Photoshoots, Empowerment and Badassery are Turning Clients On

Hi all,

I recently had a photoshoot with my photographer and I wanted to discuss how these photoshoots always make me feel - empowered. The woman above is obviously not me, but she doesn't need to be. She has that fierce look in her eye that says, "I can stand out. I am different. There is nobody quite like me." Just like your DNA is yours and yours alone, so are your photos. And I find it incredibly empowering to show off once in a while. This is why, on the 4th, I took so many selfies. I wanted to.

There are some clients, for sure, for whom titillation (a good word, and a vastly underused one in my opinion) is the entire point. They want to see sexy, and if they want, for sure they've got it. But there are others for whom badassery, ferocity and women owning their bodies is much more important. Perhaps this derives from the sexism inherent in patriarchal culture and how we, as courtesans, have always shaken the world upside down and owned ourselves as opposed to men owning our bodies (unless you represent the countless other genders out there, in which case you may have a very different experience, as I speak from my own perception only).

Men have owned women's bodies for such a long time - since Roman times and before - that for some men it is a treat to see a woman rock her own body without anyone else being there. To see that while we may be feminists, we do not hate men, and while we may be women/lesbian/trans/queer/non-binary/two-spirit, we do not need a man - I think that this is primarily what makes us different, and shakes up patriarchal culture for the majority of clients. They appreciate us for that very reason, and I believe that the belief that self-confidence and intelligence is sexy is on the rise. That's good. It means we can use our minds and not just our bodies to entice clientele.

My photographer takes pictures for Twitter, ads and for my website. This works out - but for many men it is sexy to see a woman at home in her own skin. So many people are not. It really is time to work on changing that. Rape culture, as seen in @margaretcho's hashtag #12DaysofRage, is persistent. SPs know this too, as antis clog up our Twitters every single day. It will take a lot of men acknowledging their privilege and releasing it for the patriarchy to lessen its hold on society. But that is a whole other blog for a whole other day.

In the meantime, let's rock our own bodies and not let the patriarchy own them. There is an SP for every client out there. Let's flaunt it!

Be well all,

Xoxo,

Olivia