I left a note on the libertarian site No Treason in response to the following:

"...Most prostitutes would consider the term "whore" to be rather insulting - that's why I applied it to Jill Edwards [a University of Washington student senator who voted against a proposal to build a statue to a decorated marine, previously described as a “worthless little whore”], who lacks even a tenth of the integrity possessed by any random sex worker patrolling Aurora. (A charming scenic street, conveniently provided with it's own suicide bridge.)"

'Tis unfortunate that it is necessary to even argue this sort of thing.
* * * * *

John-

I'm not certain about 'most prostitutes', but this sex worker personally feels uncomfortable with the term 'whore' when used to casually associate prostitution with ill-defined evil, or specifically with a lack of integrity. Using the term 'nigger' as a derogatory reference to a non-black person still draws power from racist views about the world and reinforces them. The use of the term 'whore' does the same, if and when the word is used as a disparaging reference. (I've no objection to the term being used in a reclaiming sense of cultural pride, but one should be as careful as when similarly using the term 'dyke' to refer to a lesbian. Generally, it's a bad idea unless you're another whore or best friends with one.)

I'm personally proud of my Life- and I believe sex work an honourable means of earning one's keep as well as a space for the cultivation of human eroticism. In the context of an anti-sexual culture which stigmatises sex work, the language of patriolatrous contempt only reinforces our marginalisation. Which is a shame- we're a pretty pro-liberty and individualistic bunch; you'd like us! (it helps sometimes that we're kind of cute) Libertarians and sex workers are natural allies and share many of the same traditional enemies, namely the religious right, the guillotinish wing of feminism, and the state-psychiatric establishment. But friendship requires a language which manifests a mutual recognition of spiritual equality.

ni victimes!
ni coupables!

Lady Aster
Sex Workers Outreach Project
www.swop-usa.org
San Francisco

P.S.

Incidentally, streetwalkers are a minority among sex workers, even in America where social and legal intolerance makes working in better venues far more difficult than it ought to be. People get into sex workⁱ for an incredibly complicated mix of good, bad, and neutral reasons (the most common case is a single mother who needs the time and money to care for a child), but the streetwalker is decidedly unrepresentative of sex workers as a whole (tho' of course deserving of the same human rights as anyone else). It's far more common for sex workers to work out of their home, go on calls, work at strip clubs, bars, or massage parlours, etc. But I feel I should point out that most people misjudge sex workⁱ based on the most visible, and usually most exploited and least attractive examples. The majority of sex workers in your town are simply women (and men) you may see every day, perhaps even know personally. And certainly, most of us have no need of a suicide bridge.