Love, Sex and Money

The world is changing, fast and economic insecurity is changing how women make money.

Some people think Donald Trump won due to economic insecurity and a huge social meltdown.Wages are low, work is precarious, and many people (particularly the young) have a lot of debt to pay off. This change created a lot of social stress, which, in turn, created a massive tide of mental illness. Conditions are not conducive to stable relationships right now, and people know it.

Meanwhile, women’s earning power relative to the average male is going up. This is good news for women, not so great for mankind.

There is no longer economic incentives to form relationships. Women can take care of themselves. In fact, most do better on their own. There seems to be less dependency and abuse in general. Single women have other options. They can leverage their sexuality as an income generator. In other words, men are losing their social advantage and are paying for sex more often. Online sexual services are a booming industry.

Sugar daddy websites are among the top adult sites on the internet. Of course, they only cater to higher-income earners. A woman may have a hard time getting any of these men to give a firm commitment, but they can still make lots of money. The sugar daddy’s only real power is getting attention from young, beautiful women. They may or may not be satisfying a ‘findom’ fetish.

For the women, this is an income stream with a low barrier to entry and a high potential reward.

The same can be true for escorts, camgirls, and professional sexting agents. Sex does not have to occur for payment.

It is interesting to note that in a different time or place these women might not have chosen this kind of work. They may have pursued typical relationships, and been less open to these opportunities. Today’s positive climate dictates that women are benefitting are making a sensible choice.

In a recent article on TheTab, Sarah talks about her life as a professional sexter on Arousr.com;

“I have battled with the pros and cons of my decision and how it might conflict with my feminist views. I have come to realize that part of feminism means that women should have the right to choose what they need to do for themselves without being labeled. If I were ashamed of what I did, I wouldn’t do it. It’s fun, and I get to explore my needs while getting paid. For me, it’s a win.”

While it all sounds positive, make no mistake abuse does happen.Stigma will likely diminish as more women become empowered and take charge of their lives.

Women are starting to create their own rules about what relationships should be. They are also benefitting from sex without having to commit to marriage, that may or may not be toxic to them.

The truth is marriage used to be the way men paid for sex, and it only benefitted them.

Photo Credit: jaredhersch Flickr via Compfight cc