TAMPA, FLORIDA
Jessican Newhouse, 28, has seen her share of struggles, but recently, the lack of work and money has forced the aging fetish model back to what she calls her “former life” and “the job she never thought she’d have to do again.”
“I spent a lot of time trying to get away from this, but with the economy struggling and the Internet making it harder and harder to earn a living as a fetish model, I didn’t have a choice.”
For Newhouse, it is no longer “Fetish Goddess” or “Mistress J” for pictures, it is now “Dr. Newhouse.”
“It’s hard, because being back on a university campus reminds me of some pretty traumatic stuff. 4 years of college, ph.d. coursework, a brutal dissertation defense and, of course, my post-doctoral work.”
Newhouse admits to engaging in acts of publication, often with as many as 5 co-authors, something she is not exactly proud of.
“At some point you need to just suck it up and do what it takes to put food on the table,” she told The Daily Flogger, “and that is just what I am doing. It doesn’t have to be forever.”
Sarah Mortenson, a counselor at Haven House, a recovery and addiction program, believes the path back may not be so easy. “We see people return to all sorts of professions as a stop-gap or to make ends meet, but the reality is these kinds of cycles can be almost impossible to escape without intervention and professional help.”
That is certainly true of Newhouse who “never even intended to go to college,” but found herself in a ten year spiral or classes, student loans, exams, and ultimately employment at Kennisaw College in the biology department.
“It wasn’t a happy time,” Newhouse remembers, “but I always knew I would move on eventually. I always dreamed of being photographed in latex or bondage or doing something kinky on camera. I told myself biology was something I would do to pay the bills, it wasn’t going to be who I was.”
Now at 28, Newhouse finds herself once again on tenure track, teaching and doing research.
“It’s a shame,” said Bob Phillips, a fetish photographer, “because she was great in front of the camera and she had a fabulous wardrobe. We’re really going to miss her.”
photo credit: Walt Stoneburner cc
