4 ms·
The Life of a Phone Sex Operator
- fragola 10y agoJust talked to my friend who's a former PSO and she said this is a very confused article and, while she supported herself doing it for several years, no one she knew doing only PSO (i.e. without some other prostitution-related side job) ever made anything close to $100k. Also, she said it is surprisingly stressful work, fielding a lot of calls from unstable/unpleasant people and that she does not think it is a good line of work for the mentally vulnerable. You have to have a very thick skin and to be able to compartmentalize very well.
- Pitarou 10y agoYour friend's experience is not inconsistent with the article. The article makes it clear that most only earn a little, but a tiny elite can earn big money: > By the minute, newbies might charge under a dollar; a typical PSO might charge two dollars; and the rare star with a strong brand might charge $50. At $50/minute, it would take less than 35 hours to earn $100k!
- fragola 10y agoI'm assuming the "rare star with a strong brand" is someone famous outside of the PSO cottage industry (i.e. in films or something). The whole thing reads like someone trying to sell you on a shady MLM.
- JBReefer 10y agoI got the opposite impression - that it's an exploitative industry that preys on the needy. Anton is someone to want to help, not somebody who's situation is enviable, at least to my mind.
- gozur88 10y ago>I got the opposite impression - that it's an exploitative industry that preys on the needy. I'm curious what you mean by that. By "needy" do you mean the people answering the phones, or the people calling?
- mattzito 10y agoCouldn't it be for both, to a certain degree? Obviously not universally, but there has to be some percentage of both PSOs and callers who are weak and vulnerable and being exploited. I think this is true of sex work in general, particularly because (at least in the US) sex workers tend to be marginalized.
- tn13 10y agoI wonder if there is similar article/insights about cam models.
- Reese1379 10y agoJust even hint at criticising MICROS~1 and you get voted down, wanna talk to a sex pervert and that's ok on ycombinator.com, you people have some strange priorities.
- tomhoward 10y ago"If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- breakingcups 10y agoIt feels like this article repeats itself 3 times, adding nothing new. Seriously, it could have been a lot shorter while still imparting the same information.