SICK: Creative Work During a Pandemic
I had to start wearing a watch.
I normally wore one for appearance sake. My real-life job uniform consists of a polo or button up of some kind. A shave every other day. A watch, usually some kind of ring on my “marriage” finger to keep old biddies from getting too handsy. All of this, it’s a mask. I wear it with a smile to keep those I interact with comfortable. The watch had a dead battery for months before I noticed.
I got it replaced a week or two before shit hit the fan.
I think back to that, and fuck. I’m thankful I did.
The passage of time, it’s something that’s so much harder to keep track of lately. The sun goes up then down, with nary a ring of the phone to force my eyes upon a clock. We’re all indoors, with nowhere to be and nowhere to go. So time has become this funny, forgettable thing. Two PM becomes 5:30 AM the next day, and the only difference is the lighting. Time passes, sure. But in its own strange, aberration of a way.
That’s not the only thing that’s got weird, either.
Today, I’d like to talk about being a sex worker during a pandemic. Let’s begin.
The Norms Are All Gone
If you make content, you have a “Brand”(™).
Maybe it’s your style, your delivery. Maybe it’s how you interact with fans, your “working” hours. Regardless, it’s the unique element that makes your work identifiable from the masses. It’s the reason you have fans, get requests and more. It’s what causes people to toss money at your face.
With Splathouse, I like to think of my brand as “approachable”. I’ve a multitude of ways to be contacted. I think at this point I’ve a reputation for being “flexible” as well. I’m a guy that can, and will, do almost anything. However, a majority of what I do centers on a few axis:
The Big Bully
The Boyfriend Experience
The Firm, Loving Dom
Breeding
While it isn’t uncommon for me to get other items in my queue, these are the typical ones. I don’t mind them at all. It’s enough variety to keep me interested and ready for the mic. I typically get anywhere from 1-8 requests per week on CuriousCat, enough to ensure I consistently deliver.
All of that changed the moment entire countries went on lockdown.
As of this writing, there are 7 items staring at me in my CC inbox. I have at least ten currently in my queue. Overwhelmingly, most of them are a step away from what I normally experience-towards simple human intimacy and interactions. An evening with a lover, someone assuring people everything is going to be alright. It’s actually what prompted me to create a new side project. All these requests, all these people, they’re all asking for the same thing right now.
Help us. Tell us we’re going to make it.
From a sex work and personal standpoint, this is totally unprecedented with what I do. But from one as an empathetic human being? I had a feeling something like this would happen. We’re not a species meant to be caged or isolated. Being driven back to the caves, being told to keep our heads down?
I can’t imagine doing that without the internet. I can’t, and don’t want to, imagine the psychological effects that would have on us as little as thirty years ago. For all the qualms I have about smartphones from a privacy standpoint, technology is the one thing empowering us to survive right now. It’s what’s keeping our heads on straight, allowing us to laugh at all about what is going to be an overwhelming tragedy.
Technology is the last refuge of the world weary, the social. It’s the venn diagram where flesh is pulled away and the person is laid bare. Many, many of us are finding ourselves naked right now. Naked, afraid and wanting. Without tech, we’d be lost in the dark.
Plus, it helps us keep track of time. That weird, imaginary thing I took for granted for so long. Without noticing it, every day has become a xerox copy of the one before it. Hours are accentuated by if I’m hungry or not. I’m constantly checking my socials for even the most fleeting of conversation. Without the interconnectivity of our culture at the present, I’d just be stuck talking even more to my cats.
As for Splathouse and creative endeavors?
Well…
Silver Linings in the Plagued States
If we step back from the heavy metaphor and psychological outcry, the raw numbers for what I and many other sex workers do is fucking staggering.
I’m the busiest I have ever been. I’ve multiple commissions in the queue, tons of stuff for the public, and two stories requested as of this writing. We’re not even a week into quarantine in my area. I am, quite seriously, looking at treating Splathouse as a nine-to-five seven days a week to keep up with demand. Frankly, I couldn’t be happier. Splathouse and things associated with it are my release, and I’m extremely eager to meet whatever is tossed at me. But that’s just me.
A single scroll of my socials is incredibly telling. Most of the sex workers I follow are capitalizing on the fact people are staying at home with a sale on OnlyFans memberships, Manyvids sales and a lot more. The writers and audio producers I follow have also VERY steadily been producing content at a rate far higher than they normally do. The humanities are, as in all disastrous situations, experiencing a renaissance of sorts. For sex work, that means living wages and much more.
Stay at home orders are officially lifted in my county on April 17th.
If demand and pay keep up at the current rate they are going, I realistically will not have to worry about returning to work. Granted, I’m in an extremely fortunate position that many aren’t. But still. To be able to turn this legitimately into a job has been a long standing dream of mine. I was scared when all this started.
That changed with an enormous outpour of support from the public.
I have never asked anything of any of you-so I’m going to do that for the first time.
Please continue to support content creators during this pandemic if you financially can. Many of us are displaced from work or otherwise totally unemployed. Many of us were living paycheck to paycheck before this happened. Many of us literally are looking at homelessness and much more. Even a single dollar can make a difference in the lives of so many individuals out there. In the states, there’s been a stimulus of $1.2k approved for people that qualify. The thing is, many people don’t. Likewise, while $1.2k may seem like a lot of money to many of you-that barely covers rent in most places. It sure as hell can’t cover groceries, utilities, or that aforementioned cell that keeps people’s mental balance. A single buck can literally be the difference between someone eating today or not at this moment.
If you cannot financially support someone, retweets, shares, and more absolutely help. A majority of the “new work” I’ve gotten has come from people sharing this pinned tweet. When you do that, you act in a capacity a lot of creatives struggle with-as free advertisement. Advertising your creative endeavors, especially in sex work, can be really hard. Especially when you’re already overloaded with producing content. As such, share those pinned tweets. Share those “commissions open” calls. It takes seconds out of your day and ensures your favorite creators can stay safe and sane.
If you’re a creative-keep “office hours”. Many of you are going to be working from home for the first time in your life. Even more of you are experiencing the “joy” of full-time freelance or self employment. As someone who has been self employed for the better part of his life, allow me to give you one very, very serious word of caution to preserve sanity: You do not have to be in the office all the time. It’s okay to tell a client to contact you the next day. It’s okay to “clock out” at 5 o’clock. It’s okay to take an evening to yourself. Failing to do so is going to lead to burn-out that’s only going to be massively compounded by everything going on. Don’t do that to yourself. You’re a human being and you deserve happiness, love and peace of mind. You’ve already spent the last few years dying for capitalism and a boss-do you really want to do that even more?
I’d like to end this by saying that, of all the horrid gifts this pandemic has unleashed on us, hope is the one I’m thankful for. I’m hopeful about my future. I’m hopeful about all of us making it through this, about all the societal changes I see afoot due to this outbreak. Though things may look bleak-hope endures.
That’s why I’m going to keep on smiling, and keep on working. I hope to see the rest of you smiling right along with me.
Take care, deviants. Stay safe, stay healthy.
I love you.
-j