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The Week In Links: April 8

Disturbing! And not at all related to news.

Surprisingly short slideshow of sex working women who’ve run for (international) political office.

Moby Chicks was an April Fool’s joke, but I think it’s a genius idea. What does maritime law say about topless dancing?

Horrible article on Zimbabwean farmers who spend their profits on sex workers.

A play about a “high class” prostitute (named Charlotte!) is running right now in LA.

Cool resource, bro. No, seriously—cool resource. This website compiles studies on sex worker populations across the world.

An exotic dancer puts all her money toward her no-kill animal shelter.

The H-word Is Not The N-Word

Language matters, but it’s also a lot easier to target specific words than it is to constructively address the issues behind them. And unlike a bunch of Jezebel commenters and more than one hundred Waco, Texas residents, I’m too busy being concerned with real sex worker issues to get worked up about a restaurant named “Fat Ho Burgers.”

Can we please agree that the name doesn’t make any sense? The title isn’t fundamentally offensive; it’s fundamentally confusing. Prostitutes and hamburgers? That’s a combination I’ve not seen before in the sex work world, although maybe I just haven’t been hired by the right rock stars. According to the owner, “ho” is a noun sometimes employed to indicate all variety of inanimate objects. Her examples of common usage are “that ho is big” and “that ho is tight,” neither of which clears the issue up or makes the name seem less sex-centric. (“That ho is tight” is really her best defense?)

The Week In Links: April 1st

AdultCon by the numbers

India has already blocked the new .XXX domain.

Time covers Vallejo, California’s attempts to eliminate street prostitution. (Naturally, street prostitution is a “plague.”)

A Las Vegas artist enlisted strangers to interact with sex toys made in her body image “in an effort to mimic the kinds of interactions that sex workers have with their clients.” Because sex workers are just like disembodied silicon body parts.

South Africa may soon see a reality TV show dedicated to finding the best porn star.

Antigua lawmakers refuse to even entertain the idea of legalizing prostitution. A-holes.

Canada’s Supreme Court, however, agreed to hear challenges to its prostitution laws. And a huge coalition formed in Quebec to advocate for sex worker rights.

Minnesota may pass a law that stops prosecuting minors for engaging in prostitution.

Sadly, another body has been found that seems to have been the victim of the (still at large) Long Island serial killer who targets prostitutes. Meanwhile, in the wake of finding the bodies of two (former?) prostitutes, Memphis police are denying that they have a serial killer on their hands.

The Week In Links: March 25

An update on Oregon’s strip club debate, Oregon’s sex-trafficking bills, and Colorado’s john schools.

Care to read about truck drivers’ “commercial sex contacts“?

You should definitely care to watch this inspiring video of Cambodian sex workers and allies marching for rights.

It’s also worth checking out Amanda Marcotte’s commentary on teachers with a sex working past.

Canberra sex workers want changes to the law that will support their safety and privacy. Naturally, anti sex work folks (masquerading as anti sex-trafficking, and putting quotes around “safety for sex workers”) are not okay with that.

Performing artist and sex worker Annie Sprinkle is getting married for the tenth time this Saturday, and you can buy a ticket!

Camille Paglia talks about the recently deceased Elizabeth Taylor’s role as a call girl in Butterfield 8.

And nudists are worried that they’ll suffer if strip club laws restrict public nudity.

Bring your church program for a free pole dancing class near Houston.

“I didn’t pick her up on no doggone playground.”

Former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor recently plead guilty to seeing an underage escort, resulting in a sentence of six years of probation and “registered sex offender” status. Sixteen-year-old Christina Fierro came to his room claiming to be 19, but was apparently the underage victim of a violent and coercive pimp. L.T. claims not to have been able to discern her age, describing her as a “19-year-old working girl who came to my room.”