My Work as a Hustler

So I just started reading a book on the subject of male sex work called: Male Sex Work & Society. I'm only on page 51 of 468, but so far it is a good read. So far the book is making me ask some good questions about myself, why I did it, who I am, and all sorts of things.

So for those that don't know, I'm 23 and live near Los Angeles where I have lived all my life. Three different towns that I can remember of, though there were two before that that my parents tell me of. Of course I'm gay. The reason that I bought the book was after watching the TNT television show "The Alienist", which has to do with the murders of street workers in New York City in the late 1800's.

When I tell people that I used to hustle I'd get one of two responses most of the time. The first is that they thought I was doing drugs and had sex for money in order to buy. Or second, they would think I was homeless and was doing it to buy food and clothes, or to get a place to spend a night. I really did it for two different reasons. First, I enjoy sex. Second, I found out that I could make extra money by letting guys have sex with me.

I didn't come from a broken home like so many think about when the term "hustler" come up. I grew up in a nice middle-class, suburban, home. My parents are still married after getting together in their early 20s. I graduated high school with a 3.35 GPA. (I was hoping for 3.5, but oh well). And now I have a really great job that puts most of the guys I still talk to from high school to shame. I didn't go to college right out, but I'm still thinking about doing some classes. I've taken a few classes here and there, but nothing steady.

Just from reading the first few chapters of the book, it is amazing how male prostitution has changed from far back in the Greek and Roman times, to where it is today. What is even more interesting to think about is how open and acceptable it was back then compared to now. It still had it's stigma but it seems that in ancient times it wasn't all just about the sex. It was about teaching life. It wasn't so bad if the one being paid for sex was also getting some sort of life lesson from the one doing the paying. It seems to have still crossed a line if it was just purely about sex and nothing more.

And that relates to me. I met quite a few men in my younger years getting paid for sex who taught me some important life lessons that my own parents weren't that keen on relating. I would say that the biggest lesson I learned from one of the guys who was a regular over a summer was about saving the money that I was earning. It still seems a little weird at times to think that the guy that taught me to save 30% of my paycheck for retirement was paying to fuck me every now and then.

Another lesson I learned was about paying attention to politics. Granted, right now I usually want to turn the news off because I can't stand hearing about Trump and what an idiot he is, but it taught me the importance of voting. I was dumbfounded to learn that only about 60% of eligible people vote for the President, and only about 40% vote during the mid-terms. Talk about no right to bitch if you didn't vote. I used to have some really good political arguments with one guy, and then found out he actually held an office in one of the suburbs.

It's also been interesting learning about the type of men who do pay to have sex with a hustler. Most people that I've talked to who know I did think that it's always gay men who pay to have sex with someone that they would not normally be able to hook up with. Think of the older man at the bar, maybe a little overweight, or has a noticeable beer belly going on, dressed in Wal-Mart clothes, trying to make a pass at, and then being blown off by, the hot 20s guy who's in great shape and wearing designer clothes. So instead that guy pays a hustler who is of the same take as that 20s guy because he can easily get him.

Talk about false! Wow, have I met a wide variety of guys. I've been with married guys, and some who have even had kids of their own. I've been with straight guys who wanted to fulfil a fantasy of being with another guy. Though I'm not totally into women at all, I've even been in a few threesomes with married couples. I've been with guys who were rich, and not so rich guys who have apartments that are pretty much a version of Motel 6. And quite a few times I've been the first boy that a guy has touched in a sexual way. I've met guys who just wanted to trade blow jobs, and some that were into some really kinky play.

So to say that I learned a lot during my years of hustling is an understatement. I don't like saying that I'm one of the lucky few that came out of it in a good light. I think that has to do with how and why someone got involved with it in the first place. If someone ends up a prostitute, male or female, because of necessity, it's going to be a bad thing all the way around. But if you go into it because of a want or desire, then I think it has a much better chance of ending on a good light.

