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katetay69's review
3.0
GREAT POINTS AND OVERVIEW BUT THE WRITING STYLE IS UGH
I don't think this is the most accessible book due to the way it is written. I love this topic but found it hard to get into. I especially liked the explanation on police stings and the info on groups that advocate for increasing sw rights. Some great takeaways.
TAKEAWAYS:
- "Why do we insist that there is public good in staging sex transactions to make arrests? Is the point to produce order, to protect, or to punish"?
- "The sting itself, aside from the unjust law it enforces, or the trial that may never result, is intended to incite fear".
- There was 48,000 reports of abuse or violence by police compared to only 4,000 reports of violence by customers, who are conventionally thought of as the biggest threat to sex workers
- The stigma and violence faced by sex workers are far greater harms than sex work itself, yet this is illegible to those who only see prostitution as a self-enforcing system of violence
- Policing sex work is where rights end and violence is justice
- Sex workers and anyone perceived to be a sex worker are believed to always be working, or in the cops view, always committing a crime. Its about profiling and policing people whose sexuality and gender are considered suspect (trans and non binary people disproportionately targeted)
- "We cant arrest our way to feminist utopia, but that hasn't stopped influential women rights groups from trying"
- "We are using the policemans eye when we cant see a sex worker as anything but his or her work, as an object of control. Its not just the carceral eye, its a sexual eye. If a sex worker is always working, always available they are essentially sexual".
- "I CHALLENGE YOU TO DISTINGUISH A NAKED PROSTITUTE FROM ANY OTHER NAKED WOMAN "- Henri Leclerc
- "Men who work in the sex trade are rarely considered members of the same occupation"
- The World health organisation recommends all countries should work towards decriminalisation of sex work and elimination of the unjust application of non criminal laws and regulations against sex workers
- The laws on how sharing information between sex workers which is essential is considered a serious criminal offense (scary!) Like in New york, the number of condoms you are carrying can be used as evidence that you are a sex worker WTF
"Sex workers are refusing condoms from outreach workers and from each other to stay safe from arrest"
- Online ads provide a steady flow for police to arrange stings and monitor their activities = more control, its also unfathomable to them that the swer could be the seller themselves so they target the publisher. Losing ad venues limits how swers can negotiate their work.
- Sad stories about sex workers are offered like sequins, displayed to be admired and then swept off the stage when the number is done".
- I Liked these questions:
- What are some of the factors that lead women to not sell sex?
- What are some of the factors that lead women to oppose prostitution?
- How can we help people better understand what selling sex is really like?
On the rescue industry:
- It derives value from the production of awareness, giving producers jobs etc.
- raising awareness serves to build value for the raisers not for those who are the subject of this awareness!!
- When sex workers complain this shouldn't be just viewed as a desire to exit the sex work, like any workplace complaints are normal. "No one ever wanted to save me from the restaurant industry" lol true
- the loss of sex workers income is their gain
- "Sex workers are tired of being invited to publicly investigate the politics of their own lives only if they're willing to serve as a prop for someone else's politics"
- Many Sw's describe that work outside of the sex industry is "Exploitative, exclusionary, and without hope for social mobility or financial stability"
- "To insist that sw's only deserves rights at work if they have fun, if they love it, if they feel empowered by it is exactly backward, its a demand that ensures they never will"
-swers are told their blameless, as the opponents don't actually value this labour, instead blame is put on customers, on men's eyes and desires.
-Presence of money does not remove consent
- We judge swers authenticity by much higher standards than we might with a bartender, a hairdresser etc.
"We need to value and belive the experiences of people who sell sex, it is not the sex work that degrades us bu those who use our experiences to justify degradation"
Overall I learnt a lot so it is well worth reading.
I don't think this is the most accessible book due to the way it is written. I love this topic but found it hard to get into. I especially liked the explanation on police stings and the info on groups that advocate for increasing sw rights. Some great takeaways.
TAKEAWAYS:
- "Why do we insist that there is public good in staging sex transactions to make arrests? Is the point to produce order, to protect, or to punish"?
