Yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to a weekend of French toast myself. Lots and lots of syrup.
wjts:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:04 pm
I say “willing” in a deliberate pushback against our contemporary ideas about sex, sex for sale and consent: the false premise that no one, and in particular, no woman would sell sex if she had any other options.
Perhaps I’m wrong (I’m not even remotely up on the sociology of attitudes towards sex work), but it seems to me that two much more common premises about sex work in the U.S. are that the women in question are either too lazy/stupid to get “real” jobs or are so wantonly promiscuous that given that they were going to be having all that sex anyway they might as well get paid for it.
UberMitch:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:25 pm
It varies if the individual in question works odobenidae
Uncle Kvetch:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:42 pm
I admit, I had to look it up.
Linnaeus:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:58 pm
If you’re ever in Ann Arbor, check out Angelo’s and their deep-fried french toast made with their homemade bread (regular or cinnamon raisin).
Linnaeus:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:05 pm
You’re not wrong (at least from what I’ve seen as well, though I am by no means an expert on the issue), but why Grant made that statment is made a little clearer when put into the context of current feminist debate and discussion about sex work.
Erik the Parrot:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
We’ll meet again,
Don’t know where,don’t know when.
But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.
wjts:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Yeah. Thinking about it a little more, I suspect that the attitudes I outline are the unreflective conservative view of sex work while the attitude she describes is the unreflective liberal/feminist one. Neither, of course, is particularly apt or useful.
MAJeff:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:14 pm
JenBob want a pancake?
Latin Declension Mynah Bird:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
*chirp croak chirp*
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
*chirp croak chirp*
nixnutz:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
I’m not sure that depictions in popular culture are the best indicators of “common premises” but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen either of those portrayed. Prostitutes are almost always portrayed as victims either of deceptive pimps/traffickers or of addiction, with a rise more recently in more positive, “willing”, versions, which still generally get some kind of either tragic or redemptive arc.
I think they’re portrayed very positively, although “positive” in a way that’s enormously problematic in many dimensions. Of course fiction is the public face of the discussion and that contempt could lie just beneath the surface. Obviously lots of fucked-up attitudes lurk there, but I don’t recognize the particular ones you’re referencing.
Richard:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:31 pm
Interesting article but the reliance on the work of Herbert Asbury is problematic. Asbury’s books are weirdly fascinating (especially The Gangs of New York) but they have absolutely no citations to books, newspapers, etc and its impossible to know how accurate they are.
[...] media, I’ve seen a fair number of things about prostitution today. Erik Loomis points to an interesting history of sex work. Then there’s this Julie Bindel piece arguing that “the Dutch experiment in legalized [...]
Murc:
February 20th, 2013 at 8:37 pm
So is Erik the Parrot best friends with LoomisBot, or are they enemies?
Murc:
February 20th, 2013 at 8:38 pm
When is one a “sex worker” and when is one a “whore”?
They’re synonyms, really, but sex workers is more polite because it isn’t also used as an insult. There’s an argument to be made for reclaiming whore but that argument needs to be made by actual sex workers.
Why do you ask?
Latin Declension Mynah Bird:
February 20th, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Bitter enemies. I don’t ever remember the LoomisBot mentioning critical theory, so by bringing it up Erik the Parrot is introducing extraneous, irrational elements into the rigidly-defined merciless logic of the LoomisBot’s programming.
spencer:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
Because he’s a judgmental fuckwit.
spencer:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Oh man that does sound good.
wengler:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:30 pm
I would say that ‘other options’ included minimum-wage McJobs, but those aren’t even fallback options for people anymore.
It’s simple economics. Sex work can be a very easy job for the money. If you are at all young and good looking, you are looking at around 1000 dollars for a couple hours on the high end of escorting. That is a middle class income for only a couple of hours of work every week.
The people that can write for a living are usually from a class where these calculations aren’t even a consideration. But really, 80 hours of a degrading, tiring service job versus 2 hours of variable sex with strangers? It’s not much of a contest for those that don’t have qualms about sex.
wengler:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:31 pm
I wouldn’t call you a sex worker for monied interests. But I would use the other term.
Anonymous:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:45 pm
This has been another episode of Proclamations, Dudely.
Anonymous:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Pardon. Proclamations, Dudely, Middling Class.
Pro-tip: most sex workers are not “high end” / top shelf / some other dehumanizing bullshit.
Barry Freed:
February 20th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
Goo goo ga joob!
Dave:
February 21st, 2013 at 9:18 am
Indeed not, but then most anythings are not at the high end of their thing. To deny the agency of the ones that are seems as unreasonable as pretending that there is no such thing as a crack-whore [and if there were, it was her own fault].