For the most part, I never worked the areas where the "street" hustlers worked. I didn't want to be associated with that crowd all that much. My favorite areas were the downtown hotel and convention center areas. I just had to hang out for a while, look a little cruisy, flash a bit of taboo skin every now and then, and it usually didn't take long for a fish to take the bait.

So I'm really interested in really getting into the rest of this book. I'm going to plan on reading for about an hour a day. After reading for an hour of any book my mind starts to wonder after that and it's hard to concentrate.

I'll probably end up turning this into a thread to keep commenting as I work my way though the book. But, for now, I hope you enjoyed the post.

That's all for now.

RAZZ

Great and very interesting post RazzmaTazz. I hope to read more in the future. You are a brilliant writer - so why don't you sit down and write your own story???? Every day for one hour -

Shelter said:

Great and very interesting post RazzmaTazz. I hope to read more in the future. You are a brilliant writer - so why don't you sit down and write your own story???? Every day for one hour -

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:agree:

I'm in total agreement with Shelter: Razz, you're a good writer and - though you're pretty young - you've got a lot of experience to talk about! As long as you're writing about your experiences as a hustler or your life more generally, I start thinking: "- Hrmmm, I wish you had a book published! I would buy a copy for myself and a copy for haiducii !"

When we get to hustling in ancient times I guess I think you get too much into romanticizing - so I'd say: for the book project, stick with what you know, stick with your own experience!

But anyway, please continue writing in this thread!!!

Great post, I look forward to your updates.

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Well, thanks to Shelter, Gorgik9, and StoneCold for the replies. And of course a big thank you to those that gave it a "Thanks" too. I'm now on page 107 of the book and glad I found it. It has really made me think in more detail about the work I did.

Today's chapter had to do with advertising. Which is usually one of the first questions that I get when I tell people that I used to hustle. "How did you meet guys?" And then I kinda look at them with a blank face and answer: Well, how do you meet the guys you hook up with?

Up until recently when Craigslist took down their personals part of their website, I really had three ways that I used to meet guys:

#1) Working the streets (so to speak). I didn't actually work "on" the streets. My choice of hang out was near the Los Angeles Convention Center, the downtown hotels (like the Bonaventure & LA Grand, or around the Figueroa and Courtyard), or around Pershing Square. Id usually wear a pair of light colored shorts, tight tank top, my slip on sandals (I absolutely hate shoes), and I'd either have a thong underwear on or I'd be commando. If I had my back to the crowd on a railing I'd hike my shirt up a bit, lower my shorts so you could catch a good glimpse of the thong ora nice part of my ass. Or if I was leaning back I'd undo the button of my shorts and have them unzipped a bit. Just enough to show, but not enough to get in trouble for. I'd usually see a guy then give me a motion of interest and then I'd discreetly follow them for a bit until we got to a more private area to have a little chat. Then it was generally off to their hotel room.

#2) Using Craigslist. A friend of mine had shown me Craigslist when he was talking to me about how he had met some guys that he had hooked up with. It didn't take to long to figure out who was in it for a quick hook up and who was in it for a little financial support. It was all about how you worded you ad. Because Craigslist didn't actually allow for selling sex on their platform, I would just write a basic ad of what I was looking for but replace all the "S" characters with "$". That way you could still read what I was looking for, and the "$" implied that I was looking for a payment. This was by far the way that I met a vast majority of the guys I hooked up with.

Hanging around the hotels and convention centers only gave me a narrow potential of people that I was going to run into. They had to be gay, in a nearby hotel, not have any rooming companions, and be available for sex right then and there. Craigslist gave me the opportunity set up future plans if one of us couldn't connect right then, and gave the opportunity to expose myself (pun) to potential partners all over the metro area.

