Today, CNN published an article that takes a look at sex workers who use technology, social media and geek interests to attract âwell-off engineers and programmersâ in the Bay Area. These men are likely young and have disposable income, making them lucrative clients.
To clarify the term, CNN describes sex workers as a term that covers âa number of services, including sexual massage, prostitution, and escort and dominatrix work.â
One sex worker, Josephine, says she wears geeky clothesâlike ones that are emblazoned with phrases such as âWinter Is Comingâ and âGeeks Make Better Loversââto attract that specific clientele. CNN writes:
Josephine says her tech-themed online ads are both a marketing ploy and a savvy business move: They help bring in a clientele she says she genuinely enjoys spending time with. In her off hours, she goes to cons, dabbles in programming, and watches Game of Thrones
âI like to bring in the kinds of people who I like being around,â she says.
âIâm trying to communicate to them that I understand a little bit what itâs like to be techy, nerdy, geeky,â she explains.
Another sex worker, Kitty Stryker, is a comics-lover who describes herself as a âsteampunk courtesan.â She charges $350 an hour and has a day job at a local start up. Stryker also âtrainsâ geeky clients who need help in their love lives.
âYou explain it to them in a way thatâs like a formula,â she stated. âThen they say âohhhh, math. Itâs math. Eventually if I plug these things into the formula, it will work.â I speak geek. Itâs a way we can communicate that they understand.â
Many of these women consider themselves geeky/techie entrepreneurs and they heavily use social media such as Tumblr and Twitter as well as technology, as a means of improving their work.
One of the sex workers describes her work âvery feminist and very empowering.â
Silicon Valleyâs other entrepreneurs: Sex workers [CNN]
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