Voulez-vous coucher avec moi(ce soir)?

The song Lady Marmalade was first recorded by Labelle in 1974, and it was inspired by New Orleans sex workers. The French Quarter is the city's red-light district. The song tells the story of a woman known only as "Lady Marmalade", who seduces a man she met on the street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Although the man has moved on from the experience, his memories of their tryst remain vivid when he tries to sleep. The song's chorus, "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?", means "Do you want to sleep with me (tonight)?" in French,

High Heel Race in St. Petersburg

http://www.gadling.com/2007/07/30/high-heel-race-in-st-petersburg/

Hah! This is nothing.... when I started working in brothels in South Australia, they were regularly raided by the vice squad, so I had a lot of practice running in heels, scaling fences in heels, etc. I consider myself to be a high heel athlete!

What will get me out of bed on a cold Tuesday morning

Sex workers demand industry regulation

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/14/2004403.htm

Posted Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:01am AEST

A small group of sex workers have staged a protest outside a conference in Sydney, calling for the implementation of Department of Planning guidelines on the regulation of the sex industry.
The group says a panel of health, planning and local government officials developed the guidelines in consultation with the sex industry.

The Sex Worker Rights Action Coalition says the Land and Environment Court has made it clear that brothel developments can not be blocked on moral grounds.

An independent sex worker, Saul Isbister, says the guidelines would help councils to regulate the industry, without compromising the safety of sex workers.

"The guidelines recommend that councils permit all types and scales of sex-industry premises in their natural locations," he said.

"That means home-based sex workers in residential areas, and commercial premises in commercial areas - a very logical position to take."

And the paper bags worn on the heads - at several local sex worker protests lately, represents that local councils have become the new paper bagmen, with opportunities for bribes and corruption, rather than the police, as used to be the case prior to decriminalisation in New South Wales... Also the anonomity offered by the paper bags allows sex workers to demonstrate in favour of their rights, without having to deal with the impact of coming out on their lives...

Reminder to treat yourself well

I don’t know if it’s a winter thing, and thus Seasonal Affective Disorder related, or specific stresses in people’s lives that by pure coincidence have happened all at the same time, or if crappy mental health is contagious (I suspect a combination of the above) but many people I know have been struggling with mental health issues, and either sinking below the surface or valiantly treading water.


I thought I’d take some time to remind everyone about some good mental health practice tools. Good mental and physical health goes together, so if things are falling off the top of your overloaded bundle, focus on the basics. Drink water and camomile tea, get plenty of sleep, eat some fruit and vegetables, breathe deeply, get some exercise. Treating yourself well is good for your self esteem, and it provides you with a basic foundation for managing stress. Basic self care is also one of the least mortifying mental health initiatives I have ever undergone.

Breathing slowly and deeply remembering to fully exhale is good for stress-related asthma and panic attacks. When you are experiencing racing thoughts, slow down and talk to yourself – is the most catastrophic and dire answer the most likely? Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is handy for the racing-panic-attack-thought-patterns and also the helpless-hopeless-depressive-thoughts, and when you learn how to do it well, it is incredibly empowering to be able to pull yourself out of the blue funk or the anxiety horrors. For clinical depression, the two most statistically useful things to do are to get exercise and to increase social contact. Grab a friend for a brisk walk. Borrow a dog and walk him/ her regularly - walking a dog is a great way to become instantly popular.

Some books that may be useful: You Can Beat Depression: A Guide to Prevention & Recovery by Dr John Preston, and for those of you going through yucky break ups, its Sex And The City style chick focused and assumes heterosexuality, however, take from it what you can: It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken by Greg Behrendt and Amiira Ruotola-Behrendt. Oh, and I keep hearing good things about MoodGym.

Oh, and if you need to, get on meds (anti-depressants, or others), if you are still high and mighty about using anti-depressants, consider that myself and many others I know wouldn’t be here to preach to you if it weren’t for our meds….. and if you are using anti-depressant medication (or are just struggling with depression in general) please cut down on the amount of alcohol or other depressants you are using to give yourself the best possible chance of recovery.

