The Week In Links—October 31

Darren Vann, the man accused of targeting sex workers and killing seven women in Indiana, says he messed up by killing his last victim, Afrikka Hardy in Hammond instead of Gary. (True remorse.) S.E. Smith asks how a convicted sex offender was able to murder at least seven women over the past few decades. Gary… Continue reading The Week In Links—October 31

Naked Music Monday: Mastodon, “The Motherload”

The ladies I performed with in the new Mastodon video, “The Motherload,” were not all strippers, but I don’t think that matters much to the 800,000-plus viewers that watched the video in the first week. Though those of us who were strippers initially sat in cliques—the girls who knew each other from the same club… Continue reading Naked Music Monday: Mastodon, “The Motherload”

Peta Brady’s Ugly Mugs—An Analogy

(Photo by Julie Bates, via Jane Green and sexliesandducttape.)

As a writer, a former sex worker, and someone who has been quite vocal in my writing about the industry, I’ve been approached quite a number of times to write about the play Ugly Mugs by Peta Brady. I’ve declined each time. Firstly, because I have not seen the play. I’ve only read about it online and read sex… Continue reading Peta Brady’s Ugly Mugs—An Analogy

More Than Silence: Tjhisha Ball, Angelia Mangum, and the Erasure of Black Sex Workers

Half of the $17000 fundraising goal for Angelia Mangum and Tjhisha Ball has been met.

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

Sex Work and Partner Violence: How We’re Forced To Negotiate Our Own Abuse

Late porn performer Linda Susan Boreman/ Linda Lovelace, abused for years by her manager boyfriend Chuck Traynor (Image by Nino Eugene La Pia, via flickr and the Creative Commons)

Editor’s note: This post was originally erroneously attributed to Victoria Joy. The piece is actually by Ruby Rue. Victims of violence are more likely to have experienced violence at the hands of someone they know. The same goes for sex workers. There seems to be a lot more concern about stranger-danger in the industry than… Continue reading Sex Work and Partner Violence: How We’re Forced To Negotiate Our Own Abuse