so what's the real story

[MNO4 789]

Most conventional media suggests that most sp's are doing this because they have to - not because they want to. And rather than being empowered, as a potential hobbyist, I would only be taking advantage of the sp. I havent been often to sp's and not for a long time, frankly its something that has kept me away. But here (CERB) there, seems like a nice community and the sps I see here seem to be bright, aware women...... can someone help me with this?

[Carrie Moon 68826]

actually if you watch most documentaries lately they actually depict more girls like us who choose to be escorts.. so I disagree that conventional media suggests that. Even tv shows using escorts as characters do so..

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

... But here (CERB) there, seems like a nice community and the sps I see here seem to be bright, aware women...... can someone help me with this?

 

MNO4, you answered your own question.

 

Of course, it is a job, and every job has its plusses and minuses. Even good jobs have their bad days. Even bad jobs have their good days.

 

The conventional media are correct that there are plenty of ladies who, for various distressing reasons, get entangled in something that they really don't want to be in. For some, that's the sex trade. For others, it's flipping burgers. Both are potentially soul-crushing in their own way(s). It would be very nice if society could be structured so that no-one winds up doing what they don't want to do.

 

There are also plenty of ladies who have freely chosen this as a business. As a client, these are the ladies that I myself feel I can see with a clear conscience. Cerb is an excellent place to find, and to get to know, these ladies.

[mod 135639]

Carrie (and W.I.T) are absolutely right. Things are changing (For the better)

 

Thanks to the internet (sites like this one especially) the media can no longer simply group all sex-workers together and portray them in this manner!!

 

The church groups and even some of the rights groups still have loud voices and they can mind wash people to join them in some crusade against sex workers (The groups and even the churches all have other motives for this and they know that this topic is a easy way to get naive people thinking and feeling like they are doing some good and are fighting a good Nobel cause).

 

....but thankfully as we evolve the general population is seeing how wrong this propaganda is. Sites like this show a very different side and it opens a lot of peoples eyes!

 

Pretty much every business has bad elements if you loose closely enough. This business in particular has bad regulations and laws governing it so it is left in a state that is easily exploited where the law and safe working conditions are often ignored due to the nature of the business.

 

When you group all "Sex Workers" together (street walkers, massage spa attendants, escorts, exotic dancers, etc...) it makes the ladies here look very bad in the eyes of the public - mainly because the bad rap the other parts of this industry get.

 

Most of the ladies here are independent (Meaning they do not work for anyone else) some are booked by Agencies. A agency is not a pimp! A pimp is a pimp! A booking agent works for the ladies and does all the stuff the ladies do not want to do (some pimps however like to try to pull one over on the guys and pretend to be a "Agency" and this looks bad on all of them)

 

Most of the time when a escort books using a reputable agency the lady is not being pimped .. rather the agency is doing the work for the lady that she does not want to do herself (Book keeping, answering calls, scheduling appointments, placing advertisements, booking drivers, answering emails, etc.. etc...) the agent is supplying a service and she is free to come and go as she wishes. Same as a talent booking agent (Bands use them, actors/actresses, models, etc...).

 

Bad agencies do exist! We all hate them! Really they are just pimps trying to "pose" as an agency and they really are not welcome in the business! These agencies come and go, change names all the time and are not reputable.

 

Street level pimping is VERY BAD and because streetwalkers and escorts are both sex workers some people just group them all together as the same (They are not the same).

 

On the flip side of this we do not want to stereotype all streetwalkers as that also would be wrong as not all streetwalkers are drug addicts or being pimped either! It is however very common at the street level unfortunately so you should avoid the streetwalkers as chances are you will end up picking up someone who is in fact being taken advantage of or working to support a drug habit. Also picking up a streetwalker is illegal as it's public solicitation so this should be avoided.

 

FYI: Outcall prostitution (Escorting) in Canada without any public solicitation is very much legal across the country. Very few people actually know this however.

 

Adult Massage spa's (Rub and tugs) are also grouped in with this "Sex workers" and many run like an agency (Owner and employee's or the ladies rent the rooms or work off "Tips") some however have been sex slave operations (Many Asian and European sex slave operations have been busted - as they should) but this does not mean all of them are run this way! Most of these places are run properly but you don't hear much about them as they stay low key ... but you do hear about the ones that get busted for illegal immigrants, underage, etc... and people form opinions based on what the media reports on (Far from the normal - these are just the ones that are being exploited). You should know that any public location such as a massage spa or stripclub that offers "sex" or "sexual services" is considered a common bawdy house (Brothel) and is very much illegal in Canada! So these places should also be avoided.

