Prohibitionists are fond of claiming that sex worker rights advocates are part of a wealthy, connected and powerful “pimp lobby” from which we draw virtually-unlimited funds; this is not only an outrageous lie, it’s an incredibly hypocritical one. In truth, prohibitionists receive oceans of funding from governments invested in growing the police state, private corporations who want to look “moral”, religious groups who want to impose their ideas of morality on everyone, billionaire sociopaths with axes to grind, and well-meaning but ignorant people who believe the “sex trafficking” masturbatory fantasies vomited out by the prohibitionists; advocates for sex workers, on the other hand, are largely self-financed and therefore operating at a loss all the time. So when we offer products for sale, please understand that you’re not just getting a good book or a fun product, but also helping out those who tirelessly fight for the rights of those whom society has decided do not deserve them. Here are some things you can currently purchase which will genuinely help some of the most important and powerful voices in our movement:
First, reader Deviant Ollam came up with these clever T-shirts for an imaginary McNeill/Matisse presidential campaign; they’re an excellent conversation starter and 100% of the profits go to o SWOP Behind Bars, which works to help incarcerated sex workers. If everyone who reads this buys one, just imagine how many women, mostly from very disadvantaged circumstances, will be helped!
Next, Dr. Laura Agustín, author of the blog The Naked Anthropologist and Sex at the Margins, the seminal work on “sex trafficking” hysteria (in which she coined the term “rescue industry”), has written The Three-Headed Dog, a novel dramatizing the problems faced by migrants. It’s another way of introducing readers to the issues the “sex trafficking” paradigm attempts to paper over, which Dr. Agustín has studied for over 20 years and understands in a way very few others do.
Last but certainly not least, Dr. Brooke Magnanti has re-released her three Belle de Jour books, Secret Diary of a London Call Girl, Further Adventures of a London Call Girl, and London Call Girl: Playing the Game, in new Kindle editions. You can buy all three of these blockbuster novels for the cost of a modest meal, and start reading them tonight! Find out why Brooke became famous, and show some love for a woman who’s done more than almost any other to draw attention to the movement.
Please buy at least one of these, or be a real ally and get them all! I think I can safely speak for all the ladies I’ve mentioned in today’s column in saying we’re very grateful for your patronage.
