Brock Landers
04-20-2010, 06:22 PM
Paying for sex is no longer a male preserve. In the final part of our series, Mary-Anne Toy explores the world of male escorts and why more women want their services.
SHE is well educated, well spoken and very well groomed: an attractive blonde in her 30s used to men hitting on her in bars. So why did ''Eva''* pay a man to have sex with her? And how did that encounter lead her, a single mother with a full-time professional job, into secretly running a male escort business?
About two years ago, fed up with internet dating and the desultory randomness of the bar scene, but missing male company, Eva toyed with the idea of using a male escort.
Ignoring the storm of censorial voices inside her head, all screaming variations of ''nice girls don't do that'' and worse, she started searching online.
''It was very hard; there wasn't much out there. I rang one of the places and they never returned my phone calls.'' She ran hot and cold on the idea for six months.
Then she found ''Steve'', a solo operator online. ''I was very lucky,'' she says, having now a better idea of what is out there (not much). Steve sent her a picture. They exchanged texts. She wanted to ask all sorts of questions about how it would work, but didn't feel confident enough to have those sorts of conversations.
So she leapfrogged her doubts entirely and arranged for him to come to her house.
''It was nerve-racking but I was also excited. The anticipation, thinking, 'Oh goodness, what am I doing?' '' she says. ''When I opened the door, I just went 'phew'. He was gorgeous, beautifully presented and he made me feel at ease. He worked very hard to make me feel comfortable.''
That encounter resulted in Eva and a friend setting up an exclusive escort business, My Male Companion, for professional women like themselves who were well-off, but stressed or time-poor and wanted male company and sex on their own terms. About 40 per cent of jobs don't involve sex; the clients just want the male company. For Eva, hiring Steve was an overwhelmingly positive experience that she doesn't regret. But she knows that she is totally kicking against societal and possibly biological norms. Some men pay for sex, always have, probably always will. But women? It's a fraught issue, especially as prostitution is one of the most divisive issues among feminists......
Read More (http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/no-money-no-honey-20100420-srs5.html)
SHE is well educated, well spoken and very well groomed: an attractive blonde in her 30s used to men hitting on her in bars. So why did ''Eva''* pay a man to have sex with her? And how did that encounter lead her, a single mother with a full-time professional job, into secretly running a male escort business?
About two years ago, fed up with internet dating and the desultory randomness of the bar scene, but missing male company, Eva toyed with the idea of using a male escort.
Ignoring the storm of censorial voices inside her head, all screaming variations of ''nice girls don't do that'' and worse, she started searching online.
''It was very hard; there wasn't much out there. I rang one of the places and they never returned my phone calls.'' She ran hot and cold on the idea for six months.
Then she found ''Steve'', a solo operator online. ''I was very lucky,'' she says, having now a better idea of what is out there (not much). Steve sent her a picture. They exchanged texts. She wanted to ask all sorts of questions about how it would work, but didn't feel confident enough to have those sorts of conversations.
So she leapfrogged her doubts entirely and arranged for him to come to her house.
''It was nerve-racking but I was also excited. The anticipation, thinking, 'Oh goodness, what am I doing?' '' she says. ''When I opened the door, I just went 'phew'. He was gorgeous, beautifully presented and he made me feel at ease. He worked very hard to make me feel comfortable.''
That encounter resulted in Eva and a friend setting up an exclusive escort business, My Male Companion, for professional women like themselves who were well-off, but stressed or time-poor and wanted male company and sex on their own terms. About 40 per cent of jobs don't involve sex; the clients just want the male company. For Eva, hiring Steve was an overwhelmingly positive experience that she doesn't regret. But she knows that she is totally kicking against societal and possibly biological norms. Some men pay for sex, always have, probably always will. But women? It's a fraught issue, especially as prostitution is one of the most divisive issues among feminists......
Read More (http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/no-money-no-honey-20100420-srs5.html)