People love asking women what they do for work.
Sometimes they ask out of curiosity.
Sometimes judgment.
Sometimes desire.
Sometimes because they’re trying to figure out how much access to you costs.
“Ask Me About My Rates” started as a joke—but like most good jokes, there’s truth underneath it.
Rates can mean a lot of things.
A dancer’s rate.
An escort’s rate.
A creative fee.
A consultation.
A day rate.
A booking fee.
An emotional rate.
The price of your time.
The cost of your labor.
What it takes to get access to your body, your creativity, your attention, your expertise.
For a lot of us, especially women, especially sex workers, especially artists, we’re taught to shrink around money.
To be grateful.
Flexible.
Easygoing.
To not ask for too much.
To feel lucky just to be invited.
Hustler Mami rejects that.
We believe labor has value.
Creative labor.
Emotional labor.
Erotic labor.
All of it.
Your rates are your rates.
And they don’t need explanation.
This tee is for the dancers.
The hustlers.
The freelancers.
The artists.
The girls funding their own lives.
The ones invoicing.
The ones negotiating.
The ones building something with what they have.
The girls with rates.
So go ahead.
Ask me about them.