New Study Of Male Escorts Finds Out What They Care About

[Steven_Draker]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/avatar_b4437e4bc587_48.png New Study Of Male Escorts Finds Out What They Care About

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-81PeyBL3AXQ/U1uQnJJrvWI/AAAAAAABMsc/pYBlSuzH8OY/s1600/Escort_Study_InfoGraphic.jpeg

 

Press Release: For Immediate Release

April 25, 2014

New study of male escorts finds that what they want to know is not what you think

 

Internet-based male escorts want to learn about ways to improve their business, found a new study from researchers at the Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training (CHEST.) They want services beyond safer sex and express high interest in being helped in ways that will improve their careers as escorts. “A lot of current research on male escorts has focused on HIV risk and looked at ways to help men stop being escorts. The assumption has always been that, because male escorts exchange sex for money, they are in dire need of safer sex training,” says Dr. Christian Grov, one of the study’s authors. “Instead, we found that over 70% reported using a condom with their last client and that services such as ‘Attracting the right client and keeping them,’ or learning how to navigate the legality of escorting, outranked being trained in how to negotiate safer sex with clients,” said Grov.

 

The data were taken from a 2013 survey of 418 male escorts on Rentboy.com, one of the largest websites on which male escorts advertise themselves to other men. The research team partnered with HOOK (hook-online.com), one of the oldest grassroots organizations to provide services and advocacy for men in the sex industry. One of Hook’s most popular programs is “Rent University,” a series of workshops offered to men in the sex industry. “Rent University was started in 2004 and has offered a variety of workshops ranging from self-defense to substance use harm reduction,” says Hawk Kinkaid, HOOK’s President and founder. “We partnered with the research team at CHEST to gain greater insight about what courses and programs to plan for the next Rent U. sessions and articles on HOOK’s site. We wanted to know what interests men in the sex industry about healthy living through working smarter,” said Kinkaid.

 

The CHEST survey asked men about 14 different workshops and those topping the list predominantly had to do with ways in which men could build their careers as escorts (managing money, marketing oneself). In fact, ending one’s career as an escort ranked 8^th and negotiating safer sex ranked 12^th. “This suggests that both researchers and providers really need to rethink how we are going to approach the topic of escorting,” says Grov. “Instead of trying to ‘save’ these men from being escorts and assuming HIV prevention is their chief interest, perhaps we really should be trying understand motivations for escorting and the intrinsic benefits men receive from being escorts,” continued Kinkaid.

 

But this is not to suggest all male escorts are happy-go-lucky. “It is important to remember that exchanging sexual services for money is highly stigmatized and there isn’t an organized physical community of male escorts. Many of these men remain hidden among us,” said Grov. In fact, the study found more than 2/3^rd of participants (69.7%) had not disclosed their escorting to a single family member and a quarter had not told a single friend. “And this is exactly why online grassroots organizations like Hook have proven so valuable for these men. Where there isn’t a physical place for escorts to gather, online communities like Hook have created a virtual space.” And while 70% of participants reported using a condom with their last male client, 30% did not. Although in the minority, the study identified areas for improvement.

 

 

For more information: Christian Grov. cgrov@chestnyc.org 212-206-7919

 

The findings from this study are forthcoming in the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy

Grov, C., Rodriguez-Diaz, C. E., Ditmore, M. H., Restar, A., & Parsons, J. T. (2014). What kinds of workshops do Internet-based male escorts want? Implications for prevention and health promotion. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. doi: 10.1007/s13178-014-0151-z http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13178-014-0151-z

[Guest boiworship08]

That's pretty interesting. I'm often surprised to find how often an escort I know sees clients. He's a very cute and fit Asian with beautiful skin and a geeky, occasionally whiny personality. I was interested to hear that he sees two to five clients a week. He just never seemed to fit the profile of a highly successful escort. That's serious income for someone his age.

[SteveEscort]

This was trending on twitter a few days ago

 

The numbers I agree with are 1 and 2 whole heartedly, they are my most important things too

 

Not sure on 5 for self defence because I've never been attacked by anyone ever. I've never felt vulnerable with a client. I've had a few clients who were maybe a bit rough but nothing sinister.

 

Not sure on 12 about negotiating safer sex, it's safer sex or nothing. There's no negotiation going on

 

Number 6, dating... I don't have time to date whilst working as an escort, too many boundary blurs and plus it's not fair on the other party.

