It is a bit disingenuous for sex workers to complain about the stigma but delight in the monetary rewards - the two go hand in hand. I think the returns would tank if the stigma surrounding the job disappeared, but still I imagine there would be reasonable opportunities at the high end of the market. It seems to me a job that could be done either quite poorly or quite well. There would probably still be a risk premium as well, at least in relation to disease if not violence.
I am not sure where social stigma ends and biology begins. Even without the stigma it seems to me that female sex has a commodity value whereas male sex does not. And jobs involving physical proximity - such as waxing or massage - tend to attract a premium even though there is no stigma or sex involved. Perhaps there is some innate squeamishness associated with physical contact that would nevertheless keep a floor on the price.
Prostitution, or something like it, has been observed in chimps. Subdominant males can trade meat for sex, although it's not quite prostitution as its a bit more of a long term thing - the male chimp will continue providing meat after the act is over, in anticipation that the female will be receptive again when she is next fertile. I'm not sure if that resembles prostitution, or marriage or maybe something in between, enjo kosai or friends with benefits perhaps. But even so, it's the male that pays the female for sex and not the other way around.
I knew a girl that was a colonic hydrotherapist. Apparently that involved sticking a hose up old peoples arses and flushing the shit out of them. She was tempted to become an erotic masseuse because it paid better and it couldn't be as gross as having to deal with old peoples shit. When you look at it that way, it becomes a value proposition.
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