Yet ANOTHER pro-sex work article in the Guardian

How come men can get by OK without needing to turn to 'sex work' to 'empower' them?

I posted this on another thread so apologies for repeating. The "grid girl" fuss they was discussed on the Moral Maze. Melanie Philips, who is generally a libertarian and anti-feminist, came to the conclusion after hearing evidence from a stripper telling them how empowering her work was that it was not empowering but rather it is about the humiliation of the woman involved.

Phillips came to the conclusion that stripping about shaming and humiliating women. What empowerment is there? Provking an erection? Big deal- it's hardly difficult.

I agree with her. Think of the times you have seen strippers on film or tv. It makes me very uncomfortable for exactly the reasons Melanie Philips gave.

Has anyone seen Robert Altman's Nashville or Maxine Peake's Funny Cow. The stripping scenes in them are all about humiliation not empowerment.

It’s the ‘who says sex work isn’t compatible with a happy homelife’ headline that’s the problem.

Yes! I completely overlooked that the first time but it's bizarre; it doesn't seem to bear any relation to the text at all

The Guardian usually don’t equate just about managing to feed and clothe your children and suffering harassment every day with happiness.

“Woohoo, I’m a shelf stacker and my boss slaps my bottom everyday, but really I feel empowered and my children aren’t starving!!”

It’s the ‘who says sex work isn’t compatible with a happy homelife’ headline that’s the problem.

The sex work umbrella term covers both the exploiters and the exploited, as intended.

I'm a bit confused about what it is actually; it isn't an "article" at all, is it? And I don't think it sets out to be pro-sex-work - at least that's not how I read it.

Isn't it just (as the sidebar says) the extraordinary story of an ordinary person, or some such? I thought they did these things just as little insights into the lives of people whose stories would never hit the headlines, but who have interesting or uncommon personal experiences. It's an exercise in putting oneself in someone's else's shoes, isn't it? Allowing them to tell their story in their own words?

Honestly if it were glorifying the subject I would probably agree with you, but if it's just on person's personal musings on their life as a stripper, why shouldn't they be able to take both good and bad from that experience?

I'm not trying to be contentious, I'm just wondering really.

queen stripping does count as sex work. It's a slippery slope type thing- as you can mix up stripping/chatlines/cam work with prostitution and trafficking then argue to decriminalize the whole shebang. Very cynical imo.

And stripping did more than pay the bills – it made me feel good about myself. I felt strong. I felt sexy. I felt confident, and that extended beyond my body to my personal boundaries, my emotional wellbeing, my willingness to drop people who disrespected me.

You would never hear a man say this.

How come men can get by OK without needing to turn to 'sex work' to 'empower' them? Men can 'drop people who disrespect them' without taking their clothes of for money and treated like an inhuman object.

It basically just reads as confirming the stereotype that most of the women who end up in the sex industry were abused in one way or another as children. Which is sad, and a sign that society is failing abused children, not empowering.

I assume SP Berling is a pseudonym, though I also wonder whether the account is fictional.

It's possible to complain to the Guardian readers' editor:

[email protected]

Information about how to complain here:
www.theguardian.com/info/2014/sep/12/-sp-how-to-make-a-complaint-about-guardian-or-observer-content

I read the article but couldn't see anywhere where she says she sleeps with customers. So she isn't technically a sex worker is she? Unless stripping now counts as sex work? I can imagine some strippers wouldn't be happy with that!

Completely agree OP. The story itself is just sad. What is your back story if you need to get a job as a stripper to learn about boundaries? Why don’t they seem to be able to earn money in other ways, despite her husband’s degree? The writer does not sound ‘empowered’ in any way. It’s a story about the absence of opportunity and the trap of poverty.

However, apparently the Guardian think it is a feel good story about work/life balance.

Bearing in mind that it may be a fictional account as it started on narritively, I would have convinced myself it was anti sex trade and highlighting the protaganist’s self delusion. But the author’s label leaves me in two minds - though google doesnt find her either as an author or an activist.

In their situation and so desperate for money I think I'd be suggesting he gets a job-it might be menial, it might be hard work, it might be shift work to fit in with child-care but anything would be better than living off his wife in these circumstances.
Quite.
Husband sounds like a cocklodger to me and she is so pathetically grateful for him.
Poor woman.

Author is a sex workers rights activist which may explain the poor writing (ie not an experienced writer) narrative.ly/author/sarah-berling/

Why not write about sex workers rights in that case? Unless it is the right to not have an annoying dm

Look at the way they reported Cologne and Rotherham. They ignored it for a while, and then victim-blamed the females.

Why are white women such a target these days? Is that because it's the only group of women you're allowed to attack without looking like a total douche?

Partly, but I think it's more that some white women now do have some power and so of course need to be disempowered.

Because they really want to write articles attacking women but they don't want to loose 'woke' points so they get black women to do it for them.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/08/how-white-women-use-strategic-tears-to-avoid-accountability

Why are white women such a target these days? Is that because it's the only group of women you're allowed to attack without looking like a total douche?

The Guardian hates women, especially working class women.

It becomes clear that the media's response to women screaming that WE ARE NOT THINGS! is YES YOU ARE!

I think it's all just part of the larger plan to keep women on a lower level than men, demeaned and objectified.