Not to reveal MY embarrassing secret, but I saw Dr. Phil yesterday. I admit it! And he had a woman on who'd done some soft-core porn before she became a teacher. Some of her students found her videos and passed them around to everyone else. She lost her job. Admittedly, these were high school students. But don't you think that you would have a high percentage of a chance of being in a classroom of people who looked at you and thought not of you as the intelligent Madame Professor X who is an expert on French literature or economics, but instead as that whip-cracking whore you portrayed for fifteen minutes long ago?

If she invited a guy to her house and sold him her underwear, no wonder she was shaking. She should be shaking. You do NOT let these guys know here you live. Basic rule number one: cover your butt and protect your privacy. You do not want a stalker pursuing you.

I don't agree with Cary that the LW isn't cut out for sex work and thus shouldn't do it. For heaven's sake who is? Everybody in the business starts out this way. I do agree with Cary that taking an approach that minimizes her risk is the way to go-- dancing is perfect. The LW might also make a go at being a phone sex operator. Fetish work is EXCELLENT, very much in demand, and very lucrative. It also offers the added bonus of not requiring quite as much nakedness (clients would rather see you in latex than naked, and coverage conveys power), but don't let that coax you into thinking that it is easier. Its hard work and requires a lot of imagination. It sounds like the LW has a great opportunity to jump in and she should give it careful thought.

If the LW, or anyone reading this, wants a good overview of the indusry and how it works, and above all how to protect oneself in the process, I highly recommend Magdalene Meretrix's excellent book "Turning Pro", which reviews every branch of the adult entertainment industry, how to go about it, and how to cover your butt in the process. It covers everything from phone sex to escorting. Its very down to earth and gives excellent advice.

I put myself through grad school by stripping. I was a total greenhorn when I started out, not at all tough! But it workewd splendidly, and I have never regretted it. Dancing tip: start out with the day shift, the guys are older and have both more money and better manners. Perfect for a girl who has a gift for conversation.

Good luck.

If you read the Meretrix book's chapter on porn, you will notice that the first thing she warns is that you must NOT go into this with any illusion that nobody will ever find out.

These are pictures.

You MUST be prepared for the very real possibility that eventually somebody will see the pictures-- and that somebody might be the very person you do not want to see such pictures. If your goal is to teach college (as opposed to teaching children, and a Ph.D to me says University level) your job is not going to be any danger, in my opinion. Still, even there, I think you would be better served by being ready to be open and matter-of-fact about it.

Dancing, phone sex, or pro-domming are sometimes a better option depending on your goals: you can flatly deny that you ever did such a thing, if that is important to you (it was important to me when I danced).

Again, good luck.

to invite someone to your house to sell him your panties?

I'm not worried about her scraping up the money for a Ph.D. because she'll never make it. Anyone that fucking dumb will become a victim sooner or later. Sad, yes...but true.

Think for just a moment what she had to do in order to get her address "out there" so someone could actually contact her to buy her panties. What are the odds it was just one guy she met in a chatroom and who'll never, ever tell anyone?

LW is the dumbest person on the planet. What subject could she possibly teach? How did she make it out of high school?

am I the only one who sees this as as taking the easy way out?

it is akin to some guy being a gigolo. Wuld you respect him if you knew? would he respect himself?

I suppose people can have anything if only they sell their bodies. Does not make it right.

making porn than you will teaching.

You are straight crazy if you think you are going to walk into a teaching job just because someday you might be ABD or PhD.

If you are planning on an academic career make sure you will be admitted into one of the top 10 programs in your field -- fully funded. Are you a competitive applicant?

Consider a teaching credential and shelve the plan for a low paying job in the academe unless you have the high powered mentors, discipline and the talent to navigate a dying tenure system.

Required reading... http://www.invisibleadjunct.com/

(P.S. you still have to research and publish -- that's the 'real' job)

What makes this person think that getting a PhD will enable her to teach? The number of job openings for PhDs per year is miniscule. The number of people who acquire PhDs each year is phenomenal. The number of unemployed and underemployed PhDs in this country is heart breaking.

She doesn't seem to be aware that aquiring a PhD can eat up at least 10 years of her life. How many videos would she have to make in order to save enough to pay tuition and living expenses for 10 years? More than 3.

She also doesn't seem to know that many graduate programs offer teaching assistantships and research assistantships in addition to waived tuition. Unless she wants to get a PhD in an unmarketable field, there is probably financial aid available. I didn't have to pay for my graduate education. Of course, financial aid is only given to the most qualified students, but if she is not one of the exceptional students, how will she get one of the few PhD teaching positions that open up every year?

She obviously needs and wants to do something more fulfilling than working 50 hours a week to make $20K, but jumping from that to a PhD program is too big a jump. She is setting herself up for failure.

If she wants to teach, why not get a teaching certificate and start teaching? This shouldn't take too long if she already has a degree of some sort, even if it is not a marketable degree.

Start teaching in the K - 12 level, get some professional teaching experience, make some decent money (decent compared to $20K, anyway), save some money, find out whether you like teaching, and then think about tackling a PhD program, but only if you fully inform yourself of how difficult it will be, how long it will take, how much it will cost, how you will pay for it, and what your chances are of getting a teaching job after you devote a huge chunk of your life to getting a PhD.