- "The sting itself, aside from the unjust law it enforces, or the trial that may never result, is intended to incite fear".
- There was 48,000 reports of abuse or violence by police compared to only 4,000 reports of violence by customers, who are conventionally thought of as the biggest threat to sex workers
- The stigma and violence faced by sex workers are far greater harms than sex work itself, yet this is illegible to those who only see prostitution as a self-enforcing system of violence
- Policing sex work is where rights end and violence is justice
- Sex workers and anyone perceived to be a sex worker are believed to always be working, or in the cops view, always committing a crime. Its about profiling and policing people whose sexuality and gender are considered suspect (trans and non binary people disproportionately targeted)
- "We cant arrest our way to feminist utopia, but that hasn't stopped influential women rights groups from trying"
- "We are using the policemans eye when we cant see a sex worker as anything but his or her work, as an object of control. Its not just the carceral eye, its a sexual eye. If a sex worker is always working, always available they are essentially sexual".
- "I CHALLENGE YOU TO DISTINGUISH A NAKED PROSTITUTE FROM ANY OTHER NAKED WOMAN "- Henri Leclerc
- "Men who work in the sex trade are rarely considered members of the same occupation"
- The World health organisation recommends all countries should work towards decriminalisation of sex work and elimination of the unjust application of non criminal laws and regulations against sex workers
- The laws on how sharing information between sex workers which is essential is considered a serious criminal offense (scary!) Like in New york, the number of condoms you are carrying can be used as evidence that you are a sex worker WTF
"Sex workers are refusing condoms from outreach workers and from each other to stay safe from arrest"
- Online ads provide a steady flow for police to arrange stings and monitor their activities = more control, its also unfathomable to them that the swer could be the seller themselves so they target the publisher. Losing ad venues limits how swers can negotiate their work.
- Sad stories about sex workers are offered like sequins, displayed to be admired and then swept off the stage when the number is done".
- I Liked these questions:
- What are some of the factors that lead women to not sell sex?
- What are some of the factors that lead women to oppose prostitution?
- How can we help people better understand what selling sex is really like?
On the rescue industry:
- It derives value from the production of awareness, giving producers jobs etc.
- raising awareness serves to build value for the raisers not for those who are the subject of this awareness!!
- When sex workers complain this shouldn't be just viewed as a desire to exit the sex work, like any workplace complaints are normal. "No one ever wanted to save me from the restaurant industry" lol true
- the loss of sex workers income is their gain
- "Sex workers are tired of being invited to publicly investigate the politics of their own lives only if they're willing to serve as a prop for someone else's politics"
- Many Sw's describe that work outside of the sex industry is "Exploitative, exclusionary, and without hope for social mobility or financial stability"
- "To insist that sw's only deserves rights at work if they have fun, if they love it, if they feel empowered by it is exactly backward, its a demand that ensures they never will"
-swers are told their blameless, as the opponents don't actually value this labour, instead blame is put on customers, on men's eyes and desires.
-Presence of money does not remove consent
- We judge swers authenticity by much higher standards than we might with a bartender, a hairdresser etc.
"We need to value and belive the experiences of people who sell sex, it is not the sex work that degrades us bu those who use our experiences to justify degradation"
Overall I learnt a lot so it is well worth reading.
laurabethrobinson2816's review
challenging
informative
reflective
4.0
Definitely a great little primer. I picked this up because after reading so much about trafficking (sex, labor, and others) I felt like I was struggling with the fuzzy lines around coercion, consent, victimization, and the kinds of forces we socially tolerate and the kinds we criminalize.
bonnie3088's review
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
This book is a great entry way into the concept of sex worker's and the feminism related to the movements.
This read was eye opening and full of amazing information.
Some of the language was hard for me to follow but thats a me thing. Overall it was an informative read and I will be taking the book recs at the back of this book into my TBR considerations.
This read was eye opening and full of amazing information.
