Lindsay
As sex work is becoming less stigmatized (not fast enough, tbh) people are beginning to feel more comfortable sharing their stories online. Whether anonymous or public, these stories help dispel myths about the industry and those working in it.
Many stories come directly from sex workers themselves and we don’t often hear about growing up with a parent in the sex industry.
Reddit user kaxobixo was curious how adult men of sex workers feel about their mothers. Specifically, knowing the kinds of acts their mother performed. They asked:
“Sons of prostitutes, how do you feel about what your mother did?”
The post received 7.8K comments and 46.6K upvotes, with many people commenting on how the industry affected their childhood. Unfortunately, there are a few stories that are troubling and difficult to read. Proceed with caution.
Below are 20 of the best responses.
1.
So I’m not 1000% sure I was pretty young but I do have some memories that stand out to me as I got older. The main 2 being I never had a permanent father figure and one night I woke up to loud arguing with whom I now know was a pimp and it got physical to the point where he brought in extra people and tattooed my mom with p.o.s. which stands for property of he who won’t be named
2.
Well guess its my time to “Shine”. My mom had me with my father. From the beginning she was using my father. He loved her, she loved money and partying. Before my father and myself, she had a baby with her pimp who she was in love with. My brother was her favorite, cause she loved her pimp. At about 3-4 years old my mom and dad broke up and she kicked me and my father out. We ended up homeless and sleeping on couches tell my father met my Step mom. But as much as my step mother loved my father and I, my dad was still obsessed with my mom. Which led to him having an affair with her. My real mom ends up lying to my dad telling him the baby she was having was his. He tells my step mom the truth and of course she leaves. We begin couch surfing again but this time with my mom and brother. My dad starts a cleaning company and we are able to rent and begin to have a semi normal life. But then the market crash of the 2000s led my father to lose the company. As my dad lost jobs the money we had my mother wasted on everything but bills. When my father found out it was far too late, months in debt we lost everything. My mother fled to Florida, but before leaving she let my dad know his daughter wasn’t his. She tried to convince me to leave my dad but I knew going with her would be a terrible idea. So I sank with the ship she abandoned with my dad. I don’t care that she was a prostitute, but I do care that she was a terrible mother.
3.
I found it pretty terrible at the time. I find it even worse today.
Back when I was 8 years old, we had to move out from our house with my whole family because my mother kicked my father from the house he was paying the rent for. Living in France, we were able to get social help since she was a “lonely parent” without work and we could afford a small flat with a little food.
Walls were very thin. What I mean by that is that, everything that would happen in the room next to the one you were in, you could hear everything. And my bedroom was in the middle of my older brother’s and my mother’s room.
I could hear people entering the room, doing their stuff with my own mother before a few minutes of silence and another man getting in. And I heard that for 2 years until my mother found out I was diabetic, said that she “couldn’t take care of me anymore” and kicked me out so that my father could take me back with him.
I feel mostly terrible about what she did because, she wasn’t even using this money to buy my brothers and I essential things like clothes, food or anything. Instead, she was using it in gambling and her drug addiction. I never heard from her after that. And it’s better this way.
4.
My mother was a prostitute in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I spent the majority of my time with her going place to place and watching it all unfold. I would carry about a little Jansport backpack with a NASCAR VHS, some action figures and cars and everything seemed okay even though I knew it wasn’t the normal of everyone else. Days would go where I would see my mom, or I would jsut kinda bumble around hitting up the 7/11, stuffing candy bars into big gulps. It was a really odd childhood but I did, and still do love my mother dearly. We had a strange bond in a mother-son way, but I don’t know it was odd as a kid but I always knew mom would be there. We would normally get happy meals the day after and it was really rad.
I struggled through my teenage years as I learned about sex and whatnot, people making “your mom” jokes and it was just always hard to work through that. I still hold my mother in such high regard because I feel like she did the best she could for a drug addicted prostitute. I’m in therapy now to work through that and other childhood trauma and it’s been good.
5.
Not the son but the grandson. She had prostituted when she was younger. When I knew her she was a strong Christian and I didn’t find out about that part of her past till I was older. There was a story that she had told that came into focus when I was older though.
She told the story of being together with my grandfather and how she was with this rich guy. She would host his parties and go out with him all the time but Grandpa was in love with her and wanted her to marry him. The story was grandpa and the rich guy had a confrontation and the rich guy said what could he give her that grandpa couldn’t. Grandpa said a family for her and her kids. Grandma chose the poor Army serviceman, aka my grandpa.
In hindsight grandma was the rich guys paid mistress that he took to parties and out on the town, grandma was apparently a real looker back in the day. As a kid I was confused on why the rich guy wouldn’t marry her if he liked her, I never asked directly.
So what do I think. Times we tough. She did what she had to do to support her kids on her own and when she found true love she left it all behind and built a family.
6.
Mom was a ‘porn star’ in the 70s/80s…did stuff with Ron Jeremy and the like…it was always a very taboo thing growing up, but my dad tried to prepare us for bullies at school due to the town being fully aware of what she did. No bullies.
7.
Mine didn’t walk the streets but she slept with men when we needed money or food. She hid it pretty well. We always thought these men were being nice and just giving us money. Now that I look back on it it all makes sense. She passed 10 years ago and I am thankful to her for it.
8.
Bastard son of a Thai prostitute here, no idea who my real dad was, but luckily one of my mum’s clients fell in love with her, married her and adopted me. When things went bad he got custody of me and got me the fuck out of there.
He was a terrible Dad over the years but I’m forever grateful for the fact I’m where I am now cause of him.
I’m now a Dad myself and making sure I don’t make any of the same mistakes.
Edit: adding here since it’s been mentioned I didn’t actually answer the question, I don’t see anything wrong with it, my problems with my parents come from them as people and not my mother’s profession.
9.
Didn’t think I’d ever see the day where other people would be talking about this. I am a son of a prostitute and I’ve literally seen it all growing up. I can remember being left in a trap house and my.mom telling me she’d be back in a few hours… Little did I know she wouldn’t be coming back for a few days. I can vividly remember eating stuffed oreos for days and hating them. For some odd reason I had strong (mother – son )bond with her although she put me through the most difficult times. And it never really went out. I haven’t seen her in about 10 years now, through various prison movements, and corona virus she is seemingly unfindable. Out of all the crazy shit I seen because of her, I still feel sorry for her and love her just like I did was little. I truly don’t hold any resentment for her actions anymore, I forgive her. Though, she put me through a lot I wouldn’t wish any negative energy upon her.
10.
Made from Korean war. Mom was traded off at 5 years old to pay a gambling debt to a bar. After turning 13, she was old enough to work front of bar instead of cleaning and cooking. Had me when she was 15. Father was an american helicopter pilot that took her from bar and stationed her on base with a job in cafe. War ended, life changed. Mother is a ROCK!!!
