SILICON VALLEY, Calif.—In an article that will not sit well with people who think commercial sex is synonymous with trafficking, CNNMoney.com takes a decidedly even-handed look at Silicon Valley’s burgeoning and apparently lucrative sex work trade. Rather than take a traditionally narrow view of the type of work that falls under that ubiquitous label, the authors recognize the variety of businesses and services and the people who run them.
“The Bay Area's high wages and concentration of young guys with disposable income have made it a magnet for sex workers -- a broad term that can refer to a number of services, including sexual massage, prostitution, and escort and dominatrix work,” write co-authors Laurie Segall and Erica Fink for CNNMoney.
Admitting that the nature of much of the work being profiled necessitated the use of pseudonyms or professional names in the story, the writers nonetheless describe a thriving industry set apart by its sophistication. “It's no surprise that a region where a sizable population is flush with cash has a thriving adult services industry,” they report. “What's more intriguing is how those in the industry are using both the tools and the language of the area's tech startups to build their businesses -- and to try to change the public perception of their work.”
A distinct theme of female empowerment through the use of technology also runs through the article, even when the speaker is a police officer from San Jose's Human Trafficking Task Force. “He sees technology as one of the sex trade's biggest growth drivers,” write Segall and Fink of Sgt. Kyle Oki. “With websites and smartphones, buyers and sellers who would never be comfortable trolling out on the street in public can arrange for discreet transactions, he says.
“Those same tools,” they quickly add, “are helping sex workers set the terms of their employment.
Another theme that permeates the article is the idea that a new breed of sex worker is meeting more than just the sexual needs of the average (i.e. young) Silicone Valley worker, “geeky clients” who as one sex worker put it, “have the money to spend on what they need.”
Driving the point home, Sgt. Oki says of the business climate."Business is good out here. The girls say they can make more money here than in other cities."
That may in fact be the most valuable take away from the article, and certainly the idea the authors most wanted to leave with their readers. The piece ends with extremely positive statements from local sex workers about the current state of business.
“[Steampunk Courtesan] Stryker's business tends to rise and fall with the tech industry tides, she says, and right now, it's booming. ‘People are starting to feel like they can treat themselves a little bit more.’”
Another local prostitute called Josephine for the article "also says her clients are feeling more secure and spending freely again, after a big drop-off during the recession.”
Josephine adds, "It's interesting to hear on the news about the economy and how it's recovering. If you were to gauge by my business, it's recovering a lot faster."
Indeed, considering all the above, plus the fact that Southern California has been so damned hostile to sex work of late, one might well ask why the heck not move up north?!