Some of the language was hard for me to follow but thats a me thing. Overall it was an informative read and I will be taking the book recs at the back of this book into my TBR considerations.
jesterclown's review
4.0
Contrary to the slew of negative reviews on here, I found this moving and instructive. This is a short and eminently readable primer on the complexities around sex worker's rights. I say "complexities" because there is some reference to academic theory and readers will have to at least possess a rudimentary understanding of the topic. But I say "primer" because it's digestible and short.
You have to come to this book with the very basic (and I would say it's a low bar to entry) understanding that sex workers are human beings (and vulnerable ones at that) and so they have a humanity that is not up for debate. If you're looking to be "persuaded" that sex workers are human, have voices, opinions and feelings, then this won't be the book for you. Nor will it be the book for you if you're expecting endless facts and figures to pull out in a debate setting (as is referenced endlessly in the book, reliable facts and figures are hard to come by, anyway).
What you will get out of this is a sense of the history of the sex workers' rights movements, the basic demands, the theories, the splinter groups, the terminology and the nuts and bolts of arguments around safety and exploitation. I found it helpful in vocalising ideas and feelings I'd had that I hadn't seen written down or expressed out loud. I read incredibly slowly for reasons that are none of your business, so it took me almost exactly a month to finish this but not because it's hard or boring to read. It's not dry and I loved how Gira Grant is unafraid to dip heavily into anecdotes, yearning memories of specific times and places and heirloom advice from friends and mentors. The history of sex work is, in many senses, an oral history, for very obvious reasons (stigma, access, marginalisation).
This is 130-ish pages. You could get it done in a day or even just an afternoon if you read at a normal pace and I suggest you give it a go.
You have to come to this book with the very basic (and I would say it's a low bar to entry) understanding that sex workers are human beings (and vulnerable ones at that) and so they have a humanity that is not up for debate. If you're looking to be "persuaded" that sex workers are human, have voices, opinions and feelings, then this won't be the book for you. Nor will it be the book for you if you're expecting endless facts and figures to pull out in a debate setting (as is referenced endlessly in the book, reliable facts and figures are hard to come by, anyway).
What you will get out of this is a sense of the history of the sex workers' rights movements, the basic demands, the theories, the splinter groups, the terminology and the nuts and bolts of arguments around safety and exploitation. I found it helpful in vocalising ideas and feelings I'd had that I hadn't seen written down or expressed out loud. I read incredibly slowly for reasons that are none of your business, so it took me almost exactly a month to finish this but not because it's hard or boring to read. It's not dry and I loved how Gira Grant is unafraid to dip heavily into anecdotes, yearning memories of specific times and places and heirloom advice from friends and mentors. The history of sex work is, in many senses, an oral history, for very obvious reasons (stigma, access, marginalisation).
This is 130-ish pages. You could get it done in a day or even just an afternoon if you read at a normal pace and I suggest you give it a go.
generalheff's review
3.0
This is an interesting polemic on the reasons sex workers themselves should lead (or at the very least be involved in) discussions about the conditions of their working lives and the laws and institutions that, right now, marginalise them and make their lives more dangerous. The book does not delve into sordid details of "hookers' lives" so if you are after salacious details of that kind this definitely isn't the book for you. Rather it is an impassioned plea for those who make laws and speak on behalf of women who are engaged in sex work (from stripping, to working as a domme in a dungeon, to prostitution) to let those women speak for themselves.
This work made me much more informed about the subtleties of sex work. One such example is the similarities it shares with other service work and how those engaged in it view it in these terms and not as a mystical "other" form of employment - I think this is particularly necessary in light of other reviews here which seem to think that Grant should have "proved" sex work and other occupations are the same when I think that the burden of proof is that they are not the same (innocent until ...). The book also made me genuinely angry about how little representation sex workers get at conferences and other fora discussing the conditions of their own lives. My deep dislike for moralistic and privileged individuals dictating how others live their lives probably means that I was predisposed to relate to these kinds of arguments for full disclosure, but I think that points like this in the book represent Grant at her strongest.
