She Works Hard for the Money

According to the tabloids all you need to do to make a load of money is set up an OnlyFans account, take your clothes off and watch the money roll in.  To confirm this rosy picture of sex work in the ‘roaring’ 20s we spoke to Kat, a sex worker based in Chicago.  

Hey Kat, tell us why you became a sex worker?

I’d dabbled when I was 18 but when I was at college I hit a point where I didn’t have enough money to pay my bills and it was the only option.   As a Transwoman you experience a lot of discrimination when trying to get a job.  If you use your ‘new’ name then you don’t show up on a background search, and if you use your ‘old’ name they’re surprised when you turn up and you have to have that weird conversation straight away.   

I’d apply for jobs, get an interview and then the position would strangely disappear.  

And when I did get a part time job I’d experience either off color Trans ‘jokes’ or I’d constantly be explaining why I transitioned over and over again.   It all gets pretty fucking boring after a while. 

So, like a lot of Trans people, sex work was kind of my best option. 

So how did things start out?

Initially I went on Seeking Arrangements, to my great shame!   It’s basically a sugar baby type thing and you meet people and they buy you food or clothing or a nice bag.  It wasn’t sex though, I just hung out with them, went for dinner that kind of thing.  

Then I went on Chaturbate where you perform live and people pay to see you strip or have sex.  That was fine but takes a lot of commitment and you need to maintain a schedule.  

Basically you need to build a fanbase and turn up at the same time every week for them.  I suffer from mental health issues and I struggled with that and making that kind of time in my life.   

So I ended up on OnlyFans after that.  

And we assume this is when you became a millionaire?

Not quite.  I think it’s my favourite of the different streams of sex work though.  You get to be creative with your content.  You can make it on your schedule and once its on the site you can earn from it over and over again.  To make serious money on the platform you need some fame to start with (or build it on other platforms like Instagram, which is not easy nor quick) and you need a team who answer the messages and requests, leaving the star to just make content.  

Sorry, it’s not a get rich quick scheme, but it is the one that makes most sense for my life right now. 

I see from your website that you offer other services too?

Yes, and they’re all so different, requiring different skills!

I am an escort and I love that kind of sex work too.  You have to be careful with who and where you meet but so far it’s been good for me.  I tend to meet a handful of people a month so again I’m not making millions here either! 

And then I’ve done some studio porn, which I really didn’t like.  Trans performers do not get treated well – the studios know we’re probably poor and isolated and therefore highly unlikely to be able to get legal advice, or even get taken seriously by the police (if it went that far).

So that was a pretty depressing experience.  I’d like to try it again but in a more inclusive queer space.  

I’m also on pretty much every form of social media to market myself and direct traffic to services that pay the bills.  

You’ve got to be good at marketing in this business.  

I had no idea when I got into it that you need to be skilled at so many different things – meeting someone in the flesh and making them comfortable is different from creating content which is different to performing live.  You need to learn different skills for the different aspects of the job…

So do you enjoy you career?

I love it.  

I have control, there’s no ceiling to what I do, I don’t have a boss.  

But most importantly I’ve learnt to love my body through this;  if you’re trans you’ve probably gone through years of hating your body.  But by taking control of my presentation and extending that to my sex work, I’ve been able to rewrite negative associations with parts of my body.  Thats been very enlightening and healthy for me to experience. 

I also receive messages from other adults who are transitioning saying that they find me inspiring, and that feels really good too.   

I intend to stay in sex work, build my profile, perhaps do more studio porn.  I’ve got plans and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Finally, how much money do you make?

Enough to get by, its getting better every year but I’m not living lavishly.

Thanks Kat, good luck. 

-Ian Pierpoint