A US mum reckons her job as a sex worker makes her a better parent, because it has helped her develop a deeper level of empathy.
Elle Stranger, from Portland, Oregon, works as a stripper, camgirl and writes erotic fiction. She is also mum to a five-year-old girl and says that her unusual career choice makes her a better mum.
Speaking to Barcroft TV, Elle said: "The nature of my work is varied. I work in a strip club three days a week, I've done webcam on and off, I write erotica and I sell my own porn. Me and my partner just made our own - that was fun.
"I feel like being a sex worker makes me a better mum because I've developed a greater sense of empathy. It means that I'm responsible to make a human being that is better for the world.
"She is going to be a lot more secure about the world around her."
Elle, who says she's a fierce feminist and is very proud of her career, ignores the judgemental parents at her little girl's school and is pretty open with her daughter about her job.
"I've been telling my daughter since she was three that mummy dances, talks to people and tells jokes for money," she explained.
"I think people don't trust that I could raise a child in a nurturing, safe, structured environment because they're projecting their own fears on me.
"I am not working in full view of her because I am an adult. I don't want to see my parents do that.
"When I'm a mum, I'm a mum. When I'm in the adult world working, I'm doing my adult work. Those two things do not overlap."
Elle works at the Lucky Devil Lounge in her hometown and believes that many of her customers go to see strippers as a 'form of therapy'.
She said: "I know my work is healing to people because they tell me and I see it.
"There are a lot of reasons people go into adult establishments. It's not just because they want some kind of arousal, but because they want to be heard, they want be acknowledged, they want to be seen.
"A lot of people don't have it in them to seek out therapy because they are ashamed to. I think it's a lot easier for a blue-collar guy to talk to a pretty girl in her underwear for 20 bucks a song.
"I interact quite a bit on the stage. I'll stick a cocktail straw through my nose or light my pubes on fire. I'm a pretty good show. I like making people laugh. I like hearing stories that I would never hear. I like learning from people.
"I had a woman a couple of years ago who asked me if I could just sit with her and just play with her hair, just hug her, because her wedding was the next day and she was nervous and so she wanted to de-stress. I thought that was really cool."
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Elle also helps to organise Portland's 'S**t Walk' - an annual march to raise awareness of sexual violence and harassment.
"I am really comfortable with calling myself a feminist," Elle said. "Because I appreciate and I respect everybody's own sexuality. Everybody's identity or intention.
"S**t Walk Portland has three organisers. I am one. We are all sex workers. The idea behind S**t Walk is that nobody deserves sexual assault."
Bryan, Elle's partner, also heaps praise on his other half, saying: "Elle's a good mum because she will do absolutely anything for her child and the wellbeing of her daughter is 100 percent her priority, and that was honestly one other thing that really attracted me to her, when I found out she is a mother.
"I do think her work benefits society. I think she does a lot of good in this world. I think she does a lot of healing. I know I used to feel a lot better when I used to see her at work before we starting dating."
Elle added: "I have raised a great kid. She is really smart and she is really happy.
"I see myself as a healer and a giver of touch and a motherly figure and not just motherly to my kids, but motherly to my clients because I want to care for them, I want them to feel happy and safe and they will treat me better when they are happier. "
Featured Image Credit: Barcroft TVTopics: Interesting, USA