable"? Who are you? Aside from teachers in the underfunded and prejudicial public school system, it's hard to apply across-the-board honor to anyone. We're all just trying to get by, and if we can get by AND write about it, then that's pretty fucking awesome. Dude, just do your shit. Or like, get a hand job. Or something. And BO...again. What's with the hating? Maybe SS makes money without doing "something else." Since she's writing anonymously, why would she lie about it? I understand your anger that the essay doesn't represent your point of view, but I don't think that's the fault of SS, that's the fault of anyone writing a first-person experience about a field of work that varies SO MUCH from place to place, from time to time and from girl to girl. Jesus. You have a point, of course--it's not glamorous, and I don't think the essay pretends that it is. There's a lot of sides to sex work, and I thank you for sharing yours. I don't doubt that your experience is just as you say it was. But this is just one POV, from one time, from one author. No more, no less. NO MORE PLAYA HATIN!
--wow
08/18 |
I also do the same job as the author (massage plus hand-job only). I've been in the business for some years so I'm talking from experience. You forgot to mention the unglamorous side of it 1) The daily stress of getting an undercover cop as a new client and ending the night in jail. 2) The pushy demanding assholes you have to deal with on a regular basis (did I forget abou the psychos?). 3) The fear of getting robed, raped or killed (it has happen many times in the business. I know a few of those girls personally and they told me it wasn't fun). 4) 900 hundred dollars per shift nowadays? Not in your wildest dreams. Let's say 300 to 400$ on a good day (I know that place owned by the "kansas girl" because I used to work there too so unless you're offering "something else"no waaaaay your making that amount) 5) The sad fact that you can't write this type of job in your resume. 6) The fact that you have to lie to everybody around you regading how you make a living (boy-friends and family included)Not good for the self-esteem. 7) The fact that you're being completely objectified on a daily basis (this business is completely based on your looks not your brains). 8) Did I forgot the big turn-on when dealing with fat ugly guys with pot-bellies and bad body odour? etc... I mean....I'm not saying that it's the worse job in the world (there's some pretty shitty jobs out there for much less money) but don't try to sell me this as glamorous because it aint. "well payed social work" maybe.
--BO
08/18 |
Uch. This is what I hate about some essays on Hooksexup--that they try so hard to be analytical and pontificating when what they are is navel gazing and far too self aware. So the author is obviously a feminist and has the obligatory post-collegiate Naomi Wolf plug. So the author is bi and can wonder about why more dykes are in the sex industry than non dykes. So the author can pull in $700 a day. Why wasn't she looking for a real job? She seems to be using these guys and the situation in the worst possible way--trying to be a little girl lost, a maiden swept up by the big city, in the dark, secret corners of New York, when really all she seems to want is to have the experience that will eventually make a story. Writerly prostitution, if you will, which I think is a MUCH less honorable than sex work.
--KOC
08/17 |
I enjoyed your story. I recently had my first experience at a massage parlor and found it a bit uncomfortable at first, but the woman i was with made me feel very relaxed and i of course ended up enjoying it. I do agree that women that work in these type of jobs are exposed to the things that many men are not allowed to express in other interactions with the humans for fear of judgement. I have found that women either accept men for who they are or become angry that men do not live up to the "fairy tale".And thats when they become jaded and mean. To bad girls and boys are raised to believe that the opposite gender is supposed to be on some type of pedestal.
--tr
08/17 |
Sevirene Serizy...the damsel from "Belle Du Jour." Stephanie Serizy....i'm guessing...not her real name. Maybe Wonkette can handle this one, eh?
--jc
08/16 |
in response to a post on Gawker: this girl has a blog. and it is amazing. as is she and her writing. i love you, peach cobbler. you are fantastico. loooove, raaabies.
--nr
08/16 |
Loved the essay too.
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08/16 |
When I saw the title I was ready to comment on how incensed I was that this is yet another story misconstruing the true (and legal) intent of massage. But I have to admit...good essay :)
--tl
08/15 |
This is an amazing essay. Loved it. Great job.
--s
08/15 |
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