In my work as an escort, I’m constantly meeting new people and seeing them naked. You might assume that this means I’m totally body-positive, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
Sex work as a sociopolitical issue is used as a scapegoat to avoid addressing larger issues like poverty and violence against femmes. Sex work is not the problem and trying to make it disappear makes the problems worse.
Whether you’re a sex worker who’d love to specialise in BDSM or an enthusiast hoping to monetise your skills, there’s a steep learning curve when it comes to mastering the breadth of knowledge required for a career in professional BDSM.
Whenever my job is mentioned in newspapers, blogs, or magazines, the same tropes tend to pop up: moral panic, drug abuse, violence. Journalists quote us selectively, so that it sounds as if we’re living out the sex-negative, whorephobic stereotypes the public are used to consuming.
We’ve come a few teeny steps forward on the stigma-front (to all the SW activists, thank you friends you’re so brave and so excellent, I wish I was brave too but I’m so fucking tired) but it feels like the only SWers that some of society is willing to accept are a niche bunch: ritch bitches.
Read more... A Switter user made and posted this sometime in 2018.