Sex Life is an anonymous Zikoko weekly series that explores the pleasures, frustrations and excitement of sex in the lives of Nigerians.
The subject of today’s Sex Life is a 20-year-old bisexual woman who makes money selling pictures and videos of her feet online. She talks about the initial stress of starting the side hustle and how it has affected her sex life.
What was your first sexual experience?
I think my earliest sexual experience was with Harlequin novels. I was around eight or so, but I used to devour those books. I started having less-than-PG feelings when I was 12, but I didn’t try to masturbate to them until I was 17.
Did you enjoy it?
Not at all. Masturbation was nothing like they described it in the books. The first time I tried it, I didn’t feel anything memorable. So, I did some research, and it got better after some time. Still, it only feels good, not great.
I’m yet to have my first orgasm.
Like, ever or just from masturbating?
Ever.
Oh damn. Have you been intimate with other people?
My first sexual experience with another person was after secondary school. I met this older guy who wanted me to send nudes and call him daddy, but I wasn’t really comfortable sending nudes. So, we just sexted instead.
I wasn’t really into it, but I enjoyed the attention. I went along with it until I got bored.
What happened after you got bored?
I tried to explore my sexuality. I had a huge crush on my best friend, but I didn’t tell her because she’s straight, and I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. I decided to try dating women, but I couldn’t find anyone I connected with.
I met this really sweet girl on Tinder, but there was no attraction from either of us, so we’re just friends now. I met another daddy, and I don’t know if it was his voice or something, but I actually enjoyed sexting with him.
Do you generally enjoy sexting?
It depends on a few factors. When I’m in control of the situation, sexting is like a 7/10 for me. When the other person is in control, it’s like a 4.6/10. When we’re both just vibing, it’s like a 5.5/10.
Interesting. What about sex?
I’ve never had intercourse, but I don’t know if I would be classified as a virgin.
Why do you think so?
Well, it’s a social construct for starters, but I’m also not sure if never having a penis inside me — even though I masturbate, sext and make porn — still counts as “virginity”. When I’m asked, I just say I’m not a virgin. It’s easier.
You make porn? What kind?
I sell pictures of my feet on the internet.
Oh wow. How did you discover that was a thing?
So, I’ve always been aware of foot fetishes because of the media and books. When the lockdown started, things were tight, and I didn’t know what to do. I used to bake for extra cash, but no one was splurging on pastries at the time.
I googled how to make money online, but everything I saw was either a scam or slavery. Then I saw a website that suggested selling foot pictures and the thought was planted in my head. I decided to dig deeper.
One day, I sat down, opened my camera and took pictures of my feet in socks. I don’t know if it’s just me, but society deems feet gross, so I was insecure about photographing them bare. I created an Instagram account and shared my first post.
What was the response like?
I used relevant hashtags, so I got some likes — 13 or so. The likes were from real people, but the comments were from bots run by Yahoo boys promising to “spoil me silly”. I didn’t get any comments from real people.
Ehn? Yahoo boys?
Yeah. A LOT of Yahoo boys are in the foot community trying to scam foot models. I was just as shocked as you are to be honest. They’ll say stuff like, “I will send you $300 if you send me $50. Babe trust me. I swear on my manhood.”
LMAO. Wow.
See, you can always sense Nigerian energy. You can just sense it.
So, when did you find a real person?
I didn’t know how hard it was actually going to be. In the blog I read, they said: “Post your feet and you’ll make money. Buyers are EVERYWHERE.” While that’s true to an extent, it’s much more than getting a pedicure and snapping your feet.
I met a lot of real guys after three days of using relevant hashtags and “follow for follow”, but they were cheap men asking for free stuff, weird stuff and nudity. For the first month, it was literally just freeloaders, scammers and weirdos.
When did you find proper customers?
After I decided to actually give it my best. I knew I wasn’t really putting out quality content, so I decided to understand the fetish and its various subgroups. I studied successful models and learnt to weed out time-wasters.
