Pushed To The Fringes: Underage Sex Workers

This isn't Brooke Shields in Pretty Baby, either.

A part of our community seems to always get left behind. While we argue that we need to prioritize the safety and well-being of sex workers, our discussions often fall short of protecting the workers who are most at risk: underage workers. We fear being read as encouraging the sexual exploitation of children. But the… Continue reading Pushed To The Fringes: Underage Sex Workers

A ‘Whore’ By Any Other Name Is Still A Rose

Amber Rose, via her Instagram page.

Recently, Amber Rose has been in the spotlight for giving her opinion on The Breakfast Club 105.1 regarding Kim Kardashian’s 17-year-old half sister Kylie Jenner’s relationship with 25-year-old rapper Tyga. Rose was asked if Jenner is too young to date the “Rack City” rapper, and she responded with: “She’s a baby. She needs to go… Continue reading A ‘Whore’ By Any Other Name Is Still A Rose

I Couldn’t Do It: Jeff and Sarah

(Lost Balloon by Ann Marshall, via Flickr and the Creative Commons)

Content warning—the following contains descriptions of underage sex work and an adult fantasizing about sexual activity with a pre-teenage child. I don’t know how I started seeing Jeff. I can’t remember meeting him, or what the first session was like, or what he looked like in clothes. I just remember when it turned. Jeff was… Continue reading I Couldn’t Do It: Jeff and Sarah

A Nation of Sex Workers: An Interview with Tracy Quan

I’ve been reading Tracy Quan since before I was a sex worker, when a prequel to Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl was serialized on Salon.com, and I’ve been chummy with her online since 2003, when she graciously replied to my e-mails. I’ve learned so much from Tracy, her callgirl comedy-of-manners novels, and the quirky… Continue reading A Nation of Sex Workers: An Interview with Tracy Quan

The Week in Links–March 1st

Vice mag contributor Helen Rimmel did a photo essay on South Mumbai sex workers who are peer teachers on HIV, STDs, and women’s rights in the community. Ignore Rimmel’s offensive attempts at a narrative—“Life in the red light districts is…pretty much like living in a giant toilet bowl full of syringes and awful people”—and enjoy the photos… Continue reading The Week in Links–March 1st