Male Clients of Male Escorts: Satisfaction, Sexual Behavior, and Demographic Characteristics

Abstract

Few studies have examined male clients who pay for sex with male escorts. In 2012, clients (n = 495) completed an online survey about their most recent hire. Most clients were White/Caucasian (87.7%), HIV negative (89.5%), employed full time (71.1%), single (58.6%), with a mean age of 54. Three-quarters of clients were gay identified, 18% bisexual, and 4% heterosexual. The median rate paid to escorts was $250 per hour with a modal appointment time of 1 to 2 hours (41.6%). Oral sex was common (80% gave, 69% received), 30% reported anal insertive sex, and 34% reported anal receptive sex. In total, few (12%) reported unprotected anal sex. Satisfaction with encounters was high. Receptive unprotected anal intercourse was associated with greater satisfaction in bivariate analyses but not in multivariable analyses. In a multivariable model, having receptive anal sex (whether protected or not) and rating the financial cost of the encounter as “worth it” were significantly associated with greater satisfaction. This study contributes to a scarce literature regarding clients of male sex workers and, in particular, provides information on the characteristics of men hiring men for sexual services, behavioral event-level data about their encounters, and analysis of factors directly associated with client satisfaction.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to “Daddy,” the moderator of DaddysReviews.com, for his guidance in developing this survey as well as engaging members of the website to participate. Also, thanks to H. Jonathon Rendina for his guidance in programming the online survey, and to the participants who took part in this study.

Notes

Note. IQR = inter-quartile range.

Note. Some variables have missing data. r _s = Spearman's rho; Mdn = median; M = mean; SD = standard deviation; IQR = interquartile range. Nonparametric Kruskal Wallis χ² used in place of traditional ANOVA. Post hoc, as appropriate, using paired Mann-Whitney U. P-values <.05 noted with bold text.

Note. Some variables have missing data. Mdn = median; IQR = interquartile range. Nonparametric Kruskal Wallis χ² used in place of traditional ANOVA. Post hoc, as appropriate, using paired Mann-Whitney U. P-values <.05 noted with bold text.

Note. Model estimated using Poisson distribution. (Ref.) = reference group. P-values < .05 noted with bold text.