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Limen Susan Hawthorne

RU 486 Janice Raymond, Lynette Dumble, Renate Klein

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution by Rachel Moran & Making Sex Work: A Failed Experiment With Legalised Prostitution by Mary Lucille Sullivan

  

Last week, DailyLife published a new piece by feminist writer, Clementine Ford: ‘Debunking the myths of sex work.’ In this piece, Ford writes about “conservative feminism” trotting out the tired idea that sex work degrades and harms all women. She writes about conservative feminists believing all sex workers are abused and in need saving – and how passé that notion is. Ford wrote her piece from the point of view of someone who has a number of friends and acquaintances who have either been or currently are sex workers and are/were quite happy in their profession.

And again this week, DailyLife has published yet another ‘Happy Hookers’ article about sex work; ‘The untapped wisdom of sex workers’ by Clem Bastow. This time commenting on a British tabloid feature about an escort turned infidelity counsellor, and veering into a story about how sex workers offer a lot to their communities. The article finished on the proclamation that sex workers in Australia need decriminalisation.

Bastow praised The Sun, because they actually allowed a sex worker to speak for herself, and in an era where much of the dialogue about sex work is dominated by non-sex workers, that's becoming increasingly rare.

DailyLife has now published two ‘Happy Hookers’ articles and it would probably be a good idea to bring some (radical – not “conservative”) balance to the debate. We agree about giving sex workers a voice, and an opportunity to tell their stories – that’s why we’ve published Rachel Moran’s memoir Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution. Moran, who became a prostitute when she was just fifteen-years-old, believes that prostitution is the commercialisation of sexual abuse. And as for decriminalising prostitution, we have Making Sex Work: A Failed Experiment With Legalised Prostitution by Mary Lucille Sullivan. Either of these books are the perfect counterpoint to DailyLife’s one-sided ‘liberal’ view of prostitution.