Definition
Reviews boards were created for people, mostly men, to leave written accounts of their experiences with sex workers (usually escorts who advertise their services online, whom they often refer to as providers).  These accounts are descriptive stories on what transpired between them and the person they hired for services. Their stories could be simple notes saying, “I met Krista for drinks and a date and had a wonderful time,” or they could be much more sexually explicit, “Krista provided oral sex without a condom”.

Review boards have different formats for stories. To me, the term “review” was really coined by boards using a rating system. With this system, men are able rate their experiences, services and looks of the provider on a scale of 1 to 10.

Review Pros & Cons
The majority of providers today have reviews on multiple boards about their services with links to their contact information.  Many of these women rely on these reviews in order to make it as sex workers. A provider with great reviews is guaranteed appointments from men in his/her area because of positive comments.

Review boards allow the board members to know which providers gave great service and which ones are scams or rip-offs.

Reviews are not always a positive marketing tool though. The negative things about reviews are:
1.    Unreasonable expectations: If a provider provides a service for one client, and he writes about it, the next client might expect the same thing and the provider may not want to give that service to the next client. That client might then write a negative review of her.
2.    Maliciousness: Some clients who are “hardcore” hobbyists won’t leave good reviews no matter how hard the provider worked to fulfill their requests because of what we call a “God” complex. No woman can meet their expectation, short of 8 positions, the blow job of a lifetime and no condom – of course.
3.    Negative reviews: Negative reviews can kill a provider’s business.
4.    Legal ramifications: Sexually explicit reviews are admissible in court if a provider is prosecuted for solicitation.
5.    Rating systems: One client’s “8” is another client’s “4”. The system is not balanced and there is no standard. It’s based on preferences and appeal, or to use the phrase so often used on the boards: your mileage may vary (YMMV).

Does A Provider Need Reviews?
The answer is NO. The only reason a provider has to have reviews is if he/she wants them. Once a sex worker becomes established in this industry, a lot of them realize that they can survive without reviews. They have to increase their web presence, invest more money in advertising and network a bit more with other providers.

What Happens When A Provider Pulls Reviews?
If a provider finds that being rated like USDA Beef is not such a great thing, she can request removal of reviews on some boards. Then the emotional up and down caused by reviews disappears. They also find the quality of his/her clients increase.  But there are some that find they can’t make it without reviews, so they have to have them reinstated (this is largely dependent on their market).

–Callie Simms

The term “provider” was developed by clients of sex workers (also known as “hobbyists”) who write detailed stories of their experiences with sex workers on discussion-oriented websites known as Review Boards. The term became commonplace in the adult world, replacing terms like sex worker or prostitute because the activities involved were not as simple as, “sexual services given in exchange for money”. The term also gave the industry a gender-neutral term to describe all sex workers; as sex workers can be male, female, couples and /or transgender. They can also be straight, gay or bisexual.

Providers fulfill a variety of sexual needs.  Often these sexual needs are not even sexual in nature, except for the person who has the need.  For example, services such as foot fetish, BDSM, tantra, role-play, sensual massage, et cetera, don’t have entail penetration and may not even include sexual release.  A provider offers sexual relief for their client who is unable to attain sexual fulfillment any other way.

–Callie Simms

5:30AM – Wake up, 3 days a week, 30 minutes of Pilates.
6:15AM – Powerwalk 2 – 4 miles per day.
7:40AM – Bath.
8:00AM – Breakfast, Oatmeal and berries. Only thing I ever eat.
8:30AM – News.
9:00AM – Check all five email accounts.
10:00AM – Finish email and look at daily schedule.
11:00AM – Website updates, blogging and social networks.
12:00PM – Weekly ads to industry boards.
12:30PM – Catch up on discussion board topics and read/reply.
1:00PM – Lunch
1:30PM – Get ready for client. Laundry, clean up incall, set out whatever I need, prep my massage table.
2:00PM – Change clothes, do make up, light candles and hit the music.
2:30PM – Client arrives for session.
4:00PM – Client leaves.
4:10PM – Clean up, put sheets in hamper and straighten up so everything is back to “normal.”
4:30PM – Run to Trader Joes and Target
5:30PM - Back to computer, check email and do responses, set my schedule for the week regarding mainstream work, meetings and client appointments. Set my schedule for anything I have to write that week, including my own blogs.
6:30PM – Duck out for 20 minute jog.
7:00PM – Dinner.
7:50PM – Wine and back at the computer, update the girl’s sites that I maintain and design.
9:00PM – Clean house. Vacuum, clean up dishes.
9:15PM – Start Laundry get a load done.
10:00PM – Couch, 30 minutes of TV.
10:30PM – Sleep.

