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Media wants to talk to sex workers, doesn't care what they have to say - MysticWicks Online Pagan Community and Spiritual Sanctuary
Well, it looks like now that NY Gov.
Eliot Spitzer got busted for hiring a prostitute, the media is trying to capitalize in it (no surprise there) by by interviewing some kind of escort or other sex worker about the mechanics of hiring a prostitute.
So far I've seen two accounts by women who were approached for this but declined after the person approaching them refused to also let them talk about other issues relating to the sex industry, such as the lives and rights of the women involved.
I can't exactly say I'm surprised, but I'm still disappointed.
http://www.wakingvixen.com/blog/2008...u-been-a-whore
Quote: : Youve probably heard about the Eliot Spitzer trafficking/hiring of a prostitute debacle by now, and its not going end with his resignation - Spitzer will likely be brought up on criminal charges, because his encounters included paying a woman to cross state lines, which is trafficking.
And so, in sex worker rights circles as well as in Albany, the emails are flying!
Everyones trying to figure out what statement to make, how to respond to media requests, all that.
The MSNBC request came through Seal Press , the publisher of Naked on the Internet .
I said I would talk to the shows producer and possibly do the show if I could talk about sex worker rights, politics, and trafficking.
They were casting for someone who had been a sex worker to talk about the mechanics of hiring a prostitute, and the producer I talked to point blank asked me the question that is the title of this post, though then he quickly backtracked and said, Im sorry if Im not using the right terminology, and I told him that no indeed he was not.
When asked if I have had sex for money, I told him I had been a fetish worker and sensual masseuse (Ive briefly been an escort too, though for a fraction of the time of the other jobs) - which seemed to disappoint him, and he said things like, So you werent a real
you didnt have sex
MSNBC was only interested in having a woman who had been a prostitute talk about the mechanics of hiring a sex worker - a little salacious how-to on national television, gotta love it.
They told me flat out that they werent interested in discussing the political interests of sex workers or the issues around sex trafficking as it is today.
And while I am not ashamed that I was a sex worker, and I know sound bites are short and cannot be anywhere near as complicated as my shit it, I dont want to be MSNBCs wh*** on television.
It does nothing for me personally and nothing for the movement Im part of for me to be boiled down to the essence of will #@$% for cash.
Heres how.
http://renegadeevolution.blogspot.co...n-from-ny.html
Quote: : Three, the media is all over this, and guess what, the media wants to talk to sex workers about it.
I know, because oddly enough, a certain Renegade and a certain DC reporter had a conversation.
I thought maybe it might be an opportunity to bring some light to issues such as sex workers rights and the hypocrisy shown by fellows like Spitzer.
However, that is not what the media is interested in.
That's not what they want.
They want to know how one goes about hiring a "high-end" escort, how prevelant is it, what goes on, do the working girls care if the men are married?
What else do they spend money on when with the woman?
They want the scandal, the titilation, the naughty little thrill....but nothing too dirty.
Nothing about the women on the streets.
They don't want to hear about the truly unseemly side of the biz.
They want to hear about the men...the rich and powerful men who spend the money on "high-end" girls.
They want to hear how the men will fly in to see a girl, or fly her in, spends thousands on her and on the dinners and events and everything else.
They want to know how he likes it.
Sure enough, men do this sort of thing.
I've been paid 2000$ to spend an evening with a New Jersey business man at a boxing match then do a strip show for him.
No actual sex involved.
He bought an expensive dinner and a bottle of Dom to go with it, and tipped me an extra 600$.
Why? Because he could, and in this case, he did not even have to worry about the actual act of sex for money.
This is one such story in my experience, and one such story in the countless experiences of women like me.
And that's the stories the media wants.
They don't care how we feel about legalization, or rights, or men like Spitzer building careers and policy on us, let alone about the women working on the streets.
Those politics and dirty tales don't sell.
So yeah, needless to say, I told a certain reporter I was not interested.
The media hardly needs another "tell all" about sex workers and the powerful politicos that hire them when they don't even want to see the women as human...not just the "high end ones".
Besides, I distrust what would end up not making it through the editing process.
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I'm not surprised that the media doesn't want to get into the politics and the real truths behind sex work in this country.
Its a dirty, dirty business, and the laws against it make it harder for those who do sex work.
That being said, I applaud both of those writers for deciding not to be "MSNBC's whore on tv." The sex workers movement in the U.S.
Could use some positive media attention, and these women are right about not wanting to get it this way.
