A lot goes on behind closed doors.
Children of sex workers confessed what their experiences were really like with their parents growing up.
They ranged from pretty mellow to very baffling, but overall, extremely eye-opening.
Here are some of their stories:
Note: Some submissions were pulled from this Redditthreadby useru/Cicallis.
Note: Some stories include topics of physical abuse, child abuse, and drug addiction.
yo proceed with caution.
She worked out of our house in the middle of ‘stereotypical suburbia.’
My room shared a wall with the massage room, and I would hear very obvious sex sounds sometimes.
Sure, mom: that’s why you were just as loud, too.
We started figuring things were hinky when we hit about 12.
It was ‘officially’ confirmed when I was 19 when my friend found her backpage ad."
u/ash-on-fire
2.
“Not my mom, but a high school buddy’s mom was a stripper and did some porn.
‘I’m pretty.
Do you want to fuck me?
I have a great body people pay to see it!’
He ended up getting involved with drugs and died right after graduation.
It was really shitty he deserved better.”
u/GrandpasRageBoner
3.
“My mom was a stripper trying to raise four kids.
Everything smelled strongly of cigarettes.
One morning my mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table together eating breakfast.
I was in fourth 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 my 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.
She eventually got out of this line of work and is now successful elsewhere.
u/Jiwalk88
4.
“Prostitution is legal where I live as long as it’s in a brothel.
So, at the particular brothel my mother worked at, it happened to be a really big house.
I’m talking 14 bedrooms.
So, all business was handled out the back of the house.
Everybody was kinda like a family.
We spent Christmas there and everything.”
u/GodlessWolfGang
5.
“My mom wasn’t a stripper/sex worker with a heart of gold.
She was just an awful person who made bad choices.
I eventually ended up in foster care at 14 and never looked back.
I have zero sympathy now.
Now, I am an unflappable, married mom of five.
I am successful and give my kids a good life.
I really can’t give her a bit of forgiveness or love.
About 10 years ago, I contacted the police department in her town to check on her.
My foster mom is my mom, and she has been there for every important part of my life.
u/cottoncandywarriors
6.
“Not my mother, but a classmate of mine.
When I was in eighth grade, the guys used to pass around porn on VHS tapes.
They thought they were James Bond-level stealthy using VHS tapes instead of the internet.
Every single dude was losing his mind, and every single girl was beyond confused as to why.
Two of her scenes made it onto those VHS tapes and they all recognized her.
u/GuyIncognitoIV
7.
I had a typical upbringing a decent home, a good school, and nice clothes.
I didnt know what her job was.
She lied and told me she worked as a telemarketer.
I skipped a lot of school because I could.
“She worked in a brothel and did calls, too.
She came clean on what she did.
u/AviMin
8.
“My grandmother was a high-end escort with some big names under her belt.
My mom told me that he was abusive and manipulative.
The words the obituary used though were ‘deacon of his church’ and ‘respected in the community.’
“She laughed and pocketed the note.
A hundred dollars was a lot of money back then.
That was the start of it all.”
u/fractal_sole
9.
“Sex work is actual work and in high demand.
The scorn people have for sex work is amazing, considering how many people engage sex workers.
It was something regularly talked about by other neighborhood moms who werent nice to her.
My mom would get kind of frustrated because she would be at our house sometimes for eight hours.
We were never allowed to go to her house and my mom refused to go there.”
Her mom rented but had a lot of expensive stuff like designer clothing and electronics.
So, I didnt invite her over anymore.
Her mom was murdered in a drive-by shooting on my block.
Both her kids saw her die.
It was believed to be accidental (they were apparently trying to shoot the guy she was with).
The kids went to live with their grandma.
I havent thought about any of this until today I hope she is well.”
u/Afraid-Ice-2062
10.
On those discs were family memories mixed with sex tapes of her and other girls and guys.
I think I was around eight at the time, so I was exposed to this pretty young.
u/Chickenuwuu
11.
“My ex-boyfriend’s mom was a stripper.
He was super well-adjusted and was never ashamed of her work.
She was a single mom who got pregnant young (16, I think?
), and he understood that she did her best to take care of him.
He always had a roof over his head and food in his belly and got decent grades in school.
Don’t get me wrong their relationship wasn’t always perfect.
She did struggle with alcoholism for a while, but again, he never ‘blamed’ her.
With his help, she was able to get sober and stop being a sex worker.”
u/daphuqijusee
12.
“My mother confirmed it when I was an adult.
So, I was not bothered.
She hadn’t spoken to me about it, so I never questioned her.
But I wasn’t.
I grew up strong and resourceful and pulled myself into the middle class.
I have hope, though.”
u/RooChooMooMoo
13.
“My mother has a ‘typical’ mail-order bride story.
My younger half-siblings came after all that, so they never witnessed it themselves.
She had a lot of issues not stemming from sex work itself, but conditions that led her there.
It just kinda clicked for me randomly one day as a teen.
You get used to it if it’s the only thing you know.”
u/Corgi-butts
14.
“My dad straight-up told me he was a ‘gigolo’ in Denver in the ’80s.
u/Stillawakeat330am
15.
She would bring me with her to her clients' places sometimes.
I can still hear her moaning while sitting on the couch in the living room.
She hated it she was ‘disgusted’ with herself.
The men treated her badly they pulled her hair, smacked her, and called her names.
I asked why, and she said it was because it’s a very bad word.
I was six years old.
I hadn’t put all these things together yet.
u/Youhavetolove
16.
“My best friend’s mom used to do exotic dancing before he or his siblings were born.
This moved onto other things, and eventually she started dating one of the regulars.
As I recall she was pretty open about it with my friend when we got older.
As a child I had no reason to not believe my mom.
My mom was LIVID my aunt told me, though.”
u/Sedaisedaiayay
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
