Can Play + Work + Leisure = Pleasure?
My least favourite question to be asked is “what are your hobbies?”. It’s not because I spend my spare time doing things I’m ashamed of, but because I genuinely don’t know what to say. The Urban Dictionary defines a “hobby” in a lot of different ways, from something you do that requires a lot of money, to the way you refer to your prostitute. However, I think the most accurate (and least objectifying) way to define it is, “something you enjoy doing in your spare time that has the potential to become a profession.” While I enjoy a lot of different past times, I’m not convinced that my brief fling with baking is career worthy.
For many people, however, hobbies have become money making ventures. Australian radio station Triple J conducted a survey in July 2018 that found that a third of Australians aged 18–29 who took the survey had a “side hustle”. A side hustle is essentially a hobby that makes you money and many young people are taking up side-hustles to supplement the income from their 9–5-day jobs.
We all know someone who has started a small business through Instagram, whether it be selling second-hand clothes, their artwork, or even sexual services. While not all side hustles achieve success, there are many that make their creators millions. Joyce Meyer describes Instagram as one of the most widely used social networks on the planet. With over 1 billion active monthly users, what could be better than using this popular platform to turn something you love into a gold mine?
I use Instagram every day. If you were to look at my average screen time per week you would see a clear bias between my apps, and if you needed further proof that Instagram was on top for me, you need only look at my ever-growing earring collection. I follow more brands than I do friends, and I get a deep satisfaction out of supporting someone’s side hustle. Instagram is the first place I would search for pretty much anything, and the place I would turn to if I wanted to promote myself or my potential business. I know I’m not alone in feeling this way and this mindset has given people the opportunity to bring their hobbies and leisure into an economic landscape, cultivating a culture that is accepting.
Marlene Charlotte Larsen believes that social media has created a space in which people are constantly relating to each other. Young people have begun to take advantage of this feature of social media in order to blur their leisure and play into work. As a generation raised under the influence of the internet and technology, we know speed and multitasking and are in constant and instant connection to others. While Yarrow and O’Donnell believe that there has been a shift in the minds of young people towards a mentality of self-reliance, the influence and rise of social media means that we are more reliant than ever, especially when it comes to maintaining our side hustles.
One side hustle made easier by the inclusivity of social media and brought to attention by the Triple J survey was sex work. Traditionally, sex work has been widely thought of as a form of exploitation and an unacceptable source of income. However, the empowerment and opportunity that social media provides allows all combinations of work and play to be explored in an open and accepting environment, even if that combination turns out to be sexual.
When we think about sex work we picture something similar to the opening scenes of Pretty Women, dark street corners and dodgy dealings. Whether it be pornography or prostitution, Connelly and Jarvis-King note that historically, while most of the activities associated with sex work take place indoors, research only focuses on the street sex market, excluding modernized forms of sex work such as camming and the sharing of images online.
If a side hustle is simply turning something you love doing into a money-making venture, then what makes more sense than transforming your sex life into something profitable? In the age of social media, sex work as a side hustle has become more accessible than ever.
Grace Bellavue was an Australian sex worker. In an interview, Grace said that there is a lack of united voices in the sex industry and social media provides a global support network, spreading information and, when needed, acting as an alarm bell about risky clients. The online community that social media fosters allows those in this industry to give and seek support, for clients both present and future to feel more comfortable, and as a source of information, making it a viable side hustle for many people.
While I don’t think sex-work is in my immediate future, Chris Guillebeau believes that in today’s job market, developing another source of income is fundamental to living the life you want. A side hustle can be a financial life raft, as the high cost of living continues to affect our lives. Social media also creates pressure to be constantly doing something new, to travel, to eat out four times a week, and to never wear the same thing twice, all of which cost copious amounts of money to maintain. When you pit this cultural pressure against the number of hours in the day, having an after-hours side hustle seems like the only possibility.
More and more of our time is being taken up by media, and multitasking has become a regular feature penetrating all aspects of our contemporary lives, not only through the types of technology we choose or the chunks of content we choose to engage with. Both good and bad, social media’s infiltration into our lives has resulted in endless options for dates, mates and jobs. The ability to grow a career out of a hobby, whether that be crafting soy candles or being paid for sex, makes me think that perhaps it’s time to find a hobby worth writing home about. Whether that will mean whipping out the baking tins, or whipping off my clothes, however, I’m yet to find out.
