4 minute read
Student sex workers
Bare Boobs & Bums
An inside look at the rise of students turning to the adult industry for a sizeable income. Mia Wilson reports
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Being a student is apparently the most exciting time in a young person’s life. The booze, the nights out and the crippling debt sandwiched between an overdraft and very little income. It is a real rollercoaster.
Every student’s monetary circumstances are different, whether you work hard in a part time job or get money from the bank of the parents, money is never a side thought. Not every student heads down the conventional route to earn a little more cash. Some turn to strutting their stuff on a dancefloor, while others find a little breeze to their torso never hurt anyone while serving food.
Each year the government loans £16 billion to roughly one million students in England to aid study and living costs. Following the changes in 2016, where grants turned into loans, everyone who takes out their entitlement must repay the loan after they’ve graduated. An estimated 30% of students manage to repay this loan but another 70% can’t afford the repayments. This means that the number of students struggling to pay for their weekly food shop really isn’t a surprise. Very few students can afford a lifestyle which includes spare cash to spend at the end of every month.
What’s the secret to being in the very few club? The job title. By day, Ellie 20, studies English Language at the University of Sussex and by night, she dances in front of adoring men. She’s well into her third year, assignments are flooding in and there’s no sign of spare time, unless you count sitting in the library until 1am the height of spare time use. After hitting minus in her first year, she made the leap and got herself an alternative job. She gets paid £500 a week to dance in (and take off) beautiful outfits and sassy heels.
Turn around... undo bra...bend over...
This all comes part of parcel when you’re a dancer in a lap dancing club. With a set routine of turn around, undo bra, turn back around, bra to the side, turn around, bend over and knickers off, Ellie catches the punter’s eye.
It is believed that one third of UK students head to the adult industry to earn additional income to fund their studies, according to research by the University of Leeds. There is an understandable reason for this; the flexibility the industry can offer.
Combatting a university timetable, a healthy social life, a paid job, assignments and sleeping more than three hours a night can really take a toll on any student. This isn’t as much of a problem for Ellie, being a dancer has given her the freedom to earn a sizeable income while juggling the busy lifestyle university chucks your way.
A secure job is becoming necessary for any student’s economic wellbeing and mental health while studying. Research conducted by NUS Insight on Behalf of Future Finance, asked 2,000 students around the UK about their money concerns. They found that more than a third of UK students worry about their money, to the extent that 71% say their mental health is suffering. Shown by a rise in depression and anxiety diagnoses in student populations.
However, a minimal 1% say they are comfortable with their money situation, showing how students bank accounts are truly suffering.
When she’s working an event Emily is topless
“I have had to be cautious about my spending and miss out on stuff because of needing to keep money for other things,” says Emily referring to books, food and any chance of a social life. The 19-year-old geography student at Warwick University works as a waitress during the week, but also signed up to an event company with a difference. When she’s working an event, Emily is topless. After working part-time and working topless events, she has healthy few hundred pounds to spend after paying adult necessities such as rent and bills. It’s not only the money that comes as an advantage with these jobs, Ellie feels her makeup skills have improved alongside her friendship group and confidence.
The more-than-average income and comments from customers such as “her knockers are 10/10” is enticing as Ellie earns the same amount a waitress would in one week per evening, but the unseen world of these jobs is not all glamour, sequins and killer heels. “It gets pretty painful dancing around in heels” for a night shift, as she wears a minimum of four-inch stilettos. As tiring as dancing around in heels may be, it isn’t the only alarming feature of the industry.
While serving, Emily has experienced over the top customers trying to pull her pants down and physically push her chest onto a table to wipe up a spilt drink. With limited access to security when working these events, issues such as this can be common place for Emily.
On the other hand, most clubs will have security measures in place, including a barred list and observant bouncers. Ellie knows “it definitely helps for us girls to know there are very tough men ready to look after you if you need it” but this hasn’t stopped men refusing to return her underwear back after she finished dancing.
The women both express that there is still a stigma around the adult entertainment industry, Emily acknowledges that people are judgmental towards her job. “It’s seen as seedy or the girls being trashy or slutty for doing it”, Ellie does feel that the stigma around strip clubs is disappearing though, due to the normality of having one on your local high-street.
Despite the perceived negatives, both women love their chosen jobs and feel that their confidence has really increased. Emily, when delivering food and drinks to large groups of people “feels hot”, while Ellie has a boost in self-esteem “knowing guys will pay to see me dance for them makes me feel great”. As the positives outweigh the negatives for the both, they hope to continue their job after they’ve completed their degree.
Although topless waitressing and lap dancing might not be the most conventional job for a student, for hundreds around the country, this is their reality. With grants disappearing and loans decreasing many students dive into the world of adult entertainment to afford their everyday needs. Most of them with the attitude, why not show off what mother nature gave you?
