Comments on Letters from Working Girls on Bound, Not Gagged:
Audacia Ray:
Maybe I’m splitting hairs here, but I really value sex worker run, written and edited spaces. Instead of sending your stories about being a sex worker to that blog, we should encourage sex workers to start their own blogs or participate here on Bound, Not Gagged. There are many other sex worker bloggers who I’m sure would love to give a platform or guest blogging spot to sex workers who don’t want to start blogs but have a story to tell. I personally would rather see that than see sex workers send their writing to a blogger who, to my knowledge, isn’t a sex worker. This isn’t to say that Susannah has evil intentions for our words, but I’d rather see those words in sex worker run spaces.
Amanda Brooks:
I’ve known about the project for a week and I have not done anything with it because my instincts were iffy about it. Ironically, she sent me an invite through my personal blog. Thanks for articulating some of my doubts, Audacia.
Update:
Audacia responds:
Susannah responded with a post on Reverse Cowgirl containing my comment and a comment left by Amanda Brooks on Bound, Not Gagged. Her post title, and only commentary on what we had to say: So, Would It Be OK If I Fucked For Money?
That’s a pretty harsh way to simplify a conversation I was trying to have, but if you wanna go there, I’ll answer simply: Yes.
I’m not trying to say that the only people authorized to talk about the sex industry are sex workers - I like and trust many of our allies and like to talk to and encourage the people who write about us. However, there is a long history of sex workers being exploited in print and image, because our stories are titillating. Yes, she is providing space for sex workers and johns to write about their experiences and to my knowledge she isn’t editing those words, but she also didn’t acknowledge that these stories are already being told in cyberspace. She didn’t announce her new blogs and declare to be the first to provide space for these stories either - like I said, I don’t think she has any evil intent. I just wish she’d engaged with the community of sex workers already telling their stories online.
And the fucking for money comment? Jeez, I guess now we know a little better her attitude about sex workers - many of whom don’t fuck for money. I want to have as many voices chiming in as possible, but the whole idea of submitting stories to a blog without comments and without connection to sex worker communities… like I said, I think there are better places for those stories to be told.