Three key elements let the book down in my opinion. First the lack of statistical detail bothered me - I like to see numbers and facts quoted - even if just rough estimates - to round out the narrative (that's just the kind of person I am!). Getting a sense, say, of how big the various anti-prostitution organisations were or what their lobbying power really was would have helped get perspective on these organisations which I had never heard of before reading this book. More information on the scale of "saviour" movements (chapter 9) designed to "rescue" sex workers from their lives would have been interesting - again because I was so ignorant of this phenomenon before reading the book. Secondly, I would really have liked to hear what might be done in future and how the situation could change in the coming years, for better or for worse. And lastly, as many other reviewers have noted, the book is simply a bit confused, ranging from idea to idea and not really hammering home any one point with continued argument and discussion. This is ultimately what drove my review down to three stars despite agreeing with much of what the book said.
This work made me much more informed about the subtleties of sex work. One such example is the similarities it shares with other service work and how those engaged in it view it in these terms and not as a mystical "other" form of employment - I think this is particularly necessary in light of other reviews here which seem to think that Grant should have "proved" sex work and other occupations are the same when I think that the burden of proof is that they are not the same (innocent until ...). The book also made me genuinely angry about how little representation sex workers get at conferences and other fora discussing the conditions of their own lives. My deep dislike for moralistic and privileged individuals dictating how others live their lives probably means that I was predisposed to relate to these kinds of arguments for full disclosure, but I think that points like this in the book represent Grant at her strongest.
Three key elements let the book down in my opinion. First the lack of statistical detail bothered me - I like to see numbers and facts quoted - even if just rough estimates - to round out the narrative (that's just the kind of person I am!). Getting a sense, say, of how big the various anti-prostitution organisations were or what their lobbying power really was would have helped get perspective on these organisations which I had never heard of before reading this book. More information on the scale of "saviour" movements (chapter 9) designed to "rescue" sex workers from their lives would have been interesting - again because I was so ignorant of this phenomenon before reading the book. Secondly, I would really have liked to hear what might be done in future and how the situation could change in the coming years, for better or for worse. And lastly, as many other reviewers have noted, the book is simply a bit confused, ranging from idea to idea and not really hammering home any one point with continued argument and discussion. This is ultimately what drove my review down to three stars despite agreeing with much of what the book said.
amierkez's review
4.0
Overall compelling and insightful, this book offers a convincing argument for decriminalization and impressive insight into the ways in which anti-sex work theories and tactics subject sex workers to further danger and stigma. Also appreciated was the effort to move beyond a binaristic empowerment v exploitation debate towards a more nuanced framing reflective of the concerns and needs of actual sex workers, and to hone in particularly on the political economy of the choice to do sex work in late capitalism (that is, why sex work might be a relatively compelling option for many people based on the broader employment landscape). On the other hand, the quality of research and evidence varies widely between chapters, and there was minimal discussion of how sex workers have fared better or worse under different legal schemes after the adoption, which was something I was hoping to learn more about. This book could have also done a better job engaging with ideological opponents: anti-sex work campaigners are often attributed nefarious self-serving motives or otherwise paraphrased and dismissed; while not an expert on this topic, I picked up on lots of mischaracterizations of opponents that could have been engaged with more convincingly. Certainly aspects of the book that pointed out the harmful real-world ramifications of opposing ideas (e.g. expansion of the carceral state) were more compelling than MGG's discussion of the opposing ideas in-themselves. I didn't get everything I wanted from this book but It's given me a lot to think about and I'd certainly recommend it to others.
jvillanueva8's review
5.0
Melissa Gira Grant elucidates so many issues and perspectives that I’ve never been aware of. She presents strong arguments backed by tons of research and experience. This is one of the most informative and thought provoking books I’ve read in a very long time.
elisehgh's review
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
Goede introductie tot het debat/stigma rond sekswerk in de VS, geschreven door een voormalige sekswerker. Geeft een inkijk in alles wat erbij komt kijken, vecht tegen het reduceren van de mensen tot hun werk en toont het belang van intersectionaliteit.