My name is La Fichera* Virtual. I am 28 years old and I live in Tijuana, Baja California.
Living in Tijuana and practicing online sex work is not that different from anywhere else, except that because it is a border city, you have easy access to work tools- gringo things, and at low cost. Cameras, lights, etc.
I’ve done in person sex work, but because of the pandemic, I count more on online work. The complicated thing is that I live with my family and they don’t know that I do this. So I work it at night, locked in my room.
This bottle is important because I’ve had it since I started sex work and it was a gift from my mother. It’s important because it allows me to do my activities without the need to leave the room. Without going through the whole house to the kitchen and being seen and questioned about things that I’m not ready to talk about yet.
In a way, it’s like my accomplice, right? In other words, it allows me to stay locked up and, well, do what I do: hustle.
Why am I hiding my work? To be honest, in my house they know my way of thinking. I talk about sex and all kinds of controversial or immoral topics openly. But I feel like I’m one step away from doing it. I think I would not feel judged by my family, at least those who live here at home. I think the fear lies in my father finding out. I don’t think he would understand. So I think that I also stay comfortable in this situation, in which I think they already know, because you can’t just live in a space and not realize that kind of thing, right? That I lock myself up at three o’clock in the afternoon for a video call or photos, I have money without a formal job. I mean, there are signs, right? But my father, I think he would not understand.
And something strange happened with this bottle. I had one that looked the same, exactly the same, that I lost in a classroom when I was teaching. I remember that one Monday- I remember it because that day that there is a street market near my house- my mother arrived with the bottle and said: “Look, I bought you a bottle just like the one you lost”. And I remember that I was super happy because I liked that bottle.
Well, it’s a pink bottle. It has a capacity of one and a half liters, which is great because it lasts for the whole night shift, and it is made of super resistant plastic. In other words, I have dropped it many times when I am setting up my room, or even in video calls, and it does not break. It’s a very strong plastic. In fact, it’s the bottle that has lasted me the longest.
*Note: (Fichera is a Mexican term for a worker who acts as a drinking companion in a bar or cantina and makes commission on the drinks clients buy for her.)
My name is La Fichera* Virtual. I am 28 years old and I live in Tijuana, Baja California.
Living in Tijuana and practicing online sex work is not that different from anywhere else, except that because it is a border city, you have easy access to work tools- gringo things, and at low cost. Cameras, lights, etc.
I’ve done in person sex work, but because of the pandemic, I count more on online work. The complicated thing is that I live with my family and they don’t know that I do this. So I work it at night, locked in my room.
This bottle is important because I’ve had it since I started sex work and it was a gift from my mother. It’s important because it allows me to do my activities without the need to leave the room. Without going through the whole house to the kitchen and being seen and questioned about things that I’m not ready to talk about yet.
In a way, it’s like my accomplice, right? In other words, it allows me to stay locked up and, well, do what I do: hustle.
Why am I hiding my work? To be honest, in my house they know my way of thinking. I talk about sex and all kinds of controversial or immoral topics openly. But I feel like I’m one step away from doing it. I think I would not feel judged by my family, at least those who live here at home. I think the fear lies in my father finding out. I don’t think he would understand. So I think that I also stay comfortable in this situation, in which I think they already know, because you can’t just live in a space and not realize that kind of thing, right? That I lock myself up at three o’clock in the afternoon for a video call or photos, I have money without a formal job. I mean, there are signs, right? But my father, I think he would not understand.
And something strange happened with this bottle. I had one that looked the same, exactly the same, that I lost in a classroom when I was teaching. I remember that one Monday- I remember it because that day that there is a street market near my house- my mother arrived with the bottle and said: “Look, I bought you a bottle just like the one you lost”. And I remember that I was super happy because I liked that bottle.
Well, it’s a pink bottle. It has a capacity of one and a half liters, which is great because it lasts for the whole night shift, and it is made of super resistant plastic. In other words, I have dropped it many times when I am setting up my room, or even in video calls, and it does not break. It’s a very strong plastic. In fact, it’s the bottle that has lasted me the longest.
*Note: (Fichera is a Mexican term for a worker who acts as a drinking companion in a bar or cantina and makes commission on the drinks clients buy for her.)
Vivir en Tijuana y ejercer el trabajo sexual virtual creo que no es tan distinto, a excepción de que, bueno, por ser frontera, eh, se tiene fácil acceso a herramientas de trabajo. Eh, cosas gabachas ¿no? Y a bajo costo. Cámaras, luces, etcétera.
Eh, he ejercido el trabajo sexual presencial. Por el tema de la pandemia pues le aposté más al trabajo sexual virtual. Y la complicación aquí (risita) es que yo vivo con mi familia y ellos no saben que me dedico a esto, al trabajo sexual virtual. Así que, pues lo ejerzo de noche, encerrada en mi cuarto.
Eh, esta botella es importante porque, bueno, la tengo desde que comencé en el trabajo sexual y fue un regalo de mi madre. Eh, es importante porque me permite hacer mis actividades sin la necesidad de salir del cuarto. Pues atravesar toda la casa, ir a la cocina, estar expuesta a ser vista y que me lleguen a cuestionar, eh, sobre cosas de las que aún no estoy lista para hablar.
De cierta forma es como… la cómplice ¿no? (Risa). O sea, me permite quedarme encerrada y, pues hacer lo que hago: eh, putear.
Bueno ¿Por qué me escondo para ejercer? Mmm… la verdad en mi casa conocen mi forma de pensar. Hablo de sexo y todo tipo de temas polémicos o inmorales abiertamente. Pero, o sea, siento que estoy a un pasito de… de hacerlo. Ah, creo que no me sentiría juzgada por mi familia, mmm, por lo menos los que viven aquí en casa ¿¿no? Creo que el temor radica en que se entere mi padre. Creo que él no lo entendería. Entonces yo creo que también me mantengo así como, como cómoda con la situación, en la que yo creo que ellos ya saben, porque igual no se puede vivir en un espacio y no darse cuenta de ese tipo de cosas ¿no? Que me encierre y que … o no sé, a las tres de la tarde, tipo que me encierro para una video llamada o fotos, eh… tengo dinero sin un trabajo formal… O sea, hay indicios ¿no? Eh, pero, mi padre creo que no, no lo entendería.
Y la verdad pasó algo extraño, de hecho con esta botella. Yo tenía una igualita, igual igual, que una que perdí en un salón cuando daba clases. Igualita. Y recuerdo que un lunes, ah, lo recuerdo porque ese día es el que se pone el sobre ruedas por mi casa, llegó con una botella mi mamá, idéntica, y me dice: “Mira, te compré una botella igual a la que perdiste”. Y recuerdo que me puse súper contenta porque esa botella me gustaba.
Bueno, eh, es una botella de color rosa. Tiene capacidad de un litro y medio, lo cual es genial porque me alcanza para toda la jornada de trabajo, y es de plástico súper resistente. O sea, se ha llevado muchísimas caídas cuando ando acomodando o incluso en video llamadas, y no se rompe. No sé, es un plástico muy fuerte. Es la botella de hecho que más me ha durado.
