Though most don’t consider the word “prostitute” pejorative, it’s more damaging to sex workers than any other slur. There’s no true neutrality to be found in a word whose verb form Merriam-Webster defines as “to devote to corrupt or unworthy purposes.” But precisely because it is used in polite language, because of its patina of… Continue reading The P Word: A 101
Category: Prostitution
Peta Brady’s Ugly Mugs—An Analogy
As a writer, a former sex worker, and someone who has been quite vocal in my writing about the industry, I’ve been approached quite a number of times to write about the play Ugly Mugs by Peta Brady. I’ve declined each time. Firstly, because I have not seen the play. I’ve only read about it online and read sex… Continue reading Peta Brady’s Ugly Mugs—An Analogy
Deeply Leisured (2014)
Deeply Leisured, a one-woman show by local Melbourne talent Queenie Bon Bon that details the joys and battles of being a sex worker, played during this season’s 2014 Fringe Festival. I was fortunate enough to see one of the six nights of Queenie’s show—her final performance was last weekend. It’s always fun supporting a fellow sex worker (or… Continue reading Deeply Leisured (2014)
Support Hos: The Americans (2013-)
Whether we’re dancers or dommes, escorts, cyberworkers, or some combination or variation thereon, we don’t see ourselves on television very often, and when we do, it’s often a balancing act between how disappointingly horrible the portrayal of people who do what we do is, and our excitement that we’re there on screen at all (I’m… Continue reading Support Hos: The Americans (2013-)
I Did Not Consent To Being Tokenized
I am a sex worker who was coerced into doing work I felt violated by, and I am horrified by SWERFs (Sex Worker Exclusionary Reactionary Feminists) who insist that all sex work is by nature coerced and non-consensual. Recently, I’ve noticed a disturbing rise in anti-sex work rhetoric that rests on the premise that all… Continue reading I Did Not Consent To Being Tokenized