"I welded for years, did a damn good job, but I was also constantly sexually harrassed."

 Whats up with guys? Either they are actively seeking the ladies with sexual advance,or they are looking for bromance.
Is the art of socially withdrawn solitude
lost amongst men?

If you're gonna swim in the ocean, then you just have to do your best to avoid/ignore them.

I wish it could be different, but that's the world we live in.

I'm not sure who these "people" are that you reference; but I am used to meeting providers who are bright, well-educated and don't have drug problems.

But let me tell you what contributes to the impressions that you see: the postings of providers.

Many providers post (usually aliased) about how ugly, unattractive, un-layable, stupid, unclean, oafish etc. their clients are. They also post about how dangerous their job is.

It is very difficult to convince a man that you enjoy having sex with unclean, oafish and ugly men that you fear might try to harm you.

THAT is where the impression comes from that you "must" have no choice.

I know that if I had a choice, I sure wouldn't be having sex with unclean, oafish and ugly women in a dangerous environment as a way of putting food on my table -- so I project that.

BTW, MIG and TIG are great; and I dig babes who weld.

Pimping and hoeing are and have been glorified down through the years and while a huge stereotype in most cases, it's not always completely false, hence the questions and the assumptions. You say you love this and I hope that's true because the only person in the mirror that has to answer to your life is you. Fuck the creeps and fools that make assumptions about your character and what you do. Lastly, I think you would do better not to try to justify your choices to people. Just do what you do until your looks and sex appeal fade. It will, it does.

and pure and need to be protected. No woman would ever CHOOSE to do this!

You know who you are preaching to here, right?

The choir... "singin' songs of praise and comfort" to devine creatures such as yourself.

My guess is there are a few forces that continue to perpetuate the stereotype.

Religious factions - there's whole lotta 'god-fearin' Christians' an like-minded folk who, intentionally or not, keep a narrow view of such things. It's hard to be open minded when your head is surrounded by packed sand.

Media portrayal - could be movies, books etc. It's amazing how we wrap our perspective of thing around stories we here when we have no personal experience to go by. All people tend to keep perspectives they have had all their lives, unless a personal experience shows them otherwise.

Dianne Sawyer - LOL! By that I mean, of course, new personalities. News is a great vehicle as a propoganda tool to shape others opinions to match yours. New personalities have followings and influence the same way a political or religious leader does.

With any of these three (as with any source of information) how many people really take the point of view of a skeptic-searching out the validity of claims, and putting them to the test-when they hear something from someone the tend to trust.

Oh, there is another one:

Pimps, streetwalkers, crackhos, trafficed girls, etc. etc. - They do exist in huge numbers. My experience is that many people in the hobby minimize their numbers, sometime to the point of almost denying a real problem exists.

I trust no statistic on the topic, since everyone who looks at the subject has a political or moral agenda to promote on both sides of the issue. But it's out there and it's a real and serious problem, I'm sad to say.

Personally, I have no problem with your point of view. If I did, I'd be one fucked up hobbyist.

Not that I'm not already. HA!



HalfHour

In fact I am a stickler for independence. I would be deeply disappointed in learning that one of my friends was involving a third party in her and my business. Even "just" a driver or scheduler is disturbing. Unauthorized communication of my information to a third party underlies my rare bad experiences in hobby life.

because, some providers do have pimps.

Why do people assume that if you are a provider that you must have a pimp, no education, a drug problem, or that you must be forced to do it?

Human trafficking does exist. Some Ladies do have pimps. Some ladies that do this are on drugs. Some ladies are lacking in there education. Some ladies are forced to do this. These are the stories that get told on the news, made in to movies, and talked about in the office. These problems are real but they are not the only story in the hobby. But sad stories involving violence, force, human tragedy, and sex sell more than stories of just sex so most of the time the sad stories get told at the exclusion of the less sad ones. So people with no direct knowledge have little else to go on.

In addition everyone dealing with the issue of prostitution has a agenda. Most of those in the industry want it legalized in some form or anther and taint the information in favor of the hobby. But there are more groups that are apposed to prostitution than are in favor of it. And these groups ether intentionally or just by wearing blinders taint any and all information in the other direction. There is no untainted information to be had so many just go with the majorities point of view as it is easier than thinking and coming up with ones own opinion.

Anther factor is what some of the providers post and what some ladies put it their ads. I will use part of one of the OP ads as a example. I posted a link to her full ad below.

      "DON’T ANNOY THE DIVA!”

“QUESTION: “Can you put on some high heels, a garter belt, blah, blah, blah?”
ANSWER: Dude, I’m not your Thanksgivings Day turkey so no you cannot “dress” me any which way you want. I do wear very sexy lingerie but really what is the big deal when you’ll be face down for most of it?
QUESTION: "What exactly will you be wearing?" ANSWER: What exactly have you been smoking? It can't be the Mary Jane because even I like to take a few tokes from time to time and I don't recall it ever making me as clueless as it has made you! Lol because that was a good one (I really crack myself up sometimes)! Anyway, the answer is in the question before this one...lingerie! Seriously, you really need to put down the pipe and 'Just Say No' to whatever it is you're putting in it so that you can better pay attention.
QUESTION: “How much does this cost?”
ANSWER: Wow! So, what language are you reading my English in? It’s not in fine print fella’s! That answer is provided right next to the number you just dialed to ask me that very stupid question!”

When you read this part of her ad, and it goes on, it sounds like she dislikes her job. From her posts I don't think that is true but that is how it sounds. People reading it may think, "Wow, she hates her job. So she must not have much of a choice." I have read many posts and ads that talk about on how dangerous it is to be an escort, how unkempt there clients are, and other thing they don't like about there chosen profession. But with all the bad media on the subject one may be led to believe that these ladies feel trapped but in reality they are just venting about their job like everyone does from time to time.

Those are the reasons I can think of why some think the way they do. Now I will read what others have posted. Sorry, this post is so long.