Has it really been over a year since my last Vix Pix? So much for good intentions eh? Anyway, I’m resurrecting this category and will try to do them more regularly.
From SWOP:
Sex Worker Groups Respond to Long Island Murders
“Sex Workers Action New York (SWANK) and Sex Workers Outreach Project NYC (SWOP-NYC) are dismayed that four more bodies were discovered on Long Island earlier this week. Police believe that a serial killer is responsible for murdering at least eight people found on a remote Suffolk County beach since December. Reports indicate the murder victims were in the sex trade. As sex workers and allies, SWANK and SWOP-NYC mourn the lives of these individuals and extend our sympathies to their families and communities.
“Sex workers are targeted for violence because of the stigma against what we do,” Dylan Wolf, a SWANK member said, “People think they can do whatever they want to us and they won’t get caught. And because of bad laws, social isolation and discrimination, they get away with it all the time. But like those murdered, we’re not disposable, bad people – we have lives that matter and people that love us. No matter who we are or what we do to make ends meet, we don’t deserve to die – we deserve good lives.””
An excellent statement about a horrible event. These murders need a lot of coverage.
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From Miss Maggie Mayhem:
Dear Sex Worker Hater
“So, we meet again. You’re a shape shifter and I feel like I see you everywhere I go. I’ve spotted you on police forms for recovered bodies which had two categories: human and non-human. Guess which category specifically listed prostitutes? I don’t have to tell you, hater, you already know where you think sex workers belong. I’ve heard your testimony at rape trials when the plaintiff’s occupation and clothing were judged more harshly than the actions of their rapist. You laugh at strippers when they believe they have the right not to be exploited with stage fees and racist policies and you think it’s hilarious when there is evidence of a battering behind sparkling eye makeup and feathered eyelashes.
(snip)
Let’s clear a couple of things up, hater. First and foremost this information was obtained from private medical records. It isn’t a coincidence that one of the major ways that we protect our health and the health of our partners was sabotaged. It’s a clear message: you are not allowed to have both a non-traditional sex life and good health at the same time.”
This is in response to Porn WikiLeaks posting porn performers real names online. Miss Mayhem is spot on in this post and I agree with her.
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From Mollena:
Consent [Violated].
“I had someone push through my consent boundary and it fucked me up. But good.
(snip)
And I am telling this so that other people who have had their consent violated will know they aren’t alone. So that you know that it happens to FAR TOO MANY OF US. And in the hopes that maybe someone who has pushed through someone’s “No.” sees this and gets that it is not OK. That it is abusive. And it has nothing to do with consensual kink.”
This was an incredibly honest and emotionally raw post. Thank you Mollena for sharing this-many people need to hear it.
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Found via Tits and Sass:
When we were strippers
“If the New York Live stage was the elegant face of the club, the dressing room was the heart. Any businessman, Japanese tourist, curious married couple or sex-positive feminist could sit in the New York Live audience and lay down singles and plaudits, thinking they were part of the scheme, but the dressing room was sacrosanct. Strippers Only. Our job requirement was to be someone unreal, a hyper-sexualized girl who danced and deferred, but in the dressing room, we could be ourselves, neither distorted by fantasy nor brutalized by judgment. We could fix our makeup, wiggle our toes, count our money, goof around and just talk.”
It’s nice to hear a former sex worker recall her experience with fondness. Though I never stripped I can relate to the sex worker only hang out space. Sex worker space is a place where we can be ourselves and support each other.
Posted by Vixen in Vix Pix