Not it if you’re with an escort who knows what she is doing. Over the last 25 years I have had some of the most XXX porn star sex a man could hope for. Yes, I understand there is no validation in paying a hooker, but at the end of the day virtually all men pay for sex (unless you’re in that top 5% of men in terms of looks).
Not sure if this has been mentioned on this thread. There definitely is a very different dynamic when you are having sex with a "civilian" who actually wants you vs. a "professional".
One thing to consider is that there are literally millions of women who are dating, in relationships or having sex with men that they aren't necessarily attracted to. Tons of women will marry men for resources/money, social status and even stability while not feeling a deep burning attraction towards the men they are with. Historically it was the norm for women to be set up with arranged marriages across many different cultures. There were also tons of men who had sex with women that also had no real say in the manner, look at any conquering culture or those with slavery and you will see this is a trend. The overall trend of what I'm getting at here is these women submitted to a man due to his status, resources or whatever you could potentially provide them. However, there were also cases where these women submitted with no other real choice.......this point here you should think about before where I'm going next with this.
Yes, paying for sex with a hooker is not the same as with a woman who is attracted to you. However, these women are submitting to you because of what you can potentially provide them, which is money. The entire act of a woman having sex with a man is based around her submitting to him, whether this be a hooker or a woman that is actually attracted to you. A man is validated by the idea of "conquering" a woman, you are just going about it in a different manner. Though it's a bit different, do you think the whole sugar baby-daddy dynamic is much different than something like this? In my opinion, at the end of the day men are paying for sex in one way or another, again there are a multitude of ways to which this occurs.
I also didn't notice your age earlier when I wrote my first post. At 54, you are basically going to be left with women well past their prime who most likely already having children. Ideally, men in the age range you are at would be married and already have their own children. If you enjoy sex with escorts there is nothing wrong with it, in fact for certain men it may be better than being totally celibate. I personally believe that celibacy is not good for the mental health of the majority of men, in fact it can be a very bad thing. I obviously don't know you and never will, but this is something you should consider.