Sex work is real work.
And the reasoning behind why someone does it is none of our business.
However, the loved ones of sex workers can have a difficult road to acceptance, even more than society itself.
Good parents find a way to take care of their kids, though.
Hopefully, that can be the through line.
Everybody is going to have a past their kids learn about, no matter their profession.
What everyone hopes is that it won't be the ultimate judgment of who they are.
Redditor ameen__shaikh was hoping the kids of sex workers would be willing to share their discoveries, so they asked:
"Children of sex workers, how did you find out your mom/dad was a sex worker?"
Truth First
Hey Girl Rose GIFGiphy"My dad straight up told me he was a gigolo in Denver in the 80s, 30 years later. He had moved out there to get away from an abusive home life when he turned 18 and found that that was the best way to make ends meet."
Stillawakeat330am
Do What You Have To Do
"My mom wasn’t in sex work anymore when I was born, but she raised my older brother on the money she got as a stripper. She worked customer service jobs my entire life. When I was around 7 or 8, I went to go do something on the family computer and I saw a Facebook message she sent to her friend referencing her days as a 'dancer.'"
"I was super excited upon reading this and confronted my mom, thinking she was a ballerina or something. She explained to me (in the most age-appropriate terms she could) that she was a stripper. Of course, she didn’t go into all the details until I was older."
infectedorchid
Shut up Auntie!
"My aunt drunkenly told me that my mom was a stripper one night and not a FedEx driver as she had told me. She traveled a lot (apparently she was a hot commodity) and would tell me that she was staying with her friend when she had to work because she lived closer to work. As a child, I had no reason to not believe my mom. I liked having her home a lot when I was young."
"I was 14 when my aunt told me and my mom had just quit and got a job as a secretary at that point. I wasn't upset by it. I was actually kind of proud that she was a traveling stripper and she brought in a lot of customers. My mom was LIVID my aunt told me though."
Sedaisedaiayay
Nice Men
"I remember living in a den, I was young maybe 6-7, I asked mom why her job was to dress up at night, and she told me she went on dates with nice men. I put two and two together probably around puberty. I didn’t put four and four together and stopped to think about how it affected me till my 30s."
EDMElevatorguy
Straight Up
"The woman admitted to it on my adoption papers."
Minute_Storm_5199
Good to always lead with the truth.
They'll find out anyway.
That's A lot
Confused Over It GIFGiphy"My mom told me so that I can be the person to report it if she ever went missing after a job. When I was 10, she would leave me names, emails, phone numbers, etc. anything she had to help identify a client."
DizzyConversation429
Work Bag
"My mom was a stripper trying to raise four kids. She would work nights, and I would see strange outfits and shoes in her closet and her 'work bag,' everything smelt strongly of cigarettes. I watched the movie Independence Day where Will Smith's wife was an exotic dancer… and I somehow figured out what that was."
"One morning she and I were sitting at the kitchen table together eating breakfast, I was in 4th grade, and I asked her what her job was. She looked at me funny and I continued by asking her if she was a stripper. She asked me why I thought that and I explained everything I listed above. She then confirmed my suspicions and thought my dad (her ex-husband) spilled the beans to me."
"I assured her that was not the case and she asked me never to tell my three brothers. I never did. She eventually got out of this line of work and is now very successful. I’m proud of her and although I used to resent her for some of her choices, I understand now she did what she could to do to take care of her kids."
Jiwalk88
Don’t blame Her
"My mom just told me and my other two sisters straight up. We were 11, 12, and 17. We were just okay with it I guess? Not like we had much of a choice on what our mom would be. She went on and did that for 15 more years...."
BackgroundImpress127
When I was 11
"Interestingly enough my grandma on my dad's side (my mom was the sex worker) was supposed to be punishing me for smoking weed or something I don’t really remember but to get in my head she found my mom's online profile advertising herself and showed it to me when I was about 11 years old. I moved in with my mom later on and she’s been in that line of work my entire life."
MeteorVesta
People have their preferences.
Let it be. We applaud these parents for broaching such difficult topics with their kids.
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MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images
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