Working Sex: Sex Workers Write About a Changing Industry

(Paperback)

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Being a sex worker isn't something to write home about for most women (and men) in the $12 billion-a-year sex industry. Prostitutes, strippers, and adult film stars put themselves, and what they do for a living, out on the street, stage, and TV screen every day, but they often keep their working lives hidden from friends, family, and other employers. They do this because sex work is widely considered illegal, unhealthy, and immoral. Edited by Annie Oakley, Working Sex, New Voices from a Changing Industry features stories and contributions from sex workersstrippers, prostitutes, domes, film stars, phone sex operators, and internet modelswho are speaking out. This provocative anthology showcases voices from a vibrant community intent on unmasking the jobs they do with dignity and pride. Contributors tackling issues of class, gender, race, labor, and sexuality with blazing insight and critical observations include Michelle Tea, Stephen Elliot, Nomy Lamm, Ana Voog, Vaginal Davis, and Mirha-Soleil Ross. "

Reviews

"Annie Oakley doesn't need a gun. She's armed with fierce creativity, political passion, big brains and exquisite sexiness. Oakley leads a brilliant crew, which serves up whore culture at its most delicious and satisfying."
"Sex work is commonly understood to be an occupation of last resort, taken up by people who live on society's margins. The Sex Workers' Art Show sets out to dispel those perceptions and to showcase the ways in which sex workers are in control of their bodies, their careers, and their self-respect."

Author Bio

Annie Oakley is the founder, director, emcee, road manager, and den mother of the Sex Workers Art Show, a touring performance troupe made up of current and former sex workers. She has shepherded the show from a fledgling project in Olympia, Washington, to a nationally acclaimed touring extravaganza. Annie Oakley founded the Sex Workers Art Show, in 1997 to help fight negative stereotypes about sex work. "The main goal is to present sex workers as multifaceted people," she said, "so they can begin to be taken seriously as people who deserve labor rights, social access, safety and dignity." Oakley has lectured, performed, given workshops, and exhibited her artwork at venues and colleges all over the country. She was co-producer in 2004 of Olympia's semi-annual queer cultural festival, Homo-A-Gogo. She likes reading, eating, arguing, and shoes. Her website is: http: //www.sexworkersartshow.com.