Gurlesque last night was wonderful in so many ways as usual. Glita's nun piece once again left me both squeally and speechless. Minx Contortionista doing Dietrich. Strawberry Pop being too cute for words. Sex in shower cap (well, it worked for me). Handyboi and Lillian Starr doing Bond. Wife and Domino - the joy of gorgeous activist women. Miss Sindy Ray bunnying. Madam Phantasm bunnying. Zoo bunnying.
However, despite all round fabbiness of the night.... two whole acts felt the need to use the word whore in a derogatory sense. What was even more disappointing, in this community which usually feels quite a whore positive and accepting space for me, is that all three performers involved with those two acts have attended Debby Doesn't Do It For Free performances, and have spoken to us about how much they like what we do. Also,considering the politics of the performers, I doubt they would ever consider using racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic or ablist language, so why the hell would they use whore in a insulting, negative way?
Considering that I - and many of my fellow Debbys - will use the word whore, both in performance and general conversation, I feel I should probably clarify my position on this issue. When a group of gay men will affectionately refer to themselves as a bunch of fags, this has very different meaning or intention than a homophobic str8 man passing by, hurling the same words out in derision. Sex workers are reclaiming language, just as other queers are. However, non-sex workers should be careful about how those words are used. When in doubt, refer to sex work and sex workers. If you are looking for insulting language to describe women's - or anyone's sexuality - may I ask why you want to perpetuate sex negativity? And please stop any euphemisms for sex workers as metaphors for selling out a value system. We don't actually. We provide consensual, negotiated services for a fee. It is only the pervasive sex negativity present in our culture that considers these acts as immoral.
For more, including a snippet on the history of the word whore, see:
4 comments:
hello dear.
i too noticed the mis-use of the word! it's rather disappointing when you work so hard to educate the community and then people continue to disappoint you. just wanted to give you a big hug and say thanks for all your hard work! please keep doing what you do best.
love wife.
xxxo
I think I missed something on Sun nite
what were the wrong things?
Thanks Darling Wife,
Nice to see the oversensative whores weren't the only ones offended.
felix_femme... I don't really want to be very specific about about particular acts I had an issue with on the net, so I'll just say two performers at one point were wearing shopping bags entitled 'buying bitch' and 'consumer whore' and later there was a song using the word whore rather negatively - referring to the mercenary way we supposedly create arousal in order to get to the cash... I'll talk about it more to you in person, if you like.
Kisses and wiggles to you both
fanks for the note
I eventually remembered the shopping bags but can't recall the other song
hope to see you soon
kisses
F
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