Second interview Ella and Ivy

Today I had my second proper interview with Ella and Ivy. As per, here are my thoughts on what we discussed.

1. The girls feel that the industry is inaccurately perceived as dangerous. They cited this as the main reason that they felt unable to tell people that they are close to, for fear that their family, friends etc would be constantly worried about them. I think this is a very fair point, and can definitely see where they are coming from on this. Most people would be put off getting involved the industry because of the perceived danger, however Ella and Ivy say that now they are involved this is actually a very small concern compared to how much they worry if the client is going to be easy to get on with or good looking. I think this is interesting, and would be great to include in the film to challenge people’s preconceived image of the industry being dangerous. I have been looking for some statistics on violence towards escorts in the UK, and have found the following:

“A report in the British Medical Journal about client violence towards women in prostitution stated that of the 125 women in indoor prostitution contacted, 48% had experienced client violence. The types of violence experienced included: being slapped, punched, or kicked; robbery; attempted robbery; beaten; threatened with weapon; held against will; attempted rape; strangulation; kidnapped; attempted kidnap; forced to give client oral sex; vaginal rape and anal rape. [Church, S., Henderson, M., Barnard, M. and Hart, G. (2001). Violence by clients towards female prostitutes in different work settings: questionnaire survey. British Medical Journal, 322. 524-525.”

These figures don’t take into account the areas that the women are working, the individual’s involvement in drugs / alcohol or the way that the women organize their bookings. It also doesn’t state whether these women are choosing their own clients or are being controlled by a pimp, therefore it is very difficult to say whether Ella and Ivy are right to not be concerned about the dangers posed by clients. Obviously letting strangers into your house is always risky, and I must say that I’m not sure I agree that the girls blaze attitude towards the risks is entirely sensible. Although I want to challenge people’s preconceptions about just how dangerous the industry is, at the same time I’m very aware that I don’t want to send out the wrong message to people watching by saying that there are no risks at all, without representing the other side of it.

2. The girls actually feel empowered by the job. When I asked them what they liked about it, both Ella and Ivy agreed that part of it is a power thing, being able to be in charge of a guy in that way. As the girls are both their own bosses, this does actually make a lot of sense. I think its very important to make the distinction between the girls who are working out of choice, and the girls that are forced / coerced into doing so. Nothing either of the girls have said gives me the impression that they don’t enjoy what they do, with Ivy actually saying that “you get quite a lot from it actually”. The girls are actually in charge of their sexuality in this situation, and whilst one could argue that they are being objectified, if they feel that it is their decision and only work on their terms, I don’t see any harm in this.

3. Their sexual experience gained from escorting actually scares a lot of guys off in their personal lives, but some people do have relationships and work. When you think about it, it probably isn’t surprising that their job might put potential romantic partners off, as society in general views monogamy as the ideal in relationships. When I asked if they were ever worried about developing feelings for a client, both girls looked horrified. I would have thought this was a risk, but the way the girls talked about their relationships with clients it was clear how differently they view the physical side at work to intimacy outside work. They echoed what Dirk said about it being your body but not your mind, and explained that the act itself is very staged. The word fantasy was used a lot, and I think this is important to remember when talking about what escorts do. Some would argue that it is immoral to charge someone for intimacy, because of our association between sex and an emotional connection, but when you think about it as an agreed arrangement based entirely in fantasy, it makes much more sense.

4. In general people aren’t looking for fancy or extreme stuff. This actually really surprised me! This could be because Ella and Ivy both say they advertise the girlfriend experience, but I think the reality of it is that the industry isn’t full of sexual deviants, but just normal people looking to have fun.