Monday is my busiest day.

–Callie Simms

When they called to confirm my address for the private car they were sending for me, I grilled them again about what exactly we’d be talking about, and they were adamant that there wouldn’t be time for me to talk about anything other than my personal experience. Suddenly, the fact that I’d be spending several very stressful unpaid hours at their studio seemed a lot less awesome. If I took them up on having a concealed identity, I would be forfeiting my time so they could have a story, and I’d hope they didn’t edit too brutally to make me look stupid, slutty, or victimized. If I didn’t conceal my identity, I would try to steer them away from the personal details and talk about $pread, but I’d have to deal with fallout from family (I’d recently come out to my immediate family). There was no guarantee that I would benefit from the exposure, except I’d probably get more press requests.

In the years since I shocked that network by saying I didn’t care about being on TV, I’ve turned down a pretty significant number of media requests - though I say yes more than I say no.

When I get a media request, I always ask myself: what will I get out of this interview? If the answer is that I’ll get a chance to give a sex worker and/or sex worker advocate perspective on the issue, that it furthers the cause of sex workers rights, that I can do it with minimal conflict with whatever else I’m working on at the time, or that it might boost sales of my book, I usually say yes. But if I feel that it will take up a lot of time, be stressful, represent me and my work poorly, that I could tell the story better in another venue, or I get a weird vibe from the reporter, then I say no.

Those are my personal rules. I get a lot of media requests because of my public visibility and my general outness about sex work. Journalists often contact sex workers through their online ads or portfolio websites to talk about their personal experiences, and they will often want to hear about the personal experiences of the people who work at advocacy organizations. Here are some things to think about.

Sex worker and blogger Debauchette has a post about participating in an interview with Diane Sawyer on an ABC News, in which her identity was concealed (both voice and appearance), but her parents were watching it and they recognized her. Read the post here.

Some things for sex workers to consider when you get a media request:

• If the request is to tell your personal story - what do you get out of it? The joy of being heard by a broad public audience? Exposure that might get you more work (like a book deal, etc)? Money (unlikely)?
• What do you stand to lose?
• Will your clients, coworkers, employers, friends and family recognize you? How will this affect your relationships?
• What steps will the media outlet take to protect your identity and livelihood?
• How long will the interview last? With what media will it be recorded? Where will it take place? Where will your words/image appear?
• Is there a media outlet you’d feel more comfortable telling this story to? Can you tell it yourself on a blog, in a personal essay in a magazine, to a different reporter, etc?
• In your gut, do you believe the interviewer will respect you and represent you carefully and fairly?

Some things for media to consider when sending an inquiry to a sex worker:

• How can you protect the sex worker’s job and identity? Does the media outlet you work for require people interviewed to give their full legal names? Be upfront about this.
• How will you conduct your fact-checking? How can the sex worker assist you without risk of exposure?
• How can you make yourself accountable to the people you interview? If a person you interview is upset about the way you represented him or her, how will you act to rectify the situation

Do you have suggestions for both sex workers and people who want to interview them? Leave them in the comments.

–Audacia Ray

The questions they want to ask, but usually don’t until after a few drinks is: “Do you have sex with your clients?” If I’m feeling randy, I’ll reply, “Only with my fist”—and make it clear by hitting my fist into my palm like a tough guy that I don’t mean hand-jobs.

No. I don’t have conventional sex with my clients. In fact, approximately 80 percent of my clients don’t have sexual orgasms during our sessions. In BDSM, there is such a thing called the masochist-climax, when the body goes through waves of euphoria induced by the overwhelming sensations—be it pain, pleasure, or a combination thereof. But I do consider professional domination to be part of the sex industry. I put things—metal things, silicone things, rubber things—into people’s places. They don’t put things into my places. They aren’t allowed to even touch me.

I am proud of being a professional dominatrix, but I will admit to being on defensive autopilot when I get unsolicited questions from people who are not familiar with BDSM. I think it’s important to break down stereotypes of media’s flat version of the latex dominatrix and I do enjoy educating; but not all the time, not at every dinner party, nor in a bar full of metrosexuals who look fashionably more fetishistic than I do. So from behind the safe shield of my laptop, I’ve opened my last article for questions and I’m ready to peel back every veil requested. So let’s dance.