I gave it another proper go, and after two weeks, I started seeing results. I took better pictures, invested in props and pedicures and became part of the community. I made my first sale after a week, and it’s been getting better ever since.
What kind of props did you invest in?
Socks and other footwear. Fruit and food. Lots of baby oil. I want to get a ring light, but I don’t know how I’ll explain that one to my parents.
You could say you’re launching a TikTok career.
LMAO. I like that angle.
Are your clients Nigerians?
I restricted Nigerians from finding my page. No offence, but Nigerian men can be really cheap, especially to sex workers. Plus, the Yahoo boys were annoying. Some even still find my page with VPN.
LMAO. Don’t worry, I’m not offended. So, where are your clients from?
Mostly US and UK.
Do you mind sharing how much you charge and for what?
I sell pictures, videos and video calls. For pictures and videos, I sell custom content and premade content. For premade content, I sell a set of 10 pictures for $5, 15 pictures for $10 and 20 pictures for $15. For custom content, it’s 1 picture for $5 and 3 for $10.
Videos depend on length and content. For premade videos, it ranges between $3 and $15. For custom videos, it’s $10 for a 1-minute clip, $15 for 2-3 minutes and $20 for 4-5 minutes.
So, what’s your financial goal long-term?
My goal is to be able to have this as a solid source of passive income. I don’t plan to do this forever; it’s just something I can make money off of. So far, I’ve made over $300, and on the plus side, it’s actually enjoyable sometimes.
I’m currently working on a fan site. It’ll be subscription-based because it’s less stressful when I put all my videos and pictures in one place and people pay to access them. That’s easier than constantly marketing my shit.
How much work is all of this?
Like every business venture, it’s a lot at first, but once you do the hard work in the early stages, it gets easier. You have to define your goals, your lines, your approach and your persona.
You also have to market, manage your finances, manage customer relations, build relationships with other people in your field and create content. So, yeah, it’s work, but it gets easier. That’s not to say there aren’t bad parts though.
What bad parts?
The typical entitled men. Slut-shaming. Racism. Instagram censorship. Stalkers and crazy men. There is a guy whose whole thing is to tear down women of colour in the foot community.
There’s another guy that his thing is to try as hard as possible to get your account deleted off Instagram. He literally advertises that if a model pisses you off, just give him her handle, and he’ll get her deleted.
That’s messed up. Has this affected your sex life?
I had a boyfriend when I started this whole thing, but I broke up with him. I also had a slave at one point. I’d give him tasks and punish him. For him, it was about the pleasure of being dominated.
Right now, I’m single and not searching. I don’t really get wet when I’m sexting with a client unless he lets me dominate him. I have erotica and my fingers to keep me satisfied. I see dicks so often, even when I don’t want to, so I’m kinda desensitised.
Wait. Did the breakup have anything to do with your work?
No, he just wasn’t treating me right. He begged to date me, even after I told him that I was doing this. He was just too tight-fisted though he had money. I ended things when, on my birthday, he didn’t give me anything except a picture of his dick.
LMAO. Na wa. What about dominating men? When did you realise you liked that?
When I was 17, this random white guy DM’d me. It started off pretty innocently, but then he just sent me a picture of his dick, and it was super tiny. Like, microscopic. I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t.
Then I noticed he was kinda encouraging me to give him my honest feedback. When I told him his dick was tiny, I could tell he was into it. I kept humiliating him because I was into it as well.
I was dumb back then, so I didn’t try to get cash out of him. I thought it was weird, but I was also intrigued. I didn’t explore my dominant side again until I became a foot model. The first time I told a guy to kneel and he obeyed, the sexual high was out of this world.
How would you rate your sex life on a scale of 1 to 10?
I’ll give it a 5.7 out of 10. I’m a pretty sexual person, but I can go a while without doing anything sexual for my pleasure. Also, I guess because I’ve never had penetrative sex.
Do you have any intention of having penetrative sex?
I do actually. It’s just not something that’s do or die right now. If it happens, it happens.
