smoke-n-mirrors: “ Kiss & Sell ” Kiss & Sell – But Never Tell!

Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners: Black Women in New York City's Underground Economy
by LaShawn Harris (released just this past April)

"During the early twentieth century, a diverse group of African American women carved out unique niches for themselves within New York City's expansive informal economy. LaShawn Harris illuminates the labor patterns and economic activity of three perennials within this kaleidoscope of underground industry: sex work, numbers running for gambling enterprises, and the supernatural consulting business. Mining police and prison records, newspaper accounts, and period literature, Harris teases out answers to essential questions about these women and their working lives. She also offers a surprising revelation, arguing that the burgeoning underground economy served as a catalyst in working-class black women ™s creation of the employment opportunities, occupational identities, and survival strategies that provided them with financial stability and a sense of labor autonomy and mobility. At the same time, urban black women, all striving for economic and social prospects and pleasures, experienced the conspicuous and hidden dangers associated with newfound labor opportunities."

Remember last year when we told you about that imaginary boyfriend service? Well, there’s an even better service now, which employs humans, not bots: Man Service. Vice’s Broadly gave us…

With all the talk about gifts & tips (or tributes), platform percentages & issues, payment options & costs, I wanted to highlight some new options… GiftRocket GiftRocket, an onlin…

A long time ago, in a land far far away there lived a Prince. He was charming, handsome, smart and rich – a real catch. Then, one day – he went to a ball in search of his soul mate. That’s when he instantly fell in love with a Princess, the most beautiful of all. Their eyes met and it was love that would last forever and ever… at least, that’s what we are told. Truth is, this glorified Prince had probably had another prince on the side already, the Princess had probably had an elf or another princess to fool around with too, but Disney never told us about that, did he now? Sure, it’s always easier to live an illusion than face reality. Until it slaps you in the face.

Do A-list advocates like Kate Winslet and Lena Dunham really know anything about sex workers? One hundred years ago, both would have been considered fallen women.

The blackmail was possible because at that time, colored cosmetics were not for ladies, only for prostitutes and/or actresses — the latter of which was equally reviled and in fact, the words ‘actress’ and ‘whore’ were synonymous to many.  This whore/Madonna beauty thing is partly why I began collecting/studying such things, so how intriguing to discover Madam Rachel!

On International Women’s Day, we don’t need token gestures that mask inequalities and offer no material benefits.

We need decriminalisation of the production, screening, advertising and sale of pornography and protections enabling performers to access industrial rights mechanisms and health and safety standards.

But this was not my only option

I've been contacted by a reporter for an online publication (with a million monthly readers) who is interested in doing a news story about people with disabilities working as phone sex operators

In Australia, where sex work is legal, a Gold Coast sex worker has been advertising her escort services by touting her past modeling experiences. Sounds like a good marketing ploy, right? Wrong. An…

Ignoring the protests of Hollywood actresses, Amnesty International has come out for the decriminalization of prostitution.

But that’s not why I’m blogging about this article. Instead, I want to commend it for its summary of the financial challenges faced by innovators in sex tech. It’s as neat a summary of the #pornocalypse phenomenon as I’ve seen, and it confirms my long-argued theory that it’s the involvement of the investor class that drives the exclusion of sexuality from any modern business or product:

Many sex workers think their work should be as legal as accounting. And American society is closer than ever to agreeing with them.

Cameron Cox started as a sex worker in Sydney when gay sex was illegal and now is a key figure in the industry, running the Sex Work Outreach Project. 

...

He credits the quick thinking of Sydney's sex workers with containing the spread of HIV.

"They introduced condoms to the Sydney," he said.

The latest HIV strategy from the federal government acknowledges HIV/AIDs has been almost eliminated in the sex work community which academics credit to decriminalisation of sex work in 1995.

Aside from the physical side of his job, Mr Cox often takes on the role of an unorthodox marriage counsellor.

"Sex workers often spend that last half hour on the end of the bed, looking at photos of kids and wives," he said.

"People think we're home wreckers, but a lot of the time we talk people down from leaving their families and encourage them to go back to their lives."

Like most people, Mr Cox tries not to bring his work home to his current partner of 15 years.

"People think sex work would be the main problem in a relationship, but sex workers are just as good as anyone at getting out of doing the washing up and forgetting to take the bins out," he said.

"No one ever asked me if I felt oppressed, under-appreciated, or taken advantage of when I was a barista.

Yet when I speak on sex worker panels, I can almost guarantee that someone will make it their personal mission to do just that."

While cracking down on prostitution in Michigan, Stuart Dunnings III was routinely shelling out money for sexual services, authorities say.

Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook compiled by Rictor Norton

A new nationwide survey offers a snapshot of attitudes toward accepting payment for sex.

Continuing the Sin Cats interview with Mary Bennet. (Bennet is in charge of Social Media Marketing and Promotions as well as a Support Rep for Affiliates and Partners at SinCats.) In the first part...

YET ANOTHER CONDESCENDING DUMP ON STRIPPERS I was so stoked when I learned that an Oscar statue had been made in the likeness of a stripper! (Shout out to Jane Helpern/stripper-ally-goddess for always...

Sin Cats is a relatively new phone sex site. It’s not truly a platform site, which means it is neither collecting payments nor taking a cut of transactions, but it is far more than a marketing or advertising opportunity as it does offer the option to safely and anonymously connect calls and chat. Intrigued, I sat down to discuss with Mary Bennet, who is in charge of Social Media Marketing and Promotions for Sin Cats. Here, in this first part of my interview, Bennet gives us an overview of the new site.