Dave:
February 21st, 2013 at 9:21 am
Prostitution/sex-work is so absolutely ubiquitous in the historical record that the question of whether and under what conditions it has been ‘legal’ is of entirely marginal consequence to its reality – although, of course, not to the individual lives of those working under different regimes. It is only the ongoing pretence that it is somehow a marginal and dangerous innovation that is remarkable, and worthy of analysis. There is, after all, a reason they refer to espionage as the ‘second oldest profession’.
Halloween Jack:
February 21st, 2013 at 11:14 am
Suddenly I’m craving waffles.
Halloween Jack:
February 21st, 2013 at 11:15 am
So disappointed that that isn’t a euphemism for something.
Anonymous:
February 21st, 2013 at 4:02 pm
What in the hell is a crack-whore, really? Anything like a young buck or a welfare queen?
Who’s denying their agency? Their experiences (safe, clean, completely consensual, probably a bit of fun, very profitable) are not the norm–and that’s perfectly fine.
wjt wonders above what myth about sex workers is the most insidious. I take the position that the Young, Safe, Clean, White, Female Sex Worker (happy hooker, heart of gold, popular cultural icon), while it describes a tiny sliver of sex workers world-wide, is a particularly undesirable one because it allows people already afforded the greatest privileges to drown out, intentionally or inadvertently, the women, children, and men who don’t share those positive experiences.
Anonymous:
February 21st, 2013 at 4:04 pm
…So, in fact, its legal status makes quite a bit of difference then. Considering how many people work.
wengler:
February 21st, 2013 at 4:58 pm
If you had a real response, it might be interesting to hear. Instead you don’t even bother with a name. Lame.
wengler:
February 21st, 2013 at 5:01 pm
I never said it wasn’t a shit job. I just placed it on a spectrum of shit jobs. It would become less shitty if it was legalized and regulated, but whatever. You don’t even think as a guy I can comment, so I don’t really care what you have to say.
Speak Truth:
February 20th, 2013 at 5:49 pm
When is one a “sex worker” and when is one a “whore”?
Uncle Kvetch:
February 20th, 2013 at 5:57 pm
When is one a “sex worker” and when is one a “whore”?
That reminds me — haven’t had buckwheat pancakes in ages. Gotta get down to one of the old diners in the East Village this weekend and fix that.
Sly:
February 20th, 2013 at 5:58 pm
One is a “whore” when the “John” is an “asshole.”
c u n d gulag:
February 20th, 2013 at 5:59 pm
When one is judged by a Conservative who did’t feck him/her.
If your friend, family member, or crony, fecked him/her, he/she’s a sex worker.
If YOU fecked him/her, then he/she led you on, and is a whore.
This has been today’s edition of SATSQ.
Erik Loomis:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to a weekend of French toast myself. Lots and lots of syrup.
wjts:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:04 pm
I say “willing” in a deliberate pushback against our contemporary ideas about sex, sex for sale and consent: the false premise that no one, and in particular, no woman would sell sex if she had any other options.
Perhaps I’m wrong (I’m not even remotely up on the sociology of attitudes towards sex work), but it seems to me that two much more common premises about sex work in the U.S. are that the women in question are either too lazy/stupid to get “real” jobs or are so wantonly promiscuous that given that they were going to be having all that sex anyway they might as well get paid for it.
UberMitch:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:25 pm
It varies if the individual in question works odobenidae
Uncle Kvetch:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:42 pm
I admit, I had to look it up.
Linnaeus:
February 20th, 2013 at 6:58 pm
If you’re ever in Ann Arbor, check out Angelo’s and their deep-fried french toast made with their homemade bread (regular or cinnamon raisin).
Linnaeus:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:05 pm
You’re not wrong (at least from what I’ve seen as well, though I am by no means an expert on the issue), but why Grant made that statment is made a little clearer when put into the context of current feminist debate and discussion about sex work.
Erik the Parrot:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
We’ll meet again,
Don’t know where,don’t know when.
But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.
wjts:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Yeah. Thinking about it a little more, I suspect that the attitudes I outline are the unreflective conservative view of sex work while the attitude she describes is the unreflective liberal/feminist one. Neither, of course, is particularly apt or useful.
MAJeff:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:14 pm
JenBob want a pancake?
Latin Declension Mynah Bird:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
*chirp croak chirp*
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
GENDER CASE NUMBER
*chirp croak chirp*
nixnutz:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
I’m not sure that depictions in popular culture are the best indicators of “common premises” but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen either of those portrayed. Prostitutes are almost always portrayed as victims either of deceptive pimps/traffickers or of addiction, with a rise more recently in more positive, “willing”, versions, which still generally get some kind of either tragic or redemptive arc.
I think they’re portrayed very positively, although “positive” in a way that’s enormously problematic in many dimensions. Of course fiction is the public face of the discussion and that contempt could lie just beneath the surface. Obviously lots of fucked-up attitudes lurk there, but I don’t recognize the particular ones you’re referencing.
