Getty/Channel 4Love can be a little hard to come by these days, with the courting rituals of our parents’ generation laid to rest and curated dating taking their place.
So, it’s hardly surprising that escorting is such booming business, particularly in the heady realms of Vegas, beyond the day-to-day realities and hardships of real life relationships.
In case you’re wondering, Channel 4‘s High Class Call Girls explain the difference between escorts and prostitutes in the clip below:
[ooyala code=”VrbXVzYjE6qwSQeRGDRDh-jIJxwAzUcH” player_id=”5df2ff5a35d24237905833bd032cd5d8" auto=”true” width=”1024" height=”576" pcode=”twa2oyOnjiGwU8-cvdRQbrVTiR2l”]
Whether you agree with it or not, what does the escort industry say about society as a whole? Undoubtedly, it splits us over the questions of morality, with some people people squirming at the idea of sex being traded like a commodity.
Moreover, OnlineCasino have found escorts can tell us a little something about modern beauty standards – and it’s pretty uncomfortable reading.
Using face-morphing technology, they gathered photos of 95 male, 105 female, and 77 female transgender Las Vegas escorts and used face-morphing software to determine the average facial features of escorts in each price point.
Paramount PicturesIn other words, they’ve figured out what sort of face people are willing to pay more to spend some quality time with – presumably staring into their eyes lovingly – and they may surprise you.
So, aptly dubbed the male, female and transgender escorts ‘of the hour’, here are the deepest desires of Sin City sex buyers, as represented in the looks of their service providers.
‘The Men Of The Hour’
OnlineCasinoMale beauty is not only affected by our personal preferences but is also shaped by our culture – with certain ideals having greater influence depending on circumstance.
In Vegas, apparently, clients are likely to pay more to spend the night with a man with refined features. It’s also important – and troubling – to note that the men surveyed become lighter skinned as services become more expensive.
Other differences include the lips, which become fuller as the dollar amount goes up. The eyebrows are more defined, while the hair is lighter. Male escorts charging more than $500 an hour seemingly wear smarter clothing as well.
‘The Women Of The Hour’
OnlineCasinoWhile men are held to beauty standards, women are put under immense pressure to uphold them from all angles.
What defines beauty also depends on where you’re from – some women from around the world think beauty and confidence go hand-in-hand. Others feel it’s more of a state of being.
When looking at the women in our composite comparison, just like the men, the most expensive female escort seems to have more refined features.
She also has lighter skin and – whereas age doesn’t seem to be a dividing factor for the men – the cheaper escorts appear to be more mature in years than their expensive counterparts.
‘The Trans Women Of The Hour’
OnlineCasinoThe average face of a transgender female escort mirrors that of male and female escorts.
Those who can charge top dollar look professionally made up, while the less expensive escorts look more low-key. The most expensive escort composite has the darkest skin.
GettyWhile it’s hard to derive too much from a subjective thing like sexual and aesthetic preference, it does seem a damning indictment that those surveyed seem to put higher value – monetarily at least – on lighter skin, for both male and female escorts, and conversely, darker skin for trans escorts.
The study – while presumably conducted as a bit of light-hearted fun or a stag do preparation aide – does perhaps speak to an underlying race and age tension when it comes to beauty standards.
OnlineCasino note that data on male transgender escorts had to be excluded from the study due to a lack of available images.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.