"that income isn't enough; Gurule's quality of life is tenuous at best. She has a mouth full of cavities she can't afford to fix, faces $35,000 and climbing in student loan debt, and sleeps on the couch in a two-bedroom apartment she shares with her mother, sister, and nephew. By becoming a sugar baby-in this case, getting paid to spend time and be physically intimate with John-Gurule hopes not only to improve her own life but also to pull her entire family out of poverty."
"There are other compromises besides her body: honesty and socialization, as fears of judgment prevent her from telling anyone outside of her family about her work; joy and health, when the anxiety over each new sugaring decision leads to vision-altering migraines. The balancing act that Gurule attempts is the genesis of Thank You, John, which is just as much about sex work as it is about the difficultly of attaining financial security in America."
"It's about attempting to put personal and familial well-being ahead of cultural expectations-and not always succeeding. It's about how the people who know us best (in this case, Gurule's parents, sister, and nephew) can anchor us in our most challenging moments through humor and acceptance. Thank You, John joins a series of books written by and about sex workers over the past few years,"
Gurule, a then-24-year-old college student working as a Denver stripper, decides to have sex with a patron named John in exchange for money. Stripping provides essential income but does not cover dental needs, rising student loan debt (about $35,000 and growing), or stable housing; she sleeps on a couch in a shared two-bedroom. Becoming a sugar baby aims to improve her life and lift her family out of poverty but requires compromises of bodily autonomy, honesty, social life, and joy. Anxiety over sugaring choices triggers vision-altering migraines. Family members offer humor and acceptance that help anchor her through hardship.
Read at Jezebel
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