My usual stomping ground was the area of Santa Monica on the east, Anaheim on the west, Pasadena on the north, and Huntington Beach on the south. But every so often I'd get a reply from someone wanting to meet up in Santa Barbara which was two hours away (Probably not), or Palm Springs (two and a half hours away), and sometimes even way the fuck down in San Diego (another two and a half hours). I don't mind driving, and I love all those areas. I just had a thing about driving for a longer time (in one direction) than the hook up was potentially to last.

And the variety of men on Craigslist was all over the map as well. Single guys, married guys, guys who had never been with a boy before, guys who had but liked to get a somethin'/somethin' other than their spouse (male or female), guys who wanted to have all male threesomes, and guys that wanted to have threesomes with their wives. There were guys that just wanted to get together to have blow jobs, and guys that wanted to get into a little Gerald's Game or 50 Shades.

Men at the convention center and hotels though tended to be of one particular class: out of state business men. More than a few times a guy would tell me that he hadn't been looking for any action but couldn't resist the opportunity once he saw that I was making myself available.

#3) Lastly is when I found Grindr. It is basically a stupidly simple app. You upload a profile telling things like your height, weight, age, hair and eye color, are you gay or bi or one of the others, are you top or bottom, how big is your cock, and then typing a twitter length message. The app then uses your phones location to arrange a display of other profiles that are close to your area, and tells you how far away they are from you. The app is great when I'm driving around the area because the profiles keep changing based on my location. The bad part is if I don't move for a few days the profiles become static, and you have to wait until other move into your area for yours to show up on their app.

Again in my little bio I just substitute the "S" with the "$". Grindr meets usually don't happen on that day though, but some do. This is because I will usually get a message when I'm driving. No texting and driving!! So I usually reply when I get home or to my destination. And since I was already doing one thing it's rather hard to just drop it and go. But for the most part it still works out in the end.

And I guess there is a #4. Word of mouth. I had a lot of guys say to me once we were done together that they might know someone who would be of interest to me and was it OK if they gave them my email. Sometimes I would get an email out of the blue saying something like "you hooked up with XYZ a while ago and said I might be your type of guy too". Every so often I'd get invited to a party by a guy that I had hooked up with, and those were always fun to go to as well.

In this way of advertising I'm glad that I was born into the internet age. Reading about how guys used to put cards up in phone booths, or notes up in adult bookstores, or advertising in magazines sounds like a general pain in the ass. I don't think I would have been to keen on paying into some agency or magazine to advertise my services. That just sounds like more work that fun.

My favorite way though was definitely the first. I loved watching the reactions of people who saw me, whether or not they were interested. Were they shocked that a boy my age would be dressed that provocative out in public? Were they intrigued? Did they give a little smile thinking to themselves that they wished they were like me too? Or were they disappointed that they were with others at the time and couldn't come over and chat me up?

In a nutshell, that is how I attracted my business. A shameless boy, horny for sex, living in the big city, selling his body for his own pleasure and the pleasure of others.

I loved reading your experience and perspectives on this! I think so many young gay guys go into it, well some definitely out of desperation others like yourself and I did it for pleasure! It's something that I think is a lot more common then is often disclosed. And as long as you're safe, is hella fun! Can't wait to hear more from you!

Thanks for sharing you are bringing back so many memories of my "misspent" youth.
Please keep sharing.

The Value of Hustling

So I just finished reading the chapter of the book that talked a lot about what the "value" of the hustler is. Meaning who gets paid more and why. When someone is looking online for escorts, most of the time they have rates that are "per hour" and than differ if the meet up is at their place or the clients. I pretty much kept it simple, I never met at my place (for obvious reasons first, but second that I didn't want to end up with that one stalker client knowing where I lived), and I never charged on a "per hour" basis. I always just charged on a "per session" basis based on what the client wanted to do.

When I started out it was a pretty simple thing: $20 to blow me, another $20 if you wanted me to blow you back, and $100 if you wanted to fuck me. When I first started out was in a park's restroom at night where there was a glory hole. I figured $20 was a good price seeing that the first guy who sucked me off there gave me $20 to let him do it. Plus it was a nice small amount that most people still have in their wallets. $100 to get fucked usually took some planning. It either happened the next day or a few days after, but showed me that the guy was serious, and kept the guys that just wanted to fuck and go at bay a little.

