Feminism in Escorting
This not new by any means, but it’s interesting none the less. High end escorting is often dismissed or sensationalized, but here at Babylon Girls we always look a little closer. And the changing attitudes towards escorting, becomes especially interesting when it challenges dominant narratives about sexuality, labour and power. For some women, elite companionship is not only a career choice. It is a reclaiming of their life!
We are often told that sex work is either exploitation or empowerment. Rarely is it allowed to be complex. In reality, high end escorts often operate on terms that are radically different from the mainstream sex industry. They negotiate boundaries. They control their own career path. They price themselves, because they know what they are worth. Unlike mass-market pornography which often caters to the lowest common denominator of male desire, or traditional relationships which still carry echoes of domestic obligation, the higher end of companionship services creates a space where women set the rules.
This is not to romanticise the industry. Like all labour under a capitalism economy, it exists within structures that are unequal and often unfair. But high end escorting also allows for something rare: leverage. A woman can choose her clients. She can limit how much she works. She can build financial independence without pretending she is being courted or adored when she is really performing emotional labour for free. She can call it what it is!
Privilege or True Freedom
Critics argue that this is just privilege masquerading as freedom. That only a few women can ever access this level of control. That is true, but it is also the case for many professions. We do not dismiss CEOs or influencers or authors for being exceptions to the rule. Why apply a different standard to women who earn their power through sex work?
There is a cultural discomfort with the idea that a woman could find pleasure and profit in being desired without being degraded. The elite escort unsettles that discomfort. She does not apologise. She does not pretend. She trades on what society has always valued in women: beauty, charm, and mystery; but she does it on her own terms. That inversion of power is part of the threat and part of the appeal.
Feminism, at its core, is about choice. It is about the freedom to define what success looks like, what intimacy looks like, what work looks like. For some women, high end escorting is not a compromise. It is not a secret. It is a strategy. And it works!