Elle Stanger is a stripper, a writer, a podcast host, and a mother who lives in Portland, Oregon.
"I feel like being a sex worker makes me a better mommy because I've developed a greater sense of empathy," Elle told Barcroft TV.
"It means that I am responsible to make a human being that is better for the world," she added. "I think it's just my job to kind of raise a little human that's going to make the world a better place."
Elle has also worked as a webcam girl and an escort, and she currently makes her own adult films.
Like any other parent, though, Elle's life is devoted to raising her child, a school-aged daughter.
"I think people don't trust that I could raise a child in a nurturing, safe, structured environment because they're projecting their own fears onto me," she said.
Despite what others may think, Elle knows she's a good mother. And she believes her job makes her a better parent.
Photos: Instagram 1, 2 / stripperwriter
This story first appeared on LittleThings in February 2018.
Elle Stanger is a 31-year-old mom of one who lives in Portland, Oregon.
Like other parents, she has a steady job and loves spending time with her daughter.
Unlike many other parents, though, Elle's job requires her to get naked multiple times a week.
Elle is a sex worker, who currently strips three times a week at Portland's Lucky Devil Lounge.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Portland State University, Elle abandoned her dream of becoming a police officer in order to work in the world of sex.
Although she began doing sex work to make money, she quickly realized that the field had so much more to offer.
She explained to Barcroft TV:
I became a sex worker for economic reasons, but I realized about six months into stripping that I was learning more about human beings than I’d ever learned in anything — any psychology class — and I was like, “Wow, there’s really a whole lot here. This feels like healing, this feels like helping, this feels like giving therapy.”
So I know that my work is healing to people because they tell me and I see it.
A lot of the reason that people go into adult establishments is not just because they want some kind of arousal, which is great. A lot of people don’t have it in them to seek out therapy because they’ve been ashamed to.
I think it's a lot easier for the blue-collar guy to talk to the pretty girl in her underwear for 20 bucks a song.
The empathy, compassion, and confidence Elle has learned from being a stripper has contributed to the way she parents her daughter.
"I think being a sex worker makes me a better mommy because she's going to be a lot more secure in her understanding of the world around her," Elle said.
"Elle is a good mom because the well-being of her daughter is 100% her first priority," her boyfriend explained.
Of course, some people think Elle's career choice negatively influences her daughter, but she couldn't disagree more.
Like most parents, Elle tries to keep her work and home life separate. That said, she has talked to her daughter about what she does for a living.
"I've been telling her since she was 3 that Mommy dances, and talks to people, and tells jokes for money," she explained.
Elle knows there's a stigma surrounding what she does for work, and she's trying hard to make it less taboo.
To learn more about Elle, visit her website.
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