I know almost nothing about the politics of sex workers outside of a very crude outline of 2nd wave feminism vs. sex-positive feminism sort of angle, which I can only guess, from the little I’ve gleaned, would cause many of you to facepalm. I only found this site late last night so I’ve only read a few things but the few things I’ve read has been both, well, again, eye opening and smart.

The lit. crit. discussion about what purpose did i serve in your life, I remember reading someone mention negative criticism of form as mask of a reader’s discomfort with content and thought it a pretty powerful insight in that I’ve suspected that for awhile but never quite put the 2 & 2 together. I’m sort of in the lit. field and the criticism and review I’m used to reading are generally subpar to the level of close reading that the informal discussion operated at.

Then I read a few entries under the “Tina Fey Hates Sex Workers” category tag because I lol’d at such a tag and those were informative; just used to my feminist-minded friends fawning over her success.

Then I clicked on the “You’re Not Funny” tag to check my own whorephobia (also lightbulb moment when I realized I’ve yet heard any feminist friends mention sex work re: slutshaming, thought I had that one down), and the mom & daughter dialogue in the George Takei one I imagined playing out in my head and ouched.

All this is to say, I can’t wait to devour the articles on this site. This is the most exciting find for good and interesting and generally learning stuff site for reading I’ve found in a long time. And on that note, could someone send me a few articles (or comment threads) here that can give me a crash course on the culture and politics of pro-sex work? And “here’s how you don’t say something stupid here” guide would be swell too.

Still, you’re absolutely right that I should’ve Googled the story further.

Though the link that I read didn’t identify her as “male prostitute dressed as a woman,” which would’ve clued me into the fact that it was typical transphobia on the part of the mainstream media, but only said that she was an unidentified male worker.

I’m extremely sorry and will correct the link immediately.

Sincerely,
a cis gender ally and working woman myself