Book review | Aaltotar Haapasaari was afraid of being left without contact, but then she found a sex job

Nonfiction book

Aaltotar Haapasaari: Dionysia. Cosmos. 223 pp.

Welcome on a sex trip, the hempie color invites Dionysia – The touch I sought and sold. Aaltotar Haapasaari26, cheerfully assures the reader that I am a decent citizen. He states that there are a lot of prejudices associated with his field, sex work.

These prejudices include the idea of ​​filth and intimacy that should not be shared with anyone – what kind of person sells sex? Haapasaari gives one example of this in his first autobiographical work.

He has worked as a dominatrix, a stripper and as an entrepreneur selling full service services. For him, sex work opened the doors to exploring his own limits and desires.

Personal the work is straightforward in its structure and style, and its conversational narration has a heartfelt honesty. Haapasaari is also delightfully open to uncertainty and inexperience. It seems extraordinary, because sex is still often talked about as if it were familiar to everyone in the same way.

Haapasaari emphasizes that he was quite ignorant of sex-related issues until adulthood. At the same time, he has been thirsty for touch and acceptance.

The experience of his own clumsiness made the writer think that he is not “desirable”. Sex work changed the situation. “The praise seemed to fill something that has been empty for a long time,” he writes.

The work’s strength is its sincerity. It also satisfies the desire for voyeurism: Haapasaari tells what it’s like to entertain a client in a strip club’s private room and what kind of services he has offered in his own apartment.

Dionysia is a personal story of empowerment, not an analysis of sex work as a field.

However, the structural level is interesting. How can sex work be done ethically and sustainably? We live in a society where gender and power are interconnected in many ways and where welfare and wealth are unevenly distributed.

Towards the end, Haapasaari deals with the disadvantages of sex work on a larger scale. He emphasizes that he works in the field entirely of his own volition.

The statement includes the assumption that this is not always the case. He mentions that the most serious problem related to paid sex is human trafficking.

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Strip clubs are not allowed to mediate sex, but for example “hand treatments” are ok.

Yle reported on September 9 that the number of sex workers has increased due to the weakened economic situation. Haapasaari also notes that there are many young people entering the industry who may find it difficult to understand what is okay for them. However, support is available for them.

And on the other hand, many of us have to go to the jobs we happen to get anyway. Sex work is not the only job that is done only for money.

For sex work reforms are required to the related legislation in order to make working conditions safer and fairer. Dionysia concretely opens up the effects of current laws.

In Finland, selling sex is not illegal, but it is a crime for a third party to benefit from it. A sex worker cannot hire, for example, a security guard or rent a work space. Selling sex is also not allowed to be advertised publicly, but must be done as if you were looking for a partner as a private person.

In addition, sex work is a broad concept that can include many things, from massage to intercourse. Because, for example, strip clubs are not allowed to mediate sex, “oral, anal and vaginal” are prohibited in them, but “hand treatments”, among other things, are ok.

Dionysia entertains and opens up the everyday life of sex work with wages and days. It emphasizes the importance of pleasure and well-being for both employees and customers.

The work offers a light and largely positive perspective on the subject, which is mostly discussed in a problem framework. It doesn’t give exhaustive answers, but it holds its grip. At its best, it makes the reader think about his own relationship with sex and the norms related to it.

The author is a freelance journalist.

Correction 22.9. at 11:39: The review was written by Sara Harju, not Sara Vainio.