Brock Landers
03-03-2011, 09:12 AM
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/03/02/naked_therapist/md_horiz.jpgShe's a media darling and an unlikely shrink. But Sarah White's operation reminds us of something else: Sex work
Just like that, "The Naked Therapist" has turned pornographic fantasy into reality. Sarah White, a 24-year-old New Yorker, conducts talk therapy sessions with clients via webcam -- all while slowly taking off her clothes. Surely you will be shocked to learn that she isn't actually a licensed therapist -- but she does have some psychology classes under her belt from undergrad! She's also "currently studying a wide array of psychotherapeutic methods in preparation for my Ph.D. dissertation on Naked Therapy," according to her website. She told me over the phone, "As Freud used free association and dream analysis, I use nakedness."
The psychological community hasn't exactly rushed to embrace her nudity -- but the media sure has. Today she was in the New York Daily News and the Daily Mail; yesterday it was the Wall Street Journal. (Tomorrow, the New Yorker?) What's amusing to me about all the hubbub is just how similar what she's doing is to what we traditionally label as sex work. From cam girls to strippers to prostitutes, sex workers will tell you that much of their work involves simply talking to men.
Several cam girls that I've spoken with in the past emphasized how little of their time is spent taking off their clothes or performing sexually. During sessions they often do their homework, watch a movie or talk about their client's day at work. They lend virtual company and a sympathetic ear. There is plenty of dirty talk and masturbation, of course, but that's only part of what they're paying for. The same is often true for strippers: Customers will pay dancers to simply sit and talk with them. There is flirtation and dancing, but there is also bitching about stresses at work or at home. Prostitutes run into the same thing: Once the sex is over, there is nakedness, vulnerability and a bizarre sort of brokered intimacy. Sex can break open emotional floodgates. When you consider how much pressure men face to be strong and fix their own problems, it's almost poetic that some would resort to talking about their feelings in a taboo, forbidden context.
...Continue Reading (http://www.salon.com/life/sex_work/?story=/mwt/feature/2011/03/02/naked_therapist#story_full_mps2042704)
Just like that, "The Naked Therapist" has turned pornographic fantasy into reality. Sarah White, a 24-year-old New Yorker, conducts talk therapy sessions with clients via webcam -- all while slowly taking off her clothes. Surely you will be shocked to learn that she isn't actually a licensed therapist -- but she does have some psychology classes under her belt from undergrad! She's also "currently studying a wide array of psychotherapeutic methods in preparation for my Ph.D. dissertation on Naked Therapy," according to her website. She told me over the phone, "As Freud used free association and dream analysis, I use nakedness."
The psychological community hasn't exactly rushed to embrace her nudity -- but the media sure has. Today she was in the New York Daily News and the Daily Mail; yesterday it was the Wall Street Journal. (Tomorrow, the New Yorker?) What's amusing to me about all the hubbub is just how similar what she's doing is to what we traditionally label as sex work. From cam girls to strippers to prostitutes, sex workers will tell you that much of their work involves simply talking to men.
Several cam girls that I've spoken with in the past emphasized how little of their time is spent taking off their clothes or performing sexually. During sessions they often do their homework, watch a movie or talk about their client's day at work. They lend virtual company and a sympathetic ear. There is plenty of dirty talk and masturbation, of course, but that's only part of what they're paying for. The same is often true for strippers: Customers will pay dancers to simply sit and talk with them. There is flirtation and dancing, but there is also bitching about stresses at work or at home. Prostitutes run into the same thing: Once the sex is over, there is nakedness, vulnerability and a bizarre sort of brokered intimacy. Sex can break open emotional floodgates. When you consider how much pressure men face to be strong and fix their own problems, it's almost poetic that some would resort to talking about their feelings in a taboo, forbidden context.
...Continue Reading (http://www.salon.com/life/sex_work/?story=/mwt/feature/2011/03/02/naked_therapist#story_full_mps2042704)