The Pros and Cons Of Hiring an Escort

In an article I wrote here last year, I explored some of the fascinating aspects within the male escort industry.  Since then, I’ve received frequent questions from readers about legality, safety and health concerns from women interested in trying out an escort.

An interesting theme revealed from reader questions is that a lot of women are not looking for a male escort, but a female escort.  These range from lesbian and bi-curious women, to hetero and lesbian couples that want to bring in a safe female play partner for sexual exploration with “no strings attached”.

The first thing that people often ask is where to find an escort.  Traditionally, the source for exploration was alternative magazines and newspaper classified sections in which one could see listings such as “London ladies seeking male and female escorts” which lead to a phone number and now-a-days, a website.  I highly recommend if there is a website, to visit it to look at the quality of the site which indicates the professionalism of the escort agency.

Another frequent question I’ve been getting is “What are the pros and cons of employing an escort?”  One thing I often do when writing an article or replying to a reader question is go and ask the same question on Quora.com.  If you’re not familiar with it, check it out – it’s a fascinating source of information from experts in pretty much any field you are interested in.

At Quora, one of my favorite experts Claire J. Vannette chimed in with this delightful metaphor to that very question:

This is kind of like asking “What are the pros and cons of going out to dinner?” Sex work is a service industry, and like cooks and waitresses, escorts run the gamut from skilled, friendly, and healthy to unpleasant people who might infect you with something.

Unfortunately, because sex work is illegal in so many places, and often stigmatized even in places where it’s legal, there’s much less transparency in the industry. When I go to a restaurant, the odds are low that I’ll catch a food-borne illness. I can count on a variety of regulations and torts to work as disincentives for unsafe practices. I can also count on past customers to speak up when a restaurant makes them sick, another disincentive and possibly a warning. What if those disincentives didn’t exist?

For this reason, one significant “con” of hiring an escort is the challenge of knowing what you’re paying for and the level of risk you’re taking on. It’s rather like the risk of buying illegal drugs, which could theoretically be cut with some (more) harmful substance. The lack of transparency in the industry can also make it difficult to know if you’re hiring someone who chose this line of work or was forced into it, the true age of the escort, and so on. (I assume you care about this sort of thing.)

The “pro” could also be compared to a restaurant, I suppose. You get what you want, when you want it, and the money you spend replaces the time and effort you’d have to spend to get it for free. There’s also refreshing honesty in a financial transaction. Sure, I could try to persuade an acquaintance to cook for me, buttering them up, pretending to like them, working hard to get them to like me; or I could pay a cook and just get my damn burger.

Well put, Claire!