Ok I read a question on the General Board that has me searching for answers that is only causing me to ask more questions...so I thought maybe I need to ask someone who knows the answers.

The original question was why are there so few age 40+ African American or Latina providers? I read the responses and initially agreed that the gent was not correct and had to be tripping...however he is correct.

The age range in question are the 40 and over providers.

On TER there are

2288 Caucasion providers over 40 years old

140 Latina providers over 40 years old

58 African American Providers over 40 years old

I know you cannot read the minds of why women do what we do, but can you offer some insight?

I do realize that Women of Color age extremely slow....(when I worked for an agency I was marketed as 23....almost the same age as my daughter) so could that be the issue?

In my state I am alone in my age and race category. Am I missing a hugeeeeeeee marketing tool?

HELPPPPPPPPP!!!


Thanks!!!

Dear Allure,

Your question as to "why there are so few age 40+ African American or Latina providers" is probably best considered in the context of the TER environment. As you know, the sex industry in general and prostitution in particular are very stratified and hierarchical, often mirroring the rest of society.

Statistically, AA sex workers of all ages are overrepresented within street prostitution. This has less to do with what women want and more with the reasons for why women choose prostitution as an economic means of support. The reasons for why a young African American woman ends up using the street as her main mode of survival are completely different from why a 40+ AA or Hispanic woman chooses to use TER as her main source of income. One is survival sex and the other is choice. In order to have that choice in the first place, the educational background and life opportunities need to be present. Fewer AA and Hispanic women have the initial financial freedom to use the Internet and compete for clients in the middle- to upper middle range of sex work.

If you look at the poll archives of TER, you'll see that the TER environment is largely composed of White, college educated, middle aged males. In turn, these men may also operate differently from those clients who solicit street prostitutes. They make appointments over the Internet, they submit to screening and they plan their appointments in advance. They demand a level of physical comfort when visiting a provider and they engage in some form of educated discourse. They are loath to visit providers who live in "questionable areas" and their fear of anything crime-associated is obvious. In short, these men want to visit providers who are more or less similar to them in social status. They are willing to wait and plan for such encounters to happen. "Impulse buying" in this form of prostitution does not exist. Hence, they interact with women who are not necessarily driven by economic urgency. These women can also plan and wait for their appointments and take less of them, because most likely, they have a safety cushion of extra income and don't live on razor-thin margins.

Another facet of this issue is cultural. Fundamentally, AA and Hispanic cultures are more traditional in their approach to sexual matters. While a White woman who has a white collar profession may choose to engage in sex work to make extra cash or even just "for kicks," this would be morally unthinkable to an AA or Hispanic woman who has sacrificed a great deal to end up in a job where a college degree or specialized training is necessary. There are providers on TER who are open about their work and who espouse a sex-positive, almost political agenda. You will definitely find less such women in the AA or Hispanic population. In addition, women over 40 in these population groups would not generally be drawn to prostitution as a profession.

I have attached the study I did last year. It was only a pilot study and it used an old, very flawed instrument which was required by the learning institution. There you can get a snapshot of the women of TER. They are by no means average or represent the typical woman involved in prostitution. But they offer some interesting (and encouraging, depending on what side of the political fence you're on) statistics. As to your own marketing efforts, you'll just have to see what the market will bear. If clients want to meet with you based on your rarity, then it seems a good idea to exploit it for all it's worth. And count your blessings - remember that there are many unfortunate sex workers of color out there who don't have the luxury of choosing their clients, their working environments or their life destinies in our current society.

Yep, it's still a race/class/gender issue,
The Love Goddess

Wow......thanks and I will study the study.

Thank you LG...  while some might choose the pretty young thing...  I gravitate toward the slightly younger than myself but still "If things had turned out different, I could see us together."  It's an illusion, of course, but it's easier on the imagination.
skb

While most of your comments should be known based on the simple math and racial composition of America I really enjoyed the insightfulness of your response.  The note about the traditional cultures of AA and Hispanic are dead on, for example.

Great read.  I got a woody from all the intellect dripping from the page

Excellent observations!

Tall using your math and basing that on our current population would mean there should be over 200 AA 40yrs old+ providers... NOT 58 in the entire country. African Americans are not less than 2% of the American Population.

Which is why I asked the question.

Hi Allure

In my opinion you are missing a huge marketing tool. And the problem is communication. Most AA women unfortunately communicate to the non-AA world very poorly. The overall impression is a bit above street walker for most ads. And that is not the image that you should be portraying. Your own ads do not have that image, I might add. But given human understanding there will be a reluctance to go to the "other side" if the prepoderance of information gives a negative or risky impression. That's human nature. So, my advice is look at what the successfull providers do in your area and copy them verbatim. It's all about image for men. Trust me on this. And of course follow through which your reviews confirm you already do. You seem to be an intelligent woman getting to grips with the hobby(I am too but I'm a dumb older white guy). Please contact me if you are ever in NYC. You look sweet and sound smart. A killer combination.

Allure, thank you for such a compelling question. It is something that I have often thought about recently and to see the question posed made me sigh - you were able to ask the question perfectly.

LG, thank you for your thoughtful response. As one of the 58, I will closely review your study with great interest (with a degree in Sociology this kind of thing is right up my alley).

Incisive conclusion from some interesting research!