When it comes to topics like pleasure and sex, we all have different biases and shame that we carry and it’s difficult to distance ourselves from the conditioning and societal values that we’ve grown up with. But this episode is definitely going to make you evaluate your thoughts on sex, shame and empowerment.

Joining the podcast today is sexologist and academic Dr Hilary Caldwell. Hilary was a sex worker in secret for 20 years and kept her double life from her friends and family. She didn’t have any of the stereotypes that seem to surround women for their reasons of getting into the sex industry and she certainly didn’t need to be saved from it.
Hilary has used her experiences in the industry alongside her research to unpack why we feel so much internal shame when it comes to sex.

Dr Hilary Caldwell is an academic with a Masters in Health Science and Applied Science. Her doctorate, ‘Women Who Buy Sex in Australia’ was the first study in the world to explore women buying sexual services and was informed by her professional career in the field of sexology.

We chat:

• Hilary’s reasons for entering the sex work industry and whether they’re the same as everyone who enters the industry
• Hilary’s experiences entering the industry that oppose preconceived ideas and the things she regrets
• Why Hilary continued nursing at the same time
• Why she kept her other work a secret from friends and family
• What made Hilary want to enter academia and infiltrate the system
• The different experiences that women have around sex in comparison to men
• Emotions like jealousy and how poly relationships navigate jealousy
• Some of the things that sex workers collectively keep secret
• Why sex workers are fighting for decriminalisation rather than legalisation of their industry

You can find more from Hilary at her website

And instagram

You can find Hilary’s book “Slutdom: Reclaiming shame-free sexuality”

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