Once I got involved with another hustler who was a few years older than I was, with more experience, I was able to see that I was able to make more per session because of how I was valued.

According to the book, and a lot of own experience, clients do tend to value youth. When you look on the escort service websites, those who are in the 18-21 market are earning more than those say in the 26-30 market. And as I've gone up in age to 21, 22, 23, there has been a decline in the amount that I can earn. Maybe it's because guys don't think they should have to pay for it at that age, or maybe because I'm not so cute and innocent as I was back when I started. But I will admit that I would pay more for a hustler who is 18 than I would one who is 25 as well. It's just like any other thing that you buy, the older it gets, the less expensive it becomes.

When I do go out hustling now (not nearly as much anymore because of work and other activities) I still usually end up with about $300 per session. Though the books says that the average cost per hour is about $200, I think that I'm still right about average as well. By saying that I'm going to charge $300 is a lot easier to figure whether the session lasts half an hour because the guy ended quickly, or two and a half hours because the guy is fun to be with. This way the client doesn't have to worry about having to run to an ATM for more cash, or trying to finish because of a deadline.

But the session cost is still based on what the client wants to do. If he just wants to give a blow job I'm not going to charge the full $300. That is kind of an "everything included" price, and it just for the basic stuff: jacking off, making out, blow jobs, and fucking. The cost starts to rise on if you want to include some kinky stuff. I had a some clients who paid me $500 or more a session when bondage and some light spanking was involved. The first guy who wanted to do that I said $500 as a polite "no thanks" but when he said wasn't a problem I said "OK" since I'd become horny curious about it, and didn't want to pass up an additional $500.

I've done a few orgys parties too. There were some where I was the only bottom, and others where it was more like a sex party with a few other bottoms and we got passed around from one to another. Sometimes I'd make money on a "per person" base, but mostly those were a set fee and then got fucked in the ass and mouth until it was over. I'd go home wet and sore, but the cash in my pocket made me feel a lot better to add to my stash of cash at home.

One thing that I learned early on though was to make sure that I got paid before the activities began. I think it was two of the first five times about that I had gone to where the client wanted to hook up and we had our fun and then I would ask for the money only to be run out of the room and not get paid. After those times, it was always "money before fun". I didn't mind giving partial refunds in cases like a guy ended way soon, or we didn't end up fucking, or something. But that was I knew I was leaving with at least something, and not nothing.

Nowadays, a favorite question of peoples is if I know how much money I made during my years of hustling and what did I end up doing with the money. The answer to the first question I usually answer like this "more than you'd make in two years as a full time cart pusher at Wal-Mart". I like to watch people try to figure that in their head and then look amazed. The second part of the question is that most is still sitting in my bank account. I've used a lot to furnish my apartment, get my car fixed a few times, and a couple of vacation. For the most part, though, I'm not a huge spender and it's still there.

And the other question that I get a lot is "how did you keep it from your parents while you were a senior and still living with them?" Again, I'm not a big spender so I wasn't all of a sudden buying things that they knew I couldn't afford. And I grew up with some pretty cool parents who weren't as intrusive as others I've known. Yea, they knew I was sexually active. No, they didn't know specifics. As long as I followed a few of their basic rules, they didn't go digging. Be home before they got up in the morning was the biggest rule. Didn't have to worry about that one too much. Call if I got into trouble for any reason, no questions asked. Didn't have to use that one either. Keep up the schoolwork. About a B average in school so they didn't get over me on that one.

We had, and still have, a good relationship. They let me live my life, make my own mistakes, and learn from them. I did a post on my opinion blog about if we are restricting kids too much these days, and I never felt that way with my parents. No, they weren't happy with me 100% of the time, but what parents ever are, but they let me be me, and that was the best part.