Richard:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:31 pm
Interesting article but the reliance on the work of Herbert Asbury is problematic. Asbury’s books are weirdly fascinating (especially The Gangs of New York) but they have absolutely no citations to books, newspapers, etc and its impossible to know how accurate they are.
Dr.KennethNoisewater:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:33 pm
Do fuck off.
Sorry. Not in the mood for pancakes.
Dr.KennethNoisewater:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:37 pm
Erik cares about people who aren’t white and male and the issues that affect them. What a fag, amirite?
Fuck you, Auto Correct. If I want fucking “emirate,” I’ll fucking type “emirate.”
Legal Prostitution: what can we learn from the empirical record? » Duck of Minerva:
February 20th, 2013 at 7:53 pm
[...] media, I’ve seen a fair number of things about prostitution today. Erik Loomis points to an interesting history of sex work. Then there’s this Julie Bindel piece arguing that “the Dutch experiment in legalized [...]
Murc:
February 20th, 2013 at 8:37 pm
So is Erik the Parrot best friends with LoomisBot, or are they enemies?
Murc:
February 20th, 2013 at 8:38 pm
They’re synonyms, really, but sex workers is more polite because it isn’t also used as an insult. There’s an argument to be made for reclaiming whore but that argument needs to be made by actual sex workers.
Why do you ask?
Latin Declension Mynah Bird:
February 20th, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Bitter enemies. I don’t ever remember the LoomisBot mentioning critical theory, so by bringing it up Erik the Parrot is introducing extraneous, irrational elements into the rigidly-defined merciless logic of the LoomisBot’s programming.
spencer:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
Because he’s a judgmental fuckwit.
spencer:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Oh man that does sound good.
wengler:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:30 pm
I would say that ‘other options’ included minimum-wage McJobs, but those aren’t even fallback options for people anymore.
It’s simple economics. Sex work can be a very easy job for the money. If you are at all young and good looking, you are looking at around 1000 dollars for a couple hours on the high end of escorting. That is a middle class income for only a couple of hours of work every week.
The people that can write for a living are usually from a class where these calculations aren’t even a consideration. But really, 80 hours of a degrading, tiring service job versus 2 hours of variable sex with strangers? It’s not much of a contest for those that don’t have qualms about sex.
wengler:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:31 pm
I wouldn’t call you a sex worker for monied interests. But I would use the other term.
Anonymous:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:45 pm
This has been another episode of Proclamations, Dudely.
Anonymous:
February 20th, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Pardon. Proclamations, Dudely, Middling Class.
Pro-tip: most sex workers are not “high end” / top shelf / some other dehumanizing bullshit.
Barry Freed:
February 20th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
Goo goo ga joob!
Dave:
February 21st, 2013 at 9:18 am
Indeed not, but then most anythings are not at the high end of their thing. To deny the agency of the ones that are seems as unreasonable as pretending that there is no such thing as a crack-whore [and if there were, it was her own fault].
Dave:
February 21st, 2013 at 9:21 am
Prostitution/sex-work is so absolutely ubiquitous in the historical record that the question of whether and under what conditions it has been ‘legal’ is of entirely marginal consequence to its reality – although, of course, not to the individual lives of those working under different regimes. It is only the ongoing pretence that it is somehow a marginal and dangerous innovation that is remarkable, and worthy of analysis. There is, after all, a reason they refer to espionage as the ‘second oldest profession’.
Halloween Jack:
February 21st, 2013 at 11:14 am
Suddenly I’m craving waffles.
Halloween Jack:
February 21st, 2013 at 11:15 am
So disappointed that that isn’t a euphemism for something.
Anonymous:
February 21st, 2013 at 4:02 pm
What in the hell is a crack-whore, really? Anything like a young buck or a welfare queen?
Who’s denying their agency? Their experiences (safe, clean, completely consensual, probably a bit of fun, very profitable) are not the norm–and that’s perfectly fine.
wjt wonders above what myth about sex workers is the most insidious. I take the position that the Young, Safe, Clean, White, Female Sex Worker (happy hooker, heart of gold, popular cultural icon), while it describes a tiny sliver of sex workers world-wide, is a particularly undesirable one because it allows people already afforded the greatest privileges to drown out, intentionally or inadvertently, the women, children, and men who don’t share those positive experiences.
Anonymous:
February 21st, 2013 at 4:04 pm
…So, in fact, its legal status makes quite a bit of difference then. Considering how many people work.
wengler:
February 21st, 2013 at 4:58 pm
If you had a real response, it might be interesting to hear. Instead you don’t even bother with a name. Lame.
wengler:
February 21st, 2013 at 5:01 pm
I never said it wasn’t a shit job. I just placed it on a spectrum of shit jobs. It would become less shitty if it was legalized and regulated, but whatever. You don’t even think as a guy I can comment, so I don’t really care what you have to say.