She also responds to the following questions:

How have you seen yourself grow or evolve as a professional in the time since you’ve been one?

How has it affected your personal life?

Do you find that the pro work increases or decreases your enjoyment of BDSM in your personal life? Does play in your personal life ever feel like work?

Have you found that attitudes to your profession or the lifestyle have changed over the past few years?

When someone you’ve just met asks what you do for a living, how do you respond?

What’s the best and worst part of being a pro?

Click here to read her answers.

What Are the Advantages of Sex Work?
Money. Prices range from $250-400+ per hour for internet escorts to $50-$100 per act for street workers.

Independence. Unless you work for an agency, you are your own boss. You set your own hours, rates, and rules.

Pursuit of Dreams. Since you can make $1000 per week by only working four hours, you have the freedom to pursue priorities that meaningful to you: family, school, creative endeavors, etc.

Personal Empowerment. It’s extremely empowering for a woman in today’s society to earn high dollar wages without the expense of a high dollar education. It’s also empowering to enjoy sexual freedom without the baggage of societal standards that don’t necessarily apply to the way you define your own sexuality.

Community. The sex worker community is very supportive of each other. We’re family! We look out for each other: we have an intricate system of communication to alert each other of bad clients and possible legal entrapments; we gather together at SWOP meetings and events; and we’re happy to share clients with each other.

What Are the Disadvantages?
Criminalization & Legal exposure. It’s illegal to be a sex worker in America except for certain places in Nevada [editor’s note: it’s illegal to practice sex for money, but there are many kinds of sex work that are perfectly legal]. In Arizona, if you get convicted of prostitution (misdemeanor charge), you face mandatory jail time - including a six month prison sentence and a Class 5 felony upon a fourth offense! However, there are security precautions you can take to avoid getting busted; for instance, most newspaper and internet escorts don’t see clients who haven’t been pre-screened.

Social stigma. Sex workers are notoriously maligned in our culture. We dream of the day when sex work is widely perceived as an honorable, important and vital contribution to the emotional, physical and mental health of both the sex workers and the clients.

Workplace Safety. Whether it’s on the streets, in our homes or in five star resorts, the fact is that sex workers do not enjoy the same rights as other Americans when it comes to their work (which by the way, is a PRIVATE and CONSENSUAL act between two adults.) Because we are criminalized and stigmatized, we are vulnerable to violence and exploitation.

Street workers have a higher chance of running into clients who may rob or harm them. Internet escorting tends to be much safer, however, since clients must pass a rigorous screening process in order to be seen.

Burn out. Sex workers are prone to burn out like everyone else, but there are steps you can take to keep yourself healthy and safe.

Competition. Just like any other business where top dollar earnings are at stake, the competition can be fierce in certain cities. But fear not: there’s a niche market for every type of sex worker.

In some parts of the industry, there are industry standard rates - porn is a good example of this. Female porn performers make more than men, and with the exception of the stars or people with special talents or studio contracts, in mainstream porn female performers make $200-300 “per hole” - which, I know, is a pretty crude way of putting it. The rates increase depending on what is being performed: oral ($200-300), vaginal ($400-600) or anal sex ($600-800) are the basics in straight porn. These are “scene” rates - not hourly. Shooting a scene could take from 30 minutes to several hours.

In strip clubs, dancers earn money on a per-song basis and the numbers are determined by the club - though there’s room for plenty of flexibility in earning tips. Unlike many other kinds of sex workers, dancers work shifts that can varying from 3 or 4 hours to 12 hour marathons. They aren’t, however, paid an hourly wage for being there; most clubs actually charge a fee per shift worked. In clubs that have stages, dancers are typically required to do a certain number of sets per shift, and a set may consist of several songs during which the dancer gets progressively more naked. Stage time is paid in tips and exists mainly to attract the attention of clients who may buy dances later on - in the movies, stage tips are dollar bills, though depending on the club they could be more - the stage is not where dancers earn most of their money. Off stage, the menu of dance options vary from club to club depending on the management style and from city to city depending on local laws. The basic dance happens in a public area of the club and lasts for one song - depending on the club these can be $5, $10, $20 or more per song. In clubs that have a variety of private rooms, this basic dance is the opportunity for upselling for private dances at a higher rate - exact numbers vary greatly. These rates are usually structured by the club, but a good dancer will hustle for tips above and beyond the basic dance rates.

