Carol Leigh, aka Scarlot Harlot, was the first sex workers’ rights movement celebrity I ever met. I’d been escorting for only a few months when she came to speak in my area, and I identified deeply with her writing in my dogeared copy of the 1980s edition of Sex Work. I was struck immediately by her… Continue reading Activist Spotlight: Carol Leigh on Sex Worker Sinema and Challenging the Anti-Trafficking Discourse
Tag: Trafficking Hysteria
The Week In Links–April 19th
Anti-trafficking ideologues are wringing their hands in dismay and blaming the Hawaii police for not being able to find the hordes of sex trafficking victims that surely must be out there somewhere. Yet arrests are turning up no trafficking victims whatsoever. A Pennsylvania cop going undercover accepted a blowjob from a suspected prostitute before arresting… Continue reading The Week In Links–April 19th
The Week In Links – April 5th
A Florida escort was arrested on charges of attempted murder for nearly biting her client’s penis off. It’s possible that this woman was just fulfilling a treasured universal sex worker fantasy, but I think it’s more likely there was an assault on the client’s part that we’re not hearing about. Two teenage girls drowned in an attempt… Continue reading The Week In Links – April 5th
Les Mis Isn’t An Anti-Trafficking Bible
Les Miserables translates roughly as “The Downtrodden.” Fantine is one of these downtrodden, a young working-class grisette who hides her out-of-wedlock child to obtain respectable employment. When her secret is discovered, she is thrown out of the factory. In desperation, she sells her hair and her teeth, and finally, reluctantly, she sells sex. (Incidentally, she may not be… Continue reading Les Mis Isn’t An Anti-Trafficking Bible
The Week In Links: February 8
“2 Broke Girls” appropriated stripper signifiers “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” poledancing, and thigh high PVC boots for a Super Bowl commercial, and then an Idaho congressman fired an aide who tweeted salaciously about it. In the words of the Awl, “Something about ‘Two Broke Girls’ Finally Funny.” This isn’t really about strippers, but it’s a… Continue reading The Week In Links: February 8