We are people too

Recently I had a bit of an uncomfortable situation having to do with my job.

I found a yoga studio near my work and introduced myself to the instructor as well as told him where I worked. He smiled and welcomed me, and I joined the group for some sweaty, bendy, out of shape fun. While we were doing a position where I was standing with my legs spread, bending over he started walking around doing a punching massage motion into class members gluteal muscles. When he got to me and started punching my butt (which felt awesome) he chuckled and asked "Do you guys have spanking benches downstairs?"

Woah

There are many factors that bug me about this situation, and believe me I have been mulling over this interaction for days. Here I was in this very physically vulnerable position and a stranger who I trusted to be my instructor came over and made a very inapropriate comment. Making a sexual comment towards a yoga student whilst touching them in an intimate area is not okay. The instructor was in a position of power and the as a student I trusted him. Yoga is a place to relax and meditate on the day, it is a safe space, not a place to feel uncomfortable. I understand that he was making a joke, and probably didn't mean for it to come out as sleazy as it did, but I can't fight the felling this this was not an okay situation. Some people will argue that since I work in the sex industry, it must be okay to say sexual things to me. After all, isn't that part of my job?

Bottom line? No, it is not okay. Sex shop workers, sex industry members, porn stars, prostitutes, all of us deserve the same respect as everyone else. Like everyone else, when we are off the clock, we are not working and therefore should be treated as such.

I wrote him an email explaining all this, and then told him I was finding another studio. I don't know what I expect to get out of the email, but I feel like he needed to be told that sex shop workers are people too.