Don’t Hit Women Or Whores: Whorephobic Domestic Violence and Its Discontents

Christy Mack at the Toronto Vanity Fan Expo earlier this year (Photo by Alan Teo, via flickr and the Creative Commons)

“Don’t hit women or whores” reads an oh-so-helpful comment under one of the many reports of the brutal assault and attempted rape of porn actress and dancer Christy Mack by her ex partner, War Machine (formerly known as John Koppenhaver), this past week. And that’s one of the nice ones. Most of the not-nice ones… Continue reading Don’t Hit Women Or Whores: Whorephobic Domestic Violence and Its Discontents

Actually, My Hand Feeds Me: A Message To Annie Sprinkle

Annie Sprinkle: a woman who needs to get back in touch with her movement rather than speaking over it (Photo by Creatrix Tlara, via her flickr and the Creative Commons)

As a general rule, I absolutely love being called “adorable.” It reaffirms a lifetime of well-intentioned cheek pinches and makes me feel like I still look youthful as I approach 30. But being an adorable person is a very different thing than being part of an adorable movement. So when Annie Sprinkle took to Facebook… Continue reading Actually, My Hand Feeds Me: A Message To Annie Sprinkle

The Fifth Annual Vagina Beauty Pageant: A Judge’s Notes

All photos courtesy Dick Hennessy Productions/Hypnox

ATTN: NSFW PHOTOS AFTER THE JUMP At 10 p.m. last Thursday, I sat myself in the judges’ row at Club Rouge in downtown Portland for the fifth annual Vagina Beauty Pageant. There were six judges, two poles, 22 competitors and 23 vaginas. Wait, what? “Didja hear the story?” pageant staff photographer Hypnox shouted over the… Continue reading The Fifth Annual Vagina Beauty Pageant: A Judge’s Notes

The Affordable Care Act and Sex Workers

via Flickr user 401 (K) 2012

Next Monday is the deadline to sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), if you don’t already have insurance you want to stick with. Here in New York City, we at Persist Health Project, a peer-led group that connects sex workers with non-judgmental and affordable health care, have been linking our… Continue reading The Affordable Care Act and Sex Workers

Reporting on ROSE: A Journalist’s Work In Phoenix

Image via SWOP-Phoenix on Facebook

We often have cause to complain about media coverage of sex work, but we haven’t had occasion to talk about how good stories can be edited into inadequate ones as they travel from reporter to final outlet. The fate of Jordan Flaherty‘s story about Project ROSE (Reaching Out to the Sexually Exploited) is a great… Continue reading Reporting on ROSE: A Journalist’s Work In Phoenix