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Dolores French, author of Working: My life as a prostitute, was a political activist (or worker of some sort) before she voluntarily became a sex worker in her

Dolores French, author of Working: My life as a prostitute, was a political activist (or worker of some sort) before she voluntarily became a sex worker in her late twenties. She continued to be a political activist but her cause was now sex workers rights. She was for decriminalization, not legalization and regulation. (She was against legalization and regulation.)

pyuser583 6y ago
Had a really good friend in college who was a feminist activist. Smart, straight A student, good upbringing, had graduate degrees. She became a sex worked as part of the “sex work as liberation” movement. I met her at a college reunion and asked her about how it worked out. She laughed and said: “I’m the only person I know who has never had a Facebook page. I can’t. That stuff follows you forever.” Edit: She used her real name with most clients. This wasn’t a huge issue, because her name was identical to a popular porn star. Everyone assumed it was fake, and Googling it was impossible. Than the porn star quit, and eventually was forgotten. Her clients haven’t forgotten, sadly. Now googling her name brings up actual photos of her from a professional association belongs to.
gexla 6y ago
Among the arguments for decriminalization of prostitution is that women should have the right to this path to make money. I don't know the argument against regulation, but I imagine it would still remove that path as an option for many. If you can't comply with regulation, then you're still doing something illegal. There's still people in power who are controlling your options.
- DoreenMichele 6y ago
  It's been a lot of years since I read the book, but my vague recollection is that Dolores French argued that the problem currently is that abusive men -- pimps -- control the bodies and lives of most female sex workers, very much to the detriment of the women in question, and if you impose regulation, the state more or less takes over that role. In her view, if you valued the rights of the sex workers, decriminalization was the only thing that made sense. She made a compelling argument, in part because she had first-hand experience with both sex work and politics. She had been some kind of political campaign worker, I think, and hated it but was good at it and when she was something like 27 years old, after nearly dying in some accident, she decided to live a little around that time some friend of her asked her to turn a trick in her place because she couldn't make the appointment for some reason. She said the guy paid her with a smile on her face and it was the most money she had ever made for an hour of work. It was the best working experience she ever had, so she began doing that as her profession. She always paid her taxes. She listed herself as an entertainer on her tax returns and she eventually married a lawyer and continued to do sex work. I believe she was arrested at least once and talked in the book about how traumatizing that was and how awful many police officers are to sex workers. It's a great read and I highly recommend it.
  - gexla 6y ago
    Right, or you're an undocumented refugee and you can't gain access to services which handle money because you can't prove that you're not a money laundering terrorist. Meanwhile, it's the money laundering terrorists who will exploit these people as their only option to feed themselves. I hate that US laws started this wave of KYC requirements around the world. It's funny that you can actually get a prepaid debit card with many providers in the US without ID but you can't do anything with crypto exchanges.

pyuser583 6y ago

Had a really good friend in college who was a feminist activist. Smart, straight A student, good upbringing, had graduate degrees. She became a sex worked as part of the “sex work as liberation” movement. I met her at a college reunion and asked her about how it worked out. She laughed and said: “I’m the only person I know who has never had a Facebook page. I can’t. That stuff follows you forever.” Edit: She used her real name with most clients. This wasn’t a huge issue, because her name was identical to a popular porn star. Everyone assumed it was fake, and Googling it was impossible. Than the porn star quit, and eventually was forgotten. Her clients haven’t forgotten, sadly. Now googling her name brings up actual photos of her from a professional association belongs to.

gexla 6y ago

Among the arguments for decriminalization of prostitution is that women should have the right to this path to make money. I don't know the argument against regulation, but I imagine it would still remove that path as an option for many. If you can't comply with regulation, then you're still doing something illegal. There's still people in power who are controlling your options.

DoreenMichele 6y ago
It's been a lot of years since I read the book, but my vague recollection is that Dolores French argued that the problem currently is that abusive men -- pimps -- control the bodies and lives of most female sex workers, very much to the detriment of the women in question, and if you impose regulation, the state more or less takes over that role. In her view, if you valued the rights of the sex workers, decriminalization was the only thing that made sense. She made a compelling argument, in part because she had first-hand experience with both sex work and politics. She had been some kind of political campaign worker, I think, and hated it but was good at it and when she was something like 27 years old, after nearly dying in some accident, she decided to live a little around that time some friend of her asked her to turn a trick in her place because she couldn't make the appointment for some reason. She said the guy paid her with a smile on her face and it was the most money she had ever made for an hour of work. It was the best working experience she ever had, so she began doing that as her profession. She always paid her taxes. She listed herself as an entertainer on her tax returns and she eventually married a lawyer and continued to do sex work. I believe she was arrested at least once and talked in the book about how traumatizing that was and how awful many police officers are to sex workers. It's a great read and I highly recommend it.
- gexla 6y ago
  Right, or you're an undocumented refugee and you can't gain access to services which handle money because you can't prove that you're not a money laundering terrorist. Meanwhile, it's the money laundering terrorists who will exploit these people as their only option to feed themselves. I hate that US laws started this wave of KYC requirements around the world. It's funny that you can actually get a prepaid debit card with many providers in the US without ID but you can't do anything with crypto exchanges.