ON THE ISSUES MAGAZINE featuring Juhu Thukral, Ann Jordan, Carol Leigh, Erin Whitfield, Rita Brock and others
Their press release..
ON THE ISSUES: The Progressive Woman’s Magazine
Works Hard For Her Money: Feminists and Prostitutes
http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/july08/index.php
A print publication from 1983-1999, ON THE ISSUES MAGAZINE ONLINE offers full archives and all content for free as a committed public service to upgrade the level of feminist conversation. Visitwww.ontheissuesmagazine.com
“NEW YORK: Prostitution penetrated the news in a major way in recent months — from ex-governor Eliot Spitzer of New York and his paid binges with women to the suicide of DC madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey and the Showtime fluff of “Secret Diary of A Call Girl”
But the media, politicians and feminists have not grappled with the real complexities of prostitutioni. In its new Online edition, “Works Hard for Her Money: Feminists and Prostitutes” ON THE ISSUESMAGAZINE releases compelling original content — diverse articles, art and poetry that challenge current notions and urge new thinking.
“The issue of prostitutioni has divided feminists for years,” writes publisher and editor-in-chief Merle Hoffman in “Divide, Conquer and Sell”
“Is the prostitute herself a victim of an oppressive patriarchal system, or a free agent choosing sex worki as a rational career choice in difficult circumstances?” Since sex is “a continually renewable resource — unlike other body resources (sales of kidneys), it does not self-exhaust; it can just keep giving ∑. We ask who owns that resource, who has the power to use, abuse, buy and sell it,” writes Hoffman.
Angela Bonavoglia’s “Of Victims and Vixens” describes the feministabolitionists who link prostitutioni to violence against women andtheir clash in worldview with women who run sex-for-pay services andsee it as empowering. Juhu Thukral explains how differinginterpretations of human rights by feminists has become a flashpointin new anti-trafficking legislation in “Feminist Divisions CauseReal-World Repercussions”
Major thinkers and artists offer other perspectives. In “Pimping:The World’s Oldest Profession” Kathleen Barry frames in vivid termswhy some feminists see prostitutioni as bondage. Carol Leigh,aka “The Scarlot Harlot,” describes the frustration of eroticlaborers who are denied basic rights. Artist Suzanne Lacy, featuredby art editor Linda Stein, narrates a display of her travels with aprostitute.
To these provocative topics, Shere Hite, known for her work onfemale sexuality, calls for a redefinition of women’s pleasure in “Female Orgasm Today”
The range of the voices on the topic also includes Alexis Greene ona gripping play by Lynn Nottage about war, rape and prostitutioni inAfrica; Sonia Ossorio of NYC-NOW on stricter anti-trafficking laws; Ann Jordan on hardships caused by brothel crackdowns in Cambodia; poets Minne Bruce Pratt and Erin Whitfield with two views on the after effects of prostitutioni. Other works are by: Bernadette Barton,Rita Nakashima Brock, Ariel Dougherty, Mahin Hassibi, Norma Ramos, Jane Roberts, Nicole Witte Solomon and artists Audrey Anastasi andTiana Markova-Gold. Several videos are mounted, including “TurningThe Corner” by Beyond Media.
