I realize that I use the word “whore” pejoratively, but never against women or men working as prositutes. I have used it to describe AOL, Verizon, Congress, and your mom, but now I understand that any stigmatizing use of that word gives real whores a bad name.
That is why on December 17 you should visit the “Wall of Whores” on Venice Beach between 12 and 4 p.m. Organized by the Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP) LA, the wall will feature contributors’ anonymous “whore stories” and the SWOP booth nearby will allow visitors to pay five bucks for ten minutes of “Real Talk with a Real LIVE HAPPY SEX WORKER” (you can discuss tipping once you get there).
“Topics ranging from sex advice to holiday plans will all be fair game,” says the press material of the five dollar rap sessions. I plan to talk about how Valentine’s Day is a goddamn whore.
The exhibit and booth are to promote Sunday as the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and in attendance will be SWOP-LA founder and “proud whore activist” Jenna Jasmine and Norma Jean Almodovar, founder of the International Sex Worker Foundation for Art, Culture, and Education (ISWFACE).
“The death of punitive stigma around words like whore and prostitute is the first step that sex workers and non sex workers alike can take (to) critically examine
how institutionalized misogyny really operates on a daily basis,” said Jasmine, discreetly billing my credit card.
Previously: Shame’s diminishing returns; Britney Spears continues to offer hope of immaculate conception; Michelle Aston will eat your girlfriend like fried chicken; Whores Not Wars
See also: SWOP-USA, Whore
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