 

Apart from that I agree that most of them apply to me with the total exception of number 7. I don't plan to end my career for at least another ten years. Then I'll have been doing this for about a quarter of a century. When I move on from it, I won't ever regret where I got my money from.

 

The healthcare responses 4 and 11 arnt much of an issue in England. Healthcare is free and prescriptions are only £120 a year set fee to get everything free plus healthcare workers are very clued up with sex workers and each regional healthcare trust has specially trained employees to help with sex workers. Things are a whole lot different over here.

[Guest countryboywny]

If you think about it, the list is very predictable and not much different than the concerns of most people in business. Items 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9 and 10 are especially true no matter what business it is. The remainder of the list speak to the human needs and concerns. The best value of this list is to show people that most escorts are business people and human beings not machines. Not much different than anyone else. IMHO, of course.

[jimboivyo]

A study of 418 guys on rentboy is not a cross section. it's just another ad for rentboy

 

this isn't a big deal nor is it reliable information

[instudiocity]

A study of 418 guys on rentboy is not a cross section. it's just another ad for rentboy

 

this isn't a big deal nor is it reliable information

Today, Rentboy shows 1968 US Based Escort-advertisers. A quick scan through the list of country shows about 3,000 more International escorts on Rentboy. If CHEST surveyed US-based escorts, that's a 20% of the population sample. If they surveyed Internationally -which would be very difficult to do, they still would have a survey of nearly 8% of the population. That's more cross-section than the political surveys being pushed as news in any US media outlet today - those surveys are usually samplings of no more than 1,000 people to represent the 320+ million residents of the US>

 

I wouldn't through the baby out with the bathwater nor the survey out because you believe 418 guys are not representative. It's a fair cross-section of the advertisers on Rentboy. Frankly, I'd be amazed if out the 1968 advertisers, 1500 of the guys are active - seeing one client per week.

[Nvr2Thick]

To me one of the key points is this: "Instead of trying to ‘save’ these men from being escorts and assuming HIV prevention is their chief interest, perhaps we really should be trying understand motivations for escorting and the intrinsic benefits men receive from being escorts." The initial premise appears to have been that being an escort is a problem that needed to be solved, however, this appears not to be the case for many escorts. I've known men who escort who were at some level ashamed of what they were doing. I've also known escorts who had fully integrated it into their lives; fitting it in well with their out-and-proudness, promiscuity, presence on the gay scene, and visibility to family and friends.

 

6, 7, 8, and 13 might touch on this to a degree.

 

A former escort friend went through serious self-loathing over having been an escort. He often enjoyed his clients and the sex, but the sensation of "God, why am I doing this?" would hit hard after the sessions. Sometimes he would stay awake nights dwelling over whether he was trapped by the money or trapped by poor judgment, and whether he'd get caught between his two lives -- the people who knew he escorted and the ones who could never know. Eventually, one of his friends who knew became a serious boyfriend and he quit escorting because he wanted the relationship. At that point he was able to at least start to heal. Long story, but my point is that he put up such a front that I don't think he would have answered the study honestly. I think that he'd have suppressed responses suggesting that his most important topic was "How do I quit the business?"

 

I wonder if there are many escorts that did not answer honestly when it came to core questions of that nature.

[+ FreshFluff]

It's an interesting survey, but there are several problems with the way it's written. One of the biggest is the use of the words "care about." For one, it's unclear what exactly that means. What does it mean to "care about" about dating/relat? My guess. I think RB, in an attempt to position themselves as a one-stop shop for escorts, is actually asking whether the escort would be interested in content about each topic.

 

Second, "cares about" is a phrase that make people answer along the lines of what they think they SHOULD care about, not their actual priorities. For example, an escort might see a phrase like "talking to healthcare respondents about escorting" and check it, because talking to doctors sounds like a good thing to do. Doesn't mean they have any intention of talking to their doctor about escorting.

[SteveEscort]

A former escort friend went through serious self-loathing over having been an escort. He often enjoyed his clients and the sex, but the sensation of "God, why am I doing this?" would hit hard after the sessions.

 

Now, as you know, I've been doing this job a long long time. I started in my mid 20s, doing this as a bit of fun and realised I was damn good at it. In all the years I've escorted I have never met one single escort (male or female) who loathed doing the work. I've met some who were not proud of what they were doing but I would say, on a professional not street level, most of the escorts I have met and speak to on a regular basis actually love doing this work.