I'm sure they'll find someone to go on tv and be trashy for them, but I'm glad its not the folks who take the politics of it seriously.
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Quote: : Well, it looks like now that NY Gov.
Eliot Spitzer got busted for hiring a prostitute, the media is trying to capitalize in it (no surprise there) by by interviewing some kind of escort or other sex worker about the mechanics of hiring a prostitute.
So far I've seen two accounts by women who were approached for this but declined after the person approaching them refused to also let them talk about other issues relating to the sex industry, such as the lives and rights of the women involved.
I can't exactly say I'm surprised, but I'm still disappointed.
I've seen a lot of documentaries about these things and I'm surprised that they didn't do it.
I do understand the reasons why they didn't do it (most media outlets heavily edit the interviews, etc.) but I do hope they get the information out.
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Quote: : I've seen a lot of documentaries about these things and I'm surprised that they didn't do it.
I do understand the reasons why they didn't do it (most media outlets heavily edit the interviews, etc.) but I do hope they get the information out.
Just wondering, which documentaries are you referring to?
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Quote: : Just wondering, which documentaries are you referring to?
On our crime channel, there is a series of documentaries called "America exposed, uncut" which, if I remember correctly, had one on prostitution and the problems it shows.
Also, there have been several "criminal investigation" documentaries that presented a viewpoint on prostitution.
There have also been a few that focuses on pimps, police and illegal slave prostitution (not the streetwalkers but the people that are taken from their homeland and made into sex slaves for some brothels).
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Quote: : Media wants to talk to sex workers, doesn't care what they have to say Kinda like they want to talk to "real witches" every October.
Color me unsurprised.
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Quote: : On our crime channel, there is a series of documentaries called "America exposed, uncut" which, if I remember correctly, had one on prostitution and the problems it shows.
Also, there have been several "criminal investigation" documentaries that presented a viewpoint on prostitution.
There have also been a few that focuses on pimps, police and illegal slave prostitution (not the streetwalkers but the people that are taken from their homeland and made into sex slaves for some brothels).
There tends to be a lot publicity about problems in the sex industry, but not so much about sex workers rights organizations and unions working to change things from the inside, which is the perspective that these women are coming from.
My experience is that you commonly either see the total victim or the "happy hooker," but very little in between.
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Quote: : Kinda like they want to talk to "real witches" every October.
Color me unsurprised.
QFT
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Quote: : There tends to be a lot publicity about problems in the sex industry, but not so much about sex workers rights organizations and unions working to change things from the inside, which is the perspective that these women are coming from.
My experience is that you commonly either see the total victim or the "happy hooker," but very little in between.
That depends on where you look.
From the perspective of basic spoonfed American media reports, I'd say you're right.
I went out and got some of those "happy hooker" stories though and even the girls who claim to enjoy doing it talk about how rough it can get.
I think most of the problem is that society in this country doesn't seem ready to view prostitution or sex work of any kind as legitimate "work".
Therefore, they want to see the people who do these jobs in similar black and white terms.
To vilify a prostitute is easy;
To listen to her stories of abuse and violence and still attempt to understand her choice to go back out and do it again (here we enter the argument of whether or not it's really their choice, but that's another story for another day) night after night - and actually understand and not pass judgment can be incredibly hard.
For a lot of people, I'd say it would be so-unlikely-as-to-be-next-to-impossible.
That said, when you sit down and listen to the women who very consciously choose sex work as a career, you find out that many of them are savvy if not downright intelligent, and the most vocal people tend to be the most intelligent of the bunch, when discussing the politics of what they do.
The downsides are not unknown to these people (women and men), and yet instead of accepting the status quo as it is, they fight an entirely thankless battle to bring a modicum of respect and organization to a job that can either be degrading or empowering, swept under the rug or brought out into daylight and examined.
/end rant
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I definantly think that issues surrounding prostitution need to be discussed more, and attitudes to it need to change, IMO, like people should stop seeing it as "negative", "dirty", "shameful", etc.
Like Phoenix_Blue said, I'm not surprised that the media don't want to get the real lives of prostitutes out there, it makes for less "entertaining viewing".
Hopefully, some documentary or TV station will show the real lives of prostitutes.
Also, it annoys me that when you do get some focus on prostitution, it's always women that get the focus, never the men that are involved, it's like they don't exist.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the women don't matter, it's just I think males seem to be in the hidden side of prostitution, unfortunely.
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