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on As We Are: Sex Workers
That will be news to all those who imagine that they know more about their lives and choices than you do. But of course, they are all deluded pawns of the phallocentric patriarchal hegemon.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on As We Are: Sex Workers
Yes, dtdo, anything that disagrees with your worldview is mere anecdote. Maybe you're right about the numbers, although I doubt the survey talked to many women at the other end of the continuum.
If the "average" age of death is 34, you're talking about drug-addicted streetwalkers. If true, that is an undeniable tragedy, and no one could support or defend that sort of thing.
But that has nothing whatever to do with educated, independent women who have an entirely different profile. It's like saying there is no difference between someone ordering a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir at a restaurant and someone passed out under a bridge with a bottle of Night Train. The tragedy of the latter has nothing to do with the experience of the former.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on As We Are: Sex Workers
You sound amazingly well spoken for someone who was in "the life" since age 14. Except for "affects," not a single spelling error. Unusual for a drug addicted lifelong streetwalker. Your syntax and grammar are remarkably excellent.
You made $800 to $1,000 a day as a 14-year-old streetwalker? In 1982 (41 minus 14 is 27 years ago)? I think not. That would be impossible today for a SW who gets $20-$50 a throw, let alone back then.
And then there is the satanic cult. Like the ones who kidnap babies and eat them? Urban legend. Nice touch, though.
I call fiction posted in "serving a larger truth." But hey, it's the metanarrative that matters, right?
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on As We Are: Sex Workers
Well, Lila, There is no doubt that there are many victims of various sorts in the prostitution biz. But since your clients would by definition tend to be the victimized and unhappy, not the ones who are independent and doing just fine, you probably would not know much about the latter.
What almost no one outside the subculture knows is that there very many women who trade sex for money who are educated, have full time jobs, including many professionals, and have otherwise normal lives. For many of these, they love the sex. The money often simply provides a boundary, something that defines the limits of the relationship, unlike an "affair," where misunderstandings, mismatched expectations, hurt feelings and other consequences often result. When money changes hands---because it changes hands---both parties are clear about the limits of the relationship. For many of these women, alternatives like swingers' clubs have not worked out for one reason or another. Many like the "naughty" thrill of charging money---the excitement of the forbidden. What they have in common is a desire for an outlet for their sexual fantasies. It's a big, wide world out there, and it is arrogant to pretend you understand what this means for everyone involved. You don't.
Buffy is completely right, Lila, about your dismissive attitude toward anyone who doesn't fit your ideological template. Fundamentalism comes in many forms. If you think everyone in this activity fits your model, you simply don't know what you're talking about. It's like saying everyone at a wine tasting is a hopeless drunk.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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