 

I've had odd appointments that have gone wrong where I've thought "god what am I doing", this being a recent as two months ago, but I pick myself up and got on with my life. It was a one off bad experience..... not the norm.

 

We ALL just do this for the money. Any escort that says otherwise is lying. However...... I have dozens and dozens of clients I would miss, if I was not doing this work. There are some clients where it's not just all about the money. I'm in love with one for a start and have a sort of sugar daddy relationship going on, on the side from escorting, where he knows my real name and everything about me, it's a nice arrangement and I get a generous allowance and regular trips abroad. I would never give up what I have with him for anything. I've dozens of other guys who treat me well and see me often, always asking how I am and making time to have a conversation with me and taking an interest in things I'm up to outside of the work.

 

I am of the firm opinion that if you loathe having to have sex with men for money then you're really in the wrong job and it will do more longer term damage than a short term money fix. As I said earlier, we're ALL in it for the money, it's a job and we have bills to pay like everyone else. I wouldn't have sex with random strangers every day of the week for fun, although most of them are fun, many clients are far from fun.

[Steven_Draker]

I wouldn't through the baby out with the bathwater nor the survey out because you believe 418 guys are not representative.

 

+1

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pStJvIW4nIs/TZzJrGxp2aI/AAAAAAAAAGc/WzGoamW1sng/s1600/baby+with+the+bathwater.png#throwing%20the%20baby%20out%20with%20the%20bathwater%20492x417

[Steven_Draker]

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13178-014-0151-z/lookinside/000.png

 

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13178-014-0151-z/lookinside/001.png

[Rod Hagen]

Now that Jake Walker is retired I believe John Ramsey, Michael Vincenzo, and I, in that order, have the longest consistent careers as internet Male Escorts. If I'm wrong, let me know, but I'm fairly certain that others have been working "nearly" as long or have entered and left the business regularly, whereas we've stuck with it (I think Vincenzo left once, briefly.)

 

Anyway, Dating: My BF hates it.

 

Career transition, Oh yeah, older I get the more that sword of damocles sways.

 

You keep clients by being a good escort. I've come to realize that being a good escort means being a fun escort, you're best served by not being over serious, by smiling a lot, being enthusiastic. Be fun. Be kind. Not taking escorting too seriously is not the same as not taking safety seriously. In those first few years I got SO many colds. Now I wash my hands obsessively, as well as all the standard precautions (safe sex, testing).

 

What else, healthcare. At 41 years old I was paying $1300/month before Obamacare. Holy shit!

 

Balancing with another career: Funny, I was an engineer when I started escorting, realized fucking was MUCH more fun than writing reports, quit and never looked back.

 

Boundaries are rarely a problem. If he invites you to lunch after, and you're hungry, go.

 

I really resent the "Right" in #1. It seems like a code for generou$. It may also mean kind, but I simply haven't encountered unkind clients, not in 15 years of escorting. It's a cliche. A (near) myth. Clients just aren't scary or nasty. They're usually insecure, slightly, and horny. Ok, off for some coffee, that's my two cents.

 

p.s. I know my rentboy ad in my signature below is dead, I need to renew.

[Bart]

I am confused how is a research study an ad for Rentboy, just because they list the source?

418 is actually a good sample size. The only problem with the report is that I did not see if they considered the educational background required to complete the survey or if English is their main language. I dont know if they had a spanish, portuguese or other languages available.

This is not a knock against the providers, but based upon how some ads are constructed, I think there is a strong level of gentlmen who have reading and English issues. One sentance ads or those filled with numerous spelling mistakes are good source of deterrmine the educational backgrounds of the individuals.

If you want to do a study on male for male escorting, you have to start somewhere and Rentboy seemed like a natual resource.

How do you know it is not reliable?

I dont think one is actually a sample.

I would much rather hear from the source material than speculative outsiders.

[Steven_Draker]

... And while 70% of participants reported using a condom with their last male client, 30% did not.

 

One of the most interesting things I learned from the study is that whilst 30% of the escorts who took part in the anonymous survey reported that they did NOT use a condom with their last male client, we seldom see any reviews or postings in this Forum about it.

[SteveEscort]

I think clients are wise enough to realise that if an escort did offer them bareback it's employment suicide for most escorts to be seen to offer that service and so I think guys are clients are discreet enough to leave those details out of the equation.

