Face In Or Face Out?

One of the biggest considerations in a sex work career is whether to show your face. The decision to be face in (not showing your face) or face out (showing your face) should not be made without a great deal of thought. Having been both face in and face out as an in-person sex worker, I have experienced the benefits and drawbacks of each mode of advertising and working. I spent many years working face in, before deciding to show my face in my photos, and I learned a lot about what it is like working on each side of the divide. Ultimately, whether you decide to be face in or face out is your own private decision. Let me share some considerations that might help you make your choice.

Face in: privacy

Let’s state the obvious: if you’re not comfortable with the world knowing you’re a sex worker, then you’re likely to be face in. This means you cover, crop, or blur your face, and any other personally identifying marks, out of your advertising and social media photos. You might consider going face in if you have another job that prevents you from being open about your sex work, or if you worry about experiencing stigma from your loved ones (it sucks, and I'm sorry). You may also have plans for the future that you know your past in sex work might compromise.

Face out: marketing

If you do decide to show your face in your advertising and social media posts, you’ve an advantage in the marketing department. “Posting a cute selfie on Twitter when I didn't have a new professional shoot made marketing much easier,” said face-out worker Katie Gee. It’s easier to create a brand when you can bring your whole self into it, and your face is a big part of who you are!

Face in: stigma

When I explain to friends why I worked face in for so many years, I always say, “Because people are shit and stigma is real.” However mainstream sex work may become, no matter how popular sex-working TikTok influencers may get, it is still a highly stigmatised industry. You may be excluded from future work or banking, or have your sex work history used against you within the legal system. Being face out gives you no plausible deniability; your face is right there in the photos.

Face out: appeal

Clients may be more inclined to book you because they know what you look like. There are no surprises. When I was face in, I’d get a lot of comments from clients who were apprehensive about booking when they didn’t know what I looked like, and often had requests for face selfies during the booking process. When you’re face out, clients get to see all of you, which helps them make their mind up when it comes to making that appointment. As my sex-working friend Kiki Cakes said, “I think that a lot of clients like knowing the full package, and I got way more work with my face out.”

Face in: facial recognition

When I decided to be face out, facial recognition wasn’t even a thing; little did I know that it would become a big thing. I have come to understand that this is because of anti-trafficking organisations and their method of scraping the ads of sex workers, running them through facial recognition programs, and compiling their findings into databases for law enforcement. Facial recognition has the potential to connect your sex-working persona to your out-of-work persona and is a real reason to stay face in.

Face out: ease

In certain ways, it’s so much easier to be face out: no need to blur photos, no need to worry about cropping your face out of your social media posts, and no need to remove tattoos in Photoshop. Your face is out there, and you can make the most of it. “I'm single, I don't have kids and my family knew about it, so it made the process of being face out easier. It was an ‘I Don’t Give A Fuck (IDGAF)’ kinda thing,” said sex worker Violet French. When your face is already in your photos, you are in charge of that disclosure. No one else has that power over you.

Face in: travel

International travel can cause concerns for sex workers. We can be barred from entry to certain countries (including the US) or detained at the border and questioned extensively. Working face in doesn’t guarantee you won’t be stopped, but it does help to be unidentifiable from your sex worker profiles, especially now that facial recognition is being brought into airports globally.

Deciding to be face in or face out could be the most important decision of your sex-working career. It’s best to go into it as informed as possible, and I hope my considerations help you to decide how you want to work!

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