 

These days the media and advocate groups can not point fingers and stereotype as easily as they once could. Back before the internet it was easy for them to say all prostitutes are drug users or all prostitutes are helpless victims. These days sites like cerb are working hard to show the world that most escorts are doing this job because they want to (No one is forcing them to do it, no drug addiction is forcing them to do it.... no pimp is behind them... etc...)

 

The internet gives the general public a way to verify those claims and ridiculous stereotypes and we can finally hold the people accountable who are making these outlandish claims!

 

Think of this... if the ladies were working to support a drug habit would they be using a computer? I don't think so! Would they be contributing to discussions? Nope... they would not even own a computer! A drug addict or pimped lady is not going to have any desire to go on a website like this and join in or even post ads... it's just not something that I could envision happening! (Buy a computer or some dope? Buy internet access or dope? Pay a internet cafe or buy dope?... etc... etc... etc.. and I don't see many street thug pimps tech'ing it up on the internet either).

 

If they were being pimped and exploited would the pimp let them have access to a discussion site? NOPE... He may try to pose as her but that doesn't take too long before it's exposed as some crooked agency tried that a few years back and the members exposed him!

 

WE ALL HATE PIMPS HERE!

... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that all the propaganda, crazy stereotypes and rumors this industry is plagued with are just not true! The problem is so many people in this world will beleive ANYTHING someone else tells them - people just don't form their own opinions often enough (I saw it on TV, Read it in a newspaper, the minister at my church said... etc... )

 

... get all the facts, don't be a pawn or gullible fool! At least MNO4 took the time to do some research and form his own opinion! Good job!

[Andee 220524]

When explaining it to my friends who were worried about me being mixed up with the "wrong type of people", I always use the analogy (legislation and morales aside...)

 

You can buy a car from some dude in a parking lot or you can go to a dealership and many other options in between. Like any "business", there is the good, the bad and the ugly.... You just have to exercise caution - do your research and like anything else, buyer beware. That is why moderated sites and review boards are so valuable. Like the MOD has suggested, the lower the level, the more likely the person is being pimped out or supporting a habit.

 

I have worked at so-called "straight jobs" where I was treated worse than I am now and for not much pay to boot. I also know women who work to support their boyfriends and are treated just as bad or worse than SPs who are pimped out - abuse is not limited to our line of work. But because there is the opportunity to get "fast cash" it is of course going to one of the easiest ways (aside from stealing or some other criminal activity) for girls to support a drug habit or pimp, and of course it's usually the bad things we hear about rather than the good.

 

Another reason why I say, thank goodness for boards like CERB.

[Old Dog 179138]

One of the BEST articles on this comes from one of our own!!!!

 

Read Erin's article in this thread... it is enlightening, witty and very well written!

 

http://www.cerb.ca/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=27670

 

Click the link in the first post!

[Capital Hunter 18263]

 

FYI: Outcall prostitution (Escorting) in Canada without any public solicitation is very much legal across the country. Very few people actually know this however.

 

This is very true. I didn't know it myself and all those 10+ years that I was going to strip bars two-three times a week spending hundreds of dollars and coming back home all hot and blue lol as a result of not knowing. I could have seen and enjoyed the company of over a thousand lady escorts instead, all those years if I was aware of above fact.

 

I found out about the fact that outcalls are legal after I joined cerb (one of the many advantages of joing cerb plus the fact that I met the classiest most beautiful ladies here on cerb that I didn't even met as such among even university students all those many years that was studying at various universities across England and Canada lol). Just to clarify the fact that outcalls are legal even if the hobbyist checks into a hotel.

[swegin 5885]

WE ALL HATE PIMPS HERE!

 

Well, there goes my career aspirations :pimp: I wonder if it's too late to become an astronaut...

[Lowdark 5613]

Echoing what Angela said about being in "legitimate" jobs where she was treated poorly, most of the ladies I have had the privilege of meeting from CERB treated me better than the type of woman you would meet as a single guy in a club or other single scene. My observation (skewed of course), is that women in this industry are less judgemental and perhaps even less materialistic. Another reason to treat them with respect. You can rest assured that women with this much character are probably choosing to be in this business.

[rileydaniels 1901]

I think the media has a long way to go to show what today's prostitutes are, Some are on the street but even some who are on the street have nice homes don't have pimps and live comfortable lives.

 

then there is the ones like us who came into for whatever our reasons are, and have come out wiht a new sense of self.

 

This is why I am more into the activism and creating my own media because the mainstream media still wants to show an entertaining negative view of us.

 

Why a Blog for Sex Workers?

It shouldn?t come as a surprise to anybody that escorts around the country are tuned in to how the media cover our work, and our lives.

It may, however, come as a surprise to some that sex workers in many sectors have something to say about it. They have insight, they have analysis and they have outrage!

 

http://www.boundnotgagged.com/