Getting queers, whores and other outsiders to love ourselves, do self care, treat each other well and build community are all important political acts. Imagine that we all had more energy to fight for equality and a more just world? Imagine if we, instead of self destructing had more time for critiquing the dominant paradigm? The work of previous generations of activists have meant powerful changes for the social standing of queers – the fact that young queers now can regularly come out to their families without rejection would have been almost unimaginable, not so long ago. I look forward to a time when baby (newly out) queers have the opportunity to slot into a queer community that is thriving, to look forward to a range and choice of social spaces that aren’t solely focused around alcohol and late nights, where diversity is genuinely celebrated. Where queerness is so valued that self care practices are common. Sex workers aren’t even in a place yet where very many of us at all feel as if we could come out, and the whore stigma is still huge and crippling.

Oh, and everyone needs to go and get a copy of Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws by Kate Bornstein. Because Kate is completely fucking fabulous, that’s why. What, you need another reason? Well here:

I’ve written this book to help you stay alive because I think the world needs more kind people in it, no matter who or what they are, or do. We’re healthier because of our outsiders and outlaws and freaks and queers and sinners. I fall neatly into all of those categories, so it’s no big deal to me if you do, or don’t. I’ve had a lot of reasons to kill myself, and a lot of time to do it in, and I stayed alive by doing things that many consider to be immoral or illegal. I’m glad I did it, because I’ve really enjoyed writing this book. This may be a scary time for you, and if that’s so, I hope I can help you find your courage again. If we meet some day, let me know what worked. —from Hello, Cruel World by Kate Bornstein

My Winter: by whoretic

Well the off-line world has been so damn exhausting and absorbing that I haven’t been here much at all over the last couple of months. I promise two major updates over the next two weeks – one for International Whores Day activities, and one for the yucky sex work law changes in NSW that have gone down.

In the meantime here is a general update of winter highlights, in easily digestible dot points:

• I have moved out of the frat house, and into the ghetto. My new house is funny looking, with yellow paint everywhere, and faux wood panelled walls. Not even real wood panelling. I keep hoping for afro’ed individuals to appear at the front door to clean zee pool, but alas… so far, no cigar.




• I have a new part time job. My first grown up non-sex work, non-sex worker organisation job. Still in the HIV sector, I still get to be out about all aspects of me. It is still a kick arse organisation that I feel proud to be associated with, but just really different.




• I have a great housemate. I kidnapped her from the frat house. We work really well as housemates. She loves my cats. She has cute hair. She plays with me in the toy section of Kmart after we do grocery shopping at the Metro. Yah!




• I am the proud owner of a Ponyville Sweet Shoppe (my Little Pony). All of Ponyville looks so amazing though, that I am considering buying all of the pieces and setting up our study as Ponyville. Must remember to be practical and also fit computer desk, crafting stuff, bookshelves and extra clothing racks, and form Ponyville around these necessary items.




• Winter is a great time to be a furry. Hooray for new animal hats. Hooray for pets from friends. Hooray for wearing smeary eyeliner and a fluffy hat with ears. My favourite way of looking just now, it even works when I am very tired.
  

MEDIA - sexperts webshow

A nice piece of internet media about sex work (including Sydney based sex worker identities) on the sexperts show.

http://media.fairfax.com.au/?rid=29740

Check it out!

Stupid, Stupid Laws (part 1)

Most of the laws related to sex work that I have worked under in different jurisdictions around Australia operate in exactly the ways that anyone could least want to them to work. For example, in South Australia, where I spent most of my career to date, most activities to do with sex work are illegal, and up until the last decade or so, heavily policed. These days, the vice squad focus their policing efforts on street based sex work, mostly tolerating brothels and private in house workers. One charge related to sex work is ‘procuring’ where you employ someone as a sex worker who hasn’t sex worked, at least in SA before.

How this is policed is some police officer will pose as someone looking for a job at a brothel or escort agency, gain an interview with a business owner or manager, ask questions about the work, and get the interviewer to acknowledge that sexual services are an expected part of the job, and then they will arrest the person. I’ve never met a sex worker who was duped or deceived about the nature of the work they were entering, while it probably happens, it isn’t a common feature of the sex industry, and sex workers I have met go for their first hooking job well aware of the broad aspects of the work, if not the fine details. However, because owners and managers fear being charged for procuring, it can be really difficult to actually get clear and specific information about the work when you first start – and obviously, with sex work, as much as any work, knowledge is power. Tips and tricks of the trade, industry norms and easy ideas of how a basic sex work booking runs would be invaluable when first starting sex work.

Criminalisation gets in the way of sex workers gaining information, skills and being best able to make informed choices.

*Sigh*