Comments on: Being A Fake Sex Worker Surprisingly Not Great For Young Woman’s Writing Career

By: Spoiler Alert: Girlvert by Oriana Small AKA Ashley Blue (2011)

Spoiler Alert: Girlvert by Oriana Small AKA Ashley Blue (2011) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:34:24 +0000

[…] and parts that resonated with things I’d already been thinking about. One such thing was something that Bubbles wrote recently, that there’s “no better crash course in boundaries and assertiveness” than sex work. The […]

By: Spoiler Alert: Girlvert by Oriana Small AKA Ashley Blue (2011) | Tits and Sass

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:02:41 +0000

By: The Week In Links: September 23 | Tits and Sass

The Week In Links: September 23 | Tits and Sass — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:36:51 +0000

[…] Gender Across Borders delves into the use of the word “hooker” in society, citing the Hipster Hooker and the New York Post‘s use of the word. Be sure to check out the entire Tsk Tsk: Shame, […]

By: Bettie

Bettie — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 08:54:23 +0000

The comments on this are making me giggle. Although, as a woman in pursuit of a Philosophy degree, I do wonder if my dalliances will affect my future. Then I look at my life now and wonder if I’d be willing to give it up even if it would affect my future, and the honest answer is no.

I suppose actually being involved in the trade is the thing that keeps one from writing those apologies, yeah? I mean, I wouldn’t apologize for waiting table to support myself, because it keeps food in my mouth, why apologize for this? If I stop spanking old men I won’t be able to pay for my degree(‘s), and I won’t end up teaching, which means I won’t be able to write the things I want to write, it’s kind of all connected.

By: Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:19:27 +0000

Okay, I only just read that article. GOLD BARS?!?

By: Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:15:26 +0000

No one in publishing makes sleazy jokes to my face, because I only work with gay men and women. Trufax.

By: The Weekly Unwrap | Tits and Sass

The Weekly Unwrap | Tits and Sass — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:02:02 +0000

[…] What becomes of a not-quite ”Hipster Hooker?” […]

By: Ruth Fowler

Ruth Fowler — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:12:47 +0000

That’s interesting. I actually had to fight really hard for people to take ‘stripper’ off my byline for a writing job – not because I’m ashamed, but it’s not something I do anymore, and it was unrelated to the opinion pieces I was writing, which were predominantly commentary on current affairs. I was also a waitress, a bartender, a college student, a chef, a sailor, a supermarket checkout girl – that’s not on my byline, so why stripping? It’s not as if stripping was related to the subject matter I wrote about. I lost the battle and to this day my Guardian byline reads: ‘Ruth Fowler was a stripper in Manhattan’. As if that is my only qualification, and the only justification for my existence as a writer on their site. Fuck them. I often feel that sex work is the only thing the publishing world finds valuable about my words, the only thing that gave me a heads up over the other women jostling to be a writer. I don’t know if this is a real fact, or an unfounded fear. My ego wants to think I’m a fantastic writer, but I still wrestle with the sad truth I commodified myself as ‘Mimi’, and then did it again when I write a book about everything, and had I not had that experience as a stripper – would anyone have read my words? I had to fight and fight and fight for HarperCollins UK not to ‘sex up’ and glorify the world, package my book in pink-and-glitter – I also lost this battle, and ended up walking out of a book deal with them because I wouldn’t make up parts of the memoir, and change my name to “something sexy”, among other requests I could not agree to. To this day, my book has never been published in the UK because I would not submit to packaging my book in a frivolous, inane way which belied the fact it’s a dark, nasty book, about a dark, nasty time in my life.

In the screenwriting world, my past work is never, ever mentioned, and no one gives a flying fuck. I love them for appreciating that whilst stripping is an important component of who I am today and my attitudes when writing non-fiction, it does not take predominance over me as a writer. In screenwriting I’m Ruth Fowler. In the publishing world, I’m still ‘that chick who’s kind of a British Diablo Cody and cusses a lot’.