[Nvr2Thick]

One of the most interesting things I learned from the study is that whilst 30% of the escorts who took part in the anonymous survey reported that they did NOT use a condom with their last male client, we seldom see any reviews or postings in this Forum about it.[/color]

 

From time to time we do note that an escort advertises for Safe Sex "sometimes", or has pictures of himself fucking raw. I can recall very few call-outs on reviews that obviously recounted a bareback scene. These are met with the type of discussion you would expect -- with most comments expressing concern about irresponsibility. I wouldn't expect many comments in the reviews or forum about bareback experiences with escorts because I don't think these clients and escorts are interested in a debate. Unprotected sex happens on the DL in the greater community and is glorified in the bareback-friendly sub-culture.

 

I used to be a member of a few bareback sites so that I could screen the members for overlap between A4A, Manhunt, and the escort sites. Some men on the hookup sites and some escorts had near identical profiles on the bareback sites. This cross-reference became another source of information for making informed choices about the men I would meet.

[Scorpio]

Now that Jake Walker is retired I believe John Ramsey, Michael Vincenzo, and I, in that order, have the longest consistent careers as internet Male Escorts. If I'm wrong, let me know, but I'm fairly certain that others have been working "nearly" as long or have entered and left the business regularly, whereas we've stuck with it (I think Vincenzo left once, briefly.)

 

 

I think you can add Alec Martinez to your list...at least since 2000 (but I think as early as 98 or 99).

 

BTW, I really need to make it to LA one of these days.

[Irtwo]

Now that Jake Walker is retired I believe John Ramsey, Michael Vincenzo, and I, in that order, have the longest consistent careers as internet Male Escorts.

 

You can also add the infamous Scott Sloan to that list, a forum "favorite". In fact, I think he beats everyone for longest career.

[Andy2]

You can also add the infamous Scott Sloan to that list, a forum "favorite". In fact, I think he beats everyone for longest career.

 

Ho Ho Ho.

 

A friendly amendment to Rod's List: Longest Career for a Legitimate Escort!

[Steven_Draker]

I think clients are wise enough to realise that if an escort did offer them bareback it's employment suicide for most escorts to be seen to offer that service and so I think guys are clients are discreet enough to leave those details out of the equation.

 

It's interesting that some people choose to single out such important things as sexual health and protection as mere ... "details".

[nate_sf]

If you think about it, the list is very predictable and not much different than the concerns of most people in business. Items 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9 and 10 are especially true no matter what business it is.

 

I agree with this. I like that there is now a growing body of research that is investigating male escorts as serious businessmen, rather than hustlers or tragedies to be pitied and rescued simply for the mere fact that they are engaged in sex work. The findings from this study seem to be very consistent with the journalistic investigation by the BBC earlier this year that was discussed on the Forum:

 

Threads: http://www.companyofmen.org/showthread.php?96541-BBC-Radio-Programme-on-Gay-Escorts-in-London&highlight=Radio

http://www.companyofmen.org/showthread.php?96629-BBC-Documentary-Boy-for-Rent-News-amp-Radio-Interviews-about-Gay-Escorting&p=888713#post888713

 

BBC site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01pcwzd

 

Regarding the topic of safe sex, I thought the BBC program (or programme) was especially interesting on this. The reporter polled escorts on the phone, and had some taped excerpts of some of their responses. While the majority were not open to barebacking (some emphatically) a small minority were. But personal decisions aside, the majority seemed to indicate that barebacking would be bad for their business as much as the health issues.

 

Granted, both of these studies pull their subjects from the internet listing sites, so it may be more fair to characterize this as "professional male escorts" or "business-minded male escorts." But these sites are where the pros go to solicit business, so it would make sense this is where they'd get their subjects. It could be interesting to compare findings from guys advertising on Rentboy vs. Backpage, but that would be for another day.... (correction: I see from the paper excerpt Steven posted that the study is titled "What kinds of workshops do Internet-Based Male Escorts Want" do that takes care of that.)

[SteveEscort]

It's interesting that some people choose to single out such important things as sexual health and protection as mere ... "details".[/color]

 

 

Well it's certainly not me that singles it out but I would expect that clients wouldn't mention it. I am one of the very few gay escorts who actively publish and prove their hiv status on their website

[Steven_Draker]

For reference:

 

http://www.companyofmen.org/showthread.php?99018-Is-the-increase-in-bareback-porn-changing-the-way-clients-view-escorts