I found a lot of value in hustling as well. It allowed me to get a good jump on a financial life. I have a good sized bank account. I got good financial advice from a few of my clients who I give great thanks too. And I'm not one of these starving students with hundreds of thousands in loan debt. I have a fantastic legit job that I like doing still making more than most of the friends I graduated with.

I wouldn't recommend hustling for everyone. But I say that if you are going to put yourself out there on Craigslist, or Grindr, or any other site where the primary purpose is to get a sexual hookup, then why not use your body to make some money as well. I think people are going to value you more if they have to put some steak in the game. If you put yourself out there for free, most are just going to "use" you, but not "value" you. If you know what I mean. Yea, there were plenty of guys that I hooked up with that still just "used" me even though they paid for it. But these guys still saw value enough TO pay for it, rather than just take it for free.

I got the book and am reading it now. Thanks for the suggestion. It and your posts here are bringing back so many memories and I am grateful.

What I don't understand is, remove the money and if you are fat, old, or considered ugly it's no no no, but bring money into the equation and suddenly they are all over you like a rash.

I have paid lots of times for sex and will continue so that is not the issue just curious.

package15 said:

What I don't understand is, remove the money and if you are fat, old, or considered ugly it's no no no, but bring money into the equation and suddenly they are all over you like a rash.

I have paid lots of times for sex and will continue so that is not the issue just curious.

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I guess that would depend on the person who you are paying and who they are willing to hook up with. If a person is in desperate need of money they they might be willing to hook up with the "fat, old, and ugly" who they wouldn't normally go with. I turned down plenty of guys over the years that were unattractive to me because I wasn't in "need" of the money. I could afford to be picky and choosy with the guys I hooked up with. But I've met guys over time who didn't have that luxury.

Then if you look at it from the "fat, old, and ugly" guys perspective, sometimes I think that paying for sex is going to be the only way they hook up with someone who meets their standards, or believe that they can. I think that the more that someone thinks that way the more real it becomes. If a person thinks that they are "fat, old, or ugly" then they will be. But if one of those type of people believe in themselves, then it will be more likely that they can find a guy who meets their standards without having to pay for it.

That is probably a convoluted and clear-as-mud explanation, but I hope you can follow where I was going.

About the Clients that Paid Me

One thing that I learned from my experiences is that there is no one single type of guy that is going to pay for sex. It was all over the map. It was this "all over the map" that made the work even more fun, interesting, and erotic.

When I first got into it I really wasn't into getting to know the guy that I was hooking up with, hearing his story about why he was paying for sex, or what his background was. But the more that I got into it, and the more that guys would open up, it did become interesting to get to know someone a bit, even if I knew it was only going to be a one-time deal.

When I was first working in the park I think it was mostly guys who wanted to sneak away for a little fun in a way that wasn't going to show that they were cheating on either a boyfriend or a wife. You may still have to explain why you were out, but there are no receipts or phone calls that are going to give you away. On a good night, you pop in, and 20 minutes later you're out.

It was when I started to meet guys either in their house, or a hotel, that I got to know the guys that were paying me on a more personal level. I remember a guy close to the first time who picked me up and then drove out to one of the cheap tourist motels where he got a room for us to go into. It wasn't a "pay by the hour" place, it was a Motel 6 type of place. When we got in the room he said that he hadn't been looking for another guy to have sex with, but was looking for someone for sex because he was going through a divorce. I could tell that he was nervous about doing it with a younger guy the way I still was a bit with hooking up with an older man in a private setting. But doing things new to him with a guy I think gave him the release that he needed, because I remember him dropping me back off saying it was one of the best nights he had had in a long time.

