Research Explains Why Men (heterosexual) Reach Out To Sex Workers

Ever wonder what motivates heterosexual men to reach out to sex workers? You are not the only one, a recent 2019 study, researchers looked at (hetero) men’s motivations to pay for sex. They found, amongst other things, that the pressure to perform rather than experience sex (as mentioned in a previous post) was a number one contributing factor that led to men wanting to pay for sex. .
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They also found that my paying for sex men felt it creates a “safe place” where they didn’t need to demonstrate sexual skill, worry about stamina nor experience. .
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The men in this study also saw their time with experienced sex workers as a form of training to then better be able to “perform” or measure up their expectation of the “male role” in sexual encounters with non sex workers. .
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This research is so valuable as it provides evidence for what many in my field have already noticed - that the societal view of the “role of the man” can be so toxic to identity. To be clear, I’m not saying that sex work or seeking out sex work is toxic because I don’t think that at all. But to need a safe place or a training sexual experience because you’re worried about how to measure up creates a very sex negative environment and will inevitably lead to all kinds of sexual issues that will likely need to be sorted later on in therapy. And as we know the best sex therapy is a preventative one.