Sex Work Held In Contempt Of Court

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September 30, 2011

The sex worker blame game has become an increasingly popular trend as evidenced by recent news stories. In the past several weeks, we saw strip club customer Wa Ilg join numerous other customers in suing strip clubs for stunningly high bar and dance tabs for which they claimed they were not responsible because of over-intoxication. In San Antonio, an accountant was convicted for embezzling money to pay for his “stripper addiction” and the judge in Kenneth Star’s ponzi scheme trial somehow managed to partly blame his despicable and greedy behavior on his infatuation with his young stripper wife. These women somehow become the scapegoats for their customers’ behavior and, in retribution, they are forced to pay it back in either shame or cold hard cash. The story that really takes the cake comes from deep inside the bowels of the most popular children’s toy store, Toys R Us. The summarized version goes like this: A director at Toys R Us embezzles millions of dollars and spends it on prostitutes and partying. This guy, Paul Hopes, gets caught and one of his favorite prostitutes, Dawn Dunbar, is dragged into court where an incredulous judge asks her how she can justify the amount of money she received. He orders the money and property she bought with it confiscated. Charlotte and I, a prostitute and a stripper respectively, discuss this article, sex worker responsibility, and so much more:

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Guys Do It Too

Prostitution

By

Charlotte Shane

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September 29, 2011

male_prostitute1 — Male escorting at its finest.

As much as we all love our site name—Kat, you are a genius—we know that it may not make us seem like a particularly male-friendly space. But unlike sex work’s most vociferous critics, we are very aware that not all sex workers are women. Just this week, we sent out a call for a straight male escort to review Hung (Fingers crossed!) and we have a list of guys we’d love to convince to write for us. While we get those posts lined up, why not check out this male escort’s story? My favorite part:

It is a very dangerous business because you have to look out for the police, decoys and other people that might set you up.

He goes on to tell a story of how his friend got picked up on the street by a cop posing as a client, which seems to be the only negative experience he’s had. This, in spite of the fact that “Edward” is what’s sometimes called a “survival” sex worker: he only works when he has bills he would otherwise be unable to pay. Therefore, the theory goes, he’s extra vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

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The Language of Selling Yourself

By

Lolo de Sucre

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September 27, 2011

Sex writer Melissa Gira Grant published a piece in the Guardian last week questioning the rhetoric of anti-sex work activists—particularly Ashton Kutcher, who’s been collaborating with wife Demi Moore in a highly publicized “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” campaign. (Kutcher and Moore’s “activism” has been discussed previously in several other Tits and Sass posts, like this one, this one, and this one, to name just a few.)

In her article, Grant deconstructs the myth of clients “buying” prostitutes instead of exchanging money for labor. Sex workers don’t “sell our bodies” any more than pro-athletes, construction workers, ballerinas or models do. We use our bodies for labor; they’re not “things” that clients can purchase. To buy something implies a permanent change of ownership. After several years of being a prostitute I find that I still very much own my body—despite all the men who have allegedly “bought” me.

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The Playboy Club, or, What You Should Watch Tonight

By

Bettie

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September 26, 2011

We begin the show in a kind of POV thing where we go into the club and see Nick Dalton (who I assume is going to be a big deal) get his name up on the board after giving his key to the Bunny in the front door. I am already in love. He has dimples!

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