In prostitution, pay is based on an hourly rate, sometimes with tips for “extras”; street workers more often negotiate their rate on a per act basis, or have a minimum to see a client and then negotiate acts and money once they’ve determined that he isn’t a cop. Street workers’ rates varying widely depending on location/sex acts/looks but are generally considered to be on the low end of the scale. It’s technically legal to be an escort - to sell your time and companionship for money (but not specific sex acts for money), so that’s why you’ll see lots of escorts advertise for time increments. Most information available for beginning independent escorts advises that the escort base her hourly rate on the going hourly rate for a lawyer in her city. This is typically anywhere from $150-400 an hour. Escort agencies operate at many different economic levels and will charge what they think they can get or what clients of the agency are used to paying. Agency workers sometimes offer “extras” for tips and consider the hourly fee to be the money that a client dishes out just to get them in the door (the agency gets a bit cut of that), while independent escorts often charge an all-inclusive hourly rate.

Though it’s meant purely for fun, you might find SexEc.com kind of interesting. It’s a site that has created an algorithm based on LOTS of data to determine rates for male and female escorts in a variety of cities. It requires you to put in a lot of demographic information, including basics like height and breast size as well as more nuanced things like picking the color swatch that is closest to the color of your skin. The people I know who’ve tried it have found it to be fairly accurate. It’s fun, but it’s a pretty involved survey, so set some time aside before you go through it. There’s a short form for women (but not for men), if you just want to dip into it.

Below is a mondo chart they’ve made showing the average hourly rate of escorts in a bunch of different US cities (click on the image to make it bigger).

The following is from the site’s information page:
The Prostitutes’ Education Network is an information service about legislative and cultural issues as they effect prostitutes and other sex workers. The service is comprised of information for sex workers and activists/educators who study issues of decriminalization, human rights in the context of prostitution, violence against prostitutes and women, sex workers and pornography, as well as current trends in legislation and social policy in the U.S. and internationally.

Material from the following organizations is included: The National Task Force on Prostitution (U.S.), PONY- Prostitutes of New York (N.Y.), SWOP-Sex Worker’s Outreach Project (NSW, Australia), SWAC- Sex Worker’s Action Coalition (Oakland), Toronto Safe Sex Project, COYOTE -Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle), HIRE- Hooking Is Real Employment (Atlanta, Georgia), SIN- Sex Industry Network (Adelaide, Australia), SWAV -Sex Worker’s Alliance of Vancouver (British Columbia), Danzine (Portland, Oregon), and the Exotic Dancer’s Alliance (San Francisco).

Information distributed includes AIDS reports, materials from The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Task Force on Prostitution, testimony and stories by workers, health and community outreach reports, sex worker art and more.

Through PENet, sex workers and others who research prostitution issues may find or request information and get connected with others who advocate for sex workers’ rights in their geographical area.

PENet may also be reached at:
P.O. Box 210256
San Francisco, CA 94121
415-751-1659

penet@bayswan.org

Call girl - this isn’t entirely offensive or completely wrong because it’s not really slang, but it’s a little out dated. Escort is the preferred term these days, and in studies these workers are sometimes called “indoor workers.” See Tracy Quan’s 2001 novel Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl for a realistic depiction of this era in the business.

Prostitution ring - this phrase exists basically to get people wound up. It looks really shocking and scandalous in a headline. No one in the sex industry uses this phrase - in fact, I’m not entirely sure what it’s supposed to mean. Escort agency is a much more accurate way to refer to businesses that a client can call or email to request one of several escorts.

Hooker/whore - Why is it ok to use slang when it’s about sex workers? These are pretty offensive words, and the media shouldn’t perpetuate their use. Escort, prostitute or the umbrella term sex worker are all preferred to these.

Street walker - It’s a subtle difference, but “street worker” is preferred. People who live or spend a lot of their time on the street but may or may not be sex workers are often referred to as the “street-based population.”

The phrase “sex worker” is generally used to refer to workers who may be self-employed but are not management level workers. So: sex workers work in the sex industry, but not all people who work in the sex industry (like madams, porn producers, strip club bouncers) are sex workers.

This, of course, is up for debate and further refinement.

Do you think there’s a distinction between sex workers and people who work in the sex industry?