Tjhisha Ball and Angelia Mangum: Two names you should know but probably don’t. Tjhisha Ball and Angelia Mangum were 19 and 18 years old, respectively, two young women who were brutally murdered on September 18th. Their bodies were found in Duval County, Florida, reportedly thrown off an overpass, by passerby in the wee hours of… Continue reading More Than Silence: Tjhisha Ball, Angelia Mangum, and the Erasure of Black Sex Workers
Tag: respectability politics
Who Gets Left Out: The People Who Coined The Term—Addendum to the Respectability Politics Round Table
When we posted the Respectability Politics Round Table, Black beauty blogger and sex worker Peechington Marie immediately spoke up on Tumblr with a well-justified critique: Why, given that the term “respectability politics” itself originated within Black feminist scholarship, did the round table not include any Black sex workers as participants? We apologized for having this… Continue reading Who Gets Left Out: The People Who Coined The Term—Addendum to the Respectability Politics Round Table
Who Gets Left Out: Respectability Politics Round Table, Part Two
You can read part one of this dialogue here. Emma Caterine: Red Umbrella Project has definitely encountered issues around pressure to conform to respectability politics from larger groups who fund or sponsor us in different ways. It is telling that I can’t mention many of the specifics for fear of re-opening old wounds. Particularly the… Continue reading Who Gets Left Out: Respectability Politics Round Table, Part Two
Who Gets Left Out: Respectability Politics Round Table, Part One
“Respectability politics” has been a recurring phrase coming up lately in conversations within the sex workers’ rights movement. In discussions on and off the site we’ve had about drug using sex workers, sex workers with disabilities, survival sex workers, etc., we’ve been bumping up against this idea constantly. The Tits and Sass editorial staff decided… Continue reading Who Gets Left Out: Respectability Politics Round Table, Part One
Outcasts Among Outcasts: Drug-Using Sex Workers in the Sex Workers’ Rights Movement, Part 2
(You can find part one of this discussion here) Caty: I’ve seen former drug-using sex workers like Kate Holden write that trading sex for drugs directly with a dealer was “just tacky,” and in my shallow, callow early years as a heroin-using escort, I often said the same thing. But the real reason I’ve avoided doing… Continue reading Outcasts Among Outcasts: Drug-Using Sex Workers in the Sex Workers’ Rights Movement, Part 2