One of the things that really seems to be infinite is Internet pornography. And then why would anyone need to give money to order even more pornography?

Although inflation has skyrocketed and you’d say people don’t have the money to spend on custom artwork, the erotic art industry is thriving. It’s hard to estimate exactly how much people are spending on this thing, because a lot of transactions happen privately, but if you look at the public transactions on Reddit and DeviantArt, it looks like the value of these orders is over thousands of dollars a day.

Anyone who’s ever had to delete their browser history in a hurry understands that an obscure fetish can make you a laughing stock. And the persecution can take a nasty turn in some situations – a BDSM fan lost his job as a parole officer after learning about his passion.

But low-income artists looking for work are saved by people’s kinky orders. This type of work gives them a valve through which they can explore their personal artistic interests while being well paid for it.

Val, a forty-year-old Brazilian artist who was born in a poor neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, far from the artistic hubs of Paris and New York, was passionate about art from an early age . Like the other illustrators we spoke to, he asked us to remain anonymous due to the controversial nature of his job.

Although he knew from an early age that he had talent, his parents could not afford to send him to art school. At 38, he suddenly quit his IT job to follow his dream and become an artist.

“One day, I went to my office and looked at an old, sad colleague working next to me and realized that I didn’t want to become like him. I asked myself what I wanted to do in the depths of my soul and I decided to try to live from art for at least a year.”

Initially, he found work difficult in his native Brazil. And when he found it, he was underpaid or promised exposure if he worked for free. Then a friend introduced him to the world of fetish art, where his career blossomed. He now has clients in the UK, the US and Canada who are happy to pay him half the required amount up front.

Now, Val specializes in hyper-realistic violence and group sex, sometimes with characters like the Hulk or the Joker. His strengths are faces and anatomy, and he draws inspiration from comic artists such as Dave Stevens, the illustrator who drew the famous 80s comic strip Rocketeer . This is what differentiates him from the rest of the erotic artists who draw, mostly, in manga style.

One of the most shocking commissions Val was asked to do was a picture of ten lockers filled with the decapitated heads of cheerleaders. Val isn’t dying to draw severed heads or Mario kicking ass next to Jason Momoa, but he said that violence sells, and Tarantino’s movies are living proof.

“For me it’s just imagination, it’s not real. They are not real people, although clients ask me to draw as realistically as possible.”

The artist has no financial problems. For a simple erotic image, which he makes in one … ...

“I think of sex work like food. If you don’t like pizza, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world shouldn’t eat pizza either,” said video chat model Amber Elena.

Amber works on video chat platform Jerkmate, one of the largest in the industry. Talk to customers for hours from the comfort of your own home. For her, it’s an ideal set-up. He has also acted in porn films in the past, but said he prefers to practice digital sex work. “I like that I can make my own schedule, and that gives me a lot of freedom.”

He has all kinds of customers: some are loyal, some have a very specific fetish, some just want to talk. Some sessions are more porn, some less so. “I like to talk a lot with fans and customers, I know it’s important for them that I pay attention to them.” Before making a custom video, the model asks clients if they have specific requirements, whether they want her dressed in fur or leather, for example. He always tries to respect their needs.

“On Jerkmate there are Gold shows, where the model sets what price to ask for a customer to see the full show.” That allows it to create its content and set prices very democratically.

Amber says that success in the industry depends on your personality and how you present yourself. And good light. For her, work is a source of pleasure and strength. It’s profitable and comfortable, and helps her cultivate beautiful interpersonal relationships, explore her sexuality, and connect with her own body.

“It’s a liberating job. I love doing sex work and I wish people would stop throwing mud at models. Many of us love what we do and are good at it,” she said.

Watch the clip above to see what a day in the life of Amber Elena looks like on the job, or contact Jerkmate.

THE OTHER CONTRACEPTIVES

According to a survey by the Spanish Contraception Society (SEC), the contraceptive methods most used by Spanish women are mainly condoms (36%) and the oral pill (17%). From there, there is a sharp drop in the rest of the options: the hormonal IUD is used by only 3.8%, the copper IUD by 2.9%, the vaginal ring by 1.9%, and none of the that remain – the patch, the mini-pill, the subcutaneous implant or the intramuscular injection – alone reaches 1%. Instead, more opt for definitive methods such as tubal ligation (3.8%) or vasectomy (4.7%).

These are surprising data, because they reveal that the alternatives are not well known. Probably because there is a lack of information and facilities to access them. In addition, it is a subject that is rarely consulted, especially by young women, and there are still myths and misgivings regarding the use of hormones, their side effects and their impact on fertility (if this is your case, or it is an issue that worries you, in this post you can expand the information). This also explains why Spain is, along with Portugal, the European country that uses condoms the most as a contraceptive, and the one with the lowest rate of users of the pill and other methods of modern contraception. Which confirms the results of the previous survey.

The fact that condoms are widely … ...