Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex PDF
Preview Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex
Praise for Working It “If you ever want to know what is really up, talk to a sex worker. Working It is chock-full of harsh realities, hopeful activism, hot takes, sharp writing, electric intellects, dark humor—everything you could want, all from the culture heroes making their dollars at the intersection of all our country’s worst problems. This is true outlaw writing, and the stories inside are of crucial importance for us all.” —Michelle Tea, author of over a dozen books, including Rent Girl, Valencia, and Against Memoir “A serious, eclectic collection that takes a critical eye to the tricky questions surrounding care and work within our society. The thinkers in the pages of Working It have a lot to teach us about both.” —Rax King, author of Tacky and cohost of the podcast Low Culture Boil “Under neoliberal late capitalism—where wage growth fails to meet the ever-growing cost of living and the already-frayed social safety net is ever-receding—laborers in many sectors of the economy struggle to provide for themselves, their families, and their communities. Sex workers are among these laborers, and Working It offers what the editors rightly refer to as a ‘kaleidoscope’ of thought-provoking historical commentaries, academic examinations, personal narratives, and interviews. Interspersed with beautiful poems and creative images, the pieces in this collection, written by contributors representing a wide range of identities and experiences, offer readers an expansive view of sex work, while also highlighting sex workers’ broader struggles, triumphs, and collective efforts. Variously confronting issues including but not limited to racism, classism, sexism, police brutality, consent, and respectability politics, Working It indicates the challenges—but also the hope and radical imagination—of workers striving to meet their own needs and support each other in a broader socio-cultural, political, and economic climate that is often hostile to their interests.” —Sam Majic, author of Sex Work Politics: From Protest to Service Provision, coeditor of Negotiating Sex Work: Unintended Consequences of Policy and Activism, and coauthor of Youth Who Trade Sex in the US: Agency, Intersectionality, and Vulnerability Working It Sex Workers on the Work of Sex Edited by Matilda Bickers with peech breshears and Janis Luna “Cyntoia Brown and My Black Body” first published in Tits and Sass, December 1, 2017 “What Would You Say to Other Girls Who Are Considering It?” first published in Hobart, January 2021 “El Cerrito” first published in Twenty-One: A Story of Survival and Heartbreak Told in Essays and Poems, Lulu, 2019 Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex Edited by Matilda Bickers, with peech breshears and Janis Luna This edition © PM Press 2023 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN: 978–1–62963–991–8 (paperback) ISBN: 978–1–62963–995–6 (ebook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2022942729 Cover painting of stripper in court by Stephanie “Monty Monster Slayer” Montgomery Cover design by John Yates / www.stealworks.com Interior design by briandesign 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PM Press PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org Printed in the USA. Contents Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Foreword xiii Molly Smith Introduction 1 Matilda Bickers with Melissa Ditmore Life at the Margins: A Roadmap for the Revolution 22 Leila Raven Adrie Rose 25 The Monotony of Sex Work 31 Sarah Sage 35 White Supremacy in Organizing 39 Domino Rey Sex Workers against Work, by Adrie Rose Camille 51 Waiting to Be Rescued from My Office Job 55 Emily Dall’Ora Warfield The High Cost of Cheap Labor 61 Melissa Ditmore Jelena Vermilion 73 Cyntoia Brown and My Black Body 79 Naomi Manon 83 What Would You Say to Other Girls Who Are Considering It? 93 Stephanie Kaylor How I Ended Up Being a Social Worker at the Veterans Administration 95 a conversation with Eden What Did Sex Work Take from You—and How Can You Get It Back? 101 peech breshears first, last, my only 113 xaxum omer Respectability Politics by Any Other Name: Sex Work, Sports, Service, and Therapy 129 Janis Luna Beyondeep 137 El Cerrito 141 Nick Lovett 6 gifts you can ask your sugar daddy for that won’t destroy his sense of your “quirk” as unthreatening sexual garnish and that won’t make you feel like you have turned into a cartoon glyph with tits animated by the dispossessed spirit of capitalist alienation 145 Cisqo Thyme I Don’t Consent to Enthusiastic Consent 149 Phoenix Calida When My Mom Found My Craigslist Ad 155 Alyssa Pariah Crystal Kimewon 161 Letter from a Social Worker 173 Aubrey Monty Monster Slayer 179 Intimate Labor 184 Matilda Bickers Janis Luna 194 1099 Problems 197 Susan Elizabeth Shepard Metatopia: Imagination beyond Dystopia 205 Dee Lucas About the Contributors 214 ix Illustrations Sex Workers against Work, by Adrie Rose vi Self-Portrait, by Adrie Rose 26 Art by Beyondeep 34 Parking, by Scarlett 40 Self-Portrait, by Camille 50 Afterparty, by Ellis Burnheart 56 Repeal, by Anonymous 62 Protect, Believe, Support, by Jelena Vermilion 72 Flamenca, by Manon 82 Photograph by Stephanie Kaylor 92 NHI, by Adrie Rose 94 Scooter, by peech breshears 100 love is for suckers, by xaxum omer 112 Skin, by Sky Rocket 128 Playtime, by Beyondeep 136 Art by Elizabeth Juarez 142 Art by Eva Wǒ 144 Club, by Manon 148 Art by Kat Salas 160 Tips and Tricks, by Leslie Bull 174 Billboard by Monty Monster Slayer 178 After Work, by Cecilia Bahls 198 In the Future, by Rambling Hooker 206
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