The Week in Links—December 20th

A graphic Amanda Brooks made to illustrate the devastation abusive client Percy Lawayne Isgitt wreaked on her and Jill Brenneman. (Image via Amanda Brooks' blogs, courtesy of Amanda Brooks.)

You can contribute to longtime sex worker activists Jill Brenneman and Amanda Brooks to help them pay their medical expenses using the email abrooks2014@hush.com through Giftrocket. Brenneman and Brooks were abused and terrorized by a client over a span of two and a half years—they discussed their devastating story with Tits and Sass co-editors Caty and… Continue reading The Week in Links—December 20th

One Black Trans Sex Worker’s December 17th

A December 17th collage of Black sex working trans women victims of violence (Image by A Passion, courtesy of A Passion)

On December 17th, we reflect on the overwhelming reports of violence against sex workers and put together plans of action to rise above it. We experience violence at the hands of law enforcement, clients, pimps and abusive partners, and each other. Though I have never found value in comparing suffering woe for woe, it is… Continue reading One Black Trans Sex Worker’s December 17th

The Truth Will Come Out: An Interview With Jill Brenneman and Amanda Brooks

Jill Brenneman. (Photo by Amanda Brooks, courtesy of Amanda Brooks and Jill Brenneman.)

Interview co-authored by Josephine and Caty Content warning—the following contains descriptions of extreme injuries and rape suffered by two sex workers due to a campaign of violence by an abusive client, as well as an account of child abuse. Jill Brenneman and Amanda Brooks are veterans and heroines of the sex workers’ rights movement.  As… Continue reading The Truth Will Come Out: An Interview With Jill Brenneman and Amanda Brooks

“Whore” Is A Good Place To Start

(Photo by Flickr user elasticsoul)

When I was just a teeny tiny bottle of airplane-ready champagne, I was called a whore by a boy in my middle school science class for having the audacity to own breasts and opinions at the same time,while only being willing to share the latter. Once I got to college, men started to call me a… Continue reading “Whore” Is A Good Place To Start

The P Word: A 101

(1942 poster via Amazon)

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