Men going through divorce and needing a release was just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of times the men were still married, and most of those guys had families as well. I don't like to use the term "repressed homosexual", but in a society today where the gay lifestyle is considered part of the norm, broken marriages happen all the time, and more people are keen on "open" relationships, I think more people are willing to try things that they wouldn't have in the past. I've asked some, in a totally non-scientific survey, why they would choose to pay me rather than hook up on Grindr or Craigslist where the hook up could be free. The answer that I got the most was that they saw me as a hustler as a business transaction where there would be no strings attached, where they saw the Grindr or Craigslist hookup as not so free. It took me a while to understand what they meant by that until I started to use the both of them too. There were a lot of times where I would get hounded after an experience to hook up with them again, where I was getting paid I wouldn't get contacted again unless the guy was willing to spend a little more.

Though mainly 98% of the people that paid me were men, there were rarely a time or two where it was a woman that was the client. Whenever that was the case I had to make it a point that I didn't have sex with women, which was ok for the few that I did hook up with. Women like younger guys too ya know! I'd just lay back for them and let them play with my body, suck me off, and on occasion fuck me with a strap on. It wasn't nearly as good sexually for me as getting fucked by a man, but it did turn a few of the gals on.

Then there were the clients that wanted to have three ways. And the threeways came in quite a number of varieties. There were the ones with two men and me in the middle. There were the ones with one man and one woman and me in the middle. There were even a few where I was the 3rd for a husband and wife. Those got interesting. There were a lot of times where I would be hired along with another boy my age with a man.

While when one things of a guy being hired as a hustler for another guy, logically one thinks that there is going to be sex involved. For the greater part, this was true, but it wasn't always the case. There were times when I got paid just to be naked in a guys house as we sat watching television and talked so he could just take in the naked youthfullness so close to him. There were times when the guys just wanted to do a photo shoot, and God only knows what corner of the deep dark internet those are on now! lol And there were quite a few guys who just wanted to run their hands all over me without sucking or fucking me.

And of course, lastly, there were the guys that paid a little more when they wanted to get a little more kinky like with bondage, or spanking, or something like that.

My point from all this is that from talking to people about hustling, and the people who pay for sexual encounters, isn't one particular type of person. It's people from all walks of life. I've been with some guys who I figured were worth in the millions, as well as those living paycheck-to-paycheck suburban lives. Single, divorced, or still married, it didn't matter. There were guys in their late 20's all the way up to the 60's probably in some cases. It was white, black, Latino, and Asian guys. And like I said, there were even a few women. So to stereotype who buys sex from younger hustlers is a mistake.

Even for one night, afternoon, or morning, it is interesting to try to get to know the type of guy who is paying for the sexual encounter, because everyone has a different reason.

My God dear Razz - I cannot say how much I like your posts here. Every morning I'm looking at first if there is something new from you -- and if so, it is always a pleasure to read. Congratulation and my deep admiration that you are sharing all open your experiences with all of us.

Shelter said:

My God dear Razz - I cannot say how much I like your posts here. Every morning I'm looking at first if there is something new from you -- and if so, it is always a pleasure to read. Congratulation and my deep admiration that you are sharing all open your experiences with all of us.

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:agree::agree::agree:

Spot on!!!

"If a person thinks that they are "fat, old, or ugly" then they will be. But if one of those type of people believe in themselves, then it will be more likely that they can find a guy who meets their standards without having to pay for it."
You have explained that very well, I've seen how true it is. There are men whose sex appeal looks as if its less than zero but they never fail to get laid, just through having a certain attitude. Being oblivious to rejection means that its fine for 99 men in a bar to each tell you to piss off as long as the one hundreth says "ok, maybe..."

havent really done that one yet

Thank you for the honesty, you seem to be a great guy, probably a great dinner guest

Berty1 said:

Thank you for the honesty, you seem to be a great guy, probably a great dinner guest

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Hey Razz that will be a very good idea. Please come over here!!!

Shelter said:

Hey Razz that will be a very good idea. Please come over here!!!

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I'd also like to come over, please raying:

gorgik9 said:

I'd also like to come over, please raying:

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;P;P;P Sure, why not come over let's have an orgy! :thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up: