This article provides a breakdown of some of the ideas around prostitution in the early to mid 1800s in Paris, as well as tables of statistics translated into English giving insight into the level of literacy of prostitutes in Paris and the ages they were enlisted… as well as letters from real sex workers who were asking the police for the permission to become brothel managers!
Author Archives: mxjackparker
No Data on Prostitution? Just Make It Up!
The way people make up data about sex work is not new. There are people who want to exaggerate the number of sex workers whilst treating us as a scourge, to shock people with the scale of the supposed problem, while others want to present the need for sex workers’ rights as a pressing concern due to a large number of individuals being impacted.
Zine: What Terms Exist for Sex Workers?
Paid subscriber only: A zine about what terms exist for sex workers, the context those labels are used in, and the situations in which certain words for sex workers are ideal or not.
Don’t Say “Sex Work”
When it comes to the topic of prostitution and censorship of discussion about it, terms like “sex work” are often banned whilst words like “prostitution” or “sex trafficking” are not.
Age Verification Bills and the Chilling Effect
There are many problems with age verification and I don’t blame people whose first thoughts are about how this is an unhelpful restriction that doesn’t help kids but does restrict access to porn for the adults who want to watch it.
Responsible Reporting on Sex Work
A lot of people are being undervalued for their contributions in journalism or other forms of written media. Journalists and other writers should have solidarity with the sex workers they interview and seek to make the process as easy and safe for them as possible, rather than being a part of the machine which exploits us.
Psychopathia Prostitualis
Every time I look into the history of understanding sexuality, I find sex workers there. Sex workers aren’t valued for the contributions we make or recognized as propping up these researchers work the way we do, to great personal detriment and without compensation, but we’re there.
We’ll Make a Video Game with Dragons… and Hookers!
I go through phases with what kind of media I like to consume the most, and video games are one thing I come back to a lot. I’ve been playing games and coming across sex workers in them since long before I became a sex worker myself. Some of the examples that might first come to mind would be games like GTA or The Witcher. For me, the first time I remember playing a game that had a brothel in it was with the Dragon Age franchise.
Streets to Spreadsheets: Prostitution and Taxes
Workers with cash-in-hand jobs are often subject to stigma where it is suggested that they don’t pay their taxes like everyone else. When your earnings aren’t going through the bank, it’s much harder for anyone to prove how much you earned and to catch you out for not declaring the entirety of your income. In-personContinue reading “Streets to Spreadsheets: Prostitution and Taxes”
The Ideal Nordic Model Poster Child
There are a number of groups who oppose the full decriminalization of prostitution and support the criminalization of clients. Sometimes this will be called the “Nordic model” because it’s the legal model for prostitution used in Sweden and Norway. Others will dishonestly call it the “Equality Model”. You may even see it framed as “decriminalizationContinue reading “The Ideal Nordic Model Poster Child”
Jack Talks About Sex Work 