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marjoryreads's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
11corvus11's review
4.0
I'm hoping to write a longer review later. I have some extreme reactions to this. Most of the entries are fantastic and I saw a lot of familiar names from queer porn and was saddened to hear of what they went through. I learned a lot about sex work activism and organizing efforts. The essays on how to decipher cults from chosen family and the corruption within "ethical" and "feminist" porn companies were my personal favorites.
One essay details what is in my opinion one of the most irresponsible exercises of (bdsm) power exchange that I've read and I can't stop thinking about how ridiculous I find it being included in this. I've done demos and have been in some hardcore play scenarios and D/s relationships and even with blanket consent in a 24/7 agreement, I would find it abominable to 1. Do a demo with a slave without discussion of 2. PUBLIC humiliation involving enemas and diapers which is 3. their first experience of the sort 4. having paid no attention to their health ahead of time, 6. in front of a class you're supposed to be teaching proper consent to, and 7. painting the whole thing as ok bc you call them an uwu good boy after. I do not shy away from extremes and this was so irresponsible at best that I can't stop thinking about it. Why was that essay in this book?
This obsession has kept me from writing a more coherent review.
One essay details what is in my opinion one of the most irresponsible exercises of (bdsm) power exchange that I've read and I can't stop thinking about how ridiculous I find it being included in this. I've done demos and have been in some hardcore play scenarios and D/s relationships and even with blanket consent in a 24/7 agreement, I would find it abominable to 1. Do a demo with a slave without discussion of 2. PUBLIC humiliation involving enemas and diapers which is 3. their first experience of the sort 4. having paid no attention to their health ahead of time, 6. in front of a class you're supposed to be teaching proper consent to, and 7. painting the whole thing as ok bc you call them an uwu good boy after. I do not shy away from extremes and this was so irresponsible at best that I can't stop thinking about it. Why was that essay in this book?
This obsession has kept me from writing a more coherent review.
bashsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
A must-read by anyone who supports the #MeToo movement, We Too collects the stories of a group often cast aside or maligned by mainstream feminism - sex workers of all types, across race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability. In these essays, they tackle the issues that feed into the assaults of sex workers - social stigmas, the tensions between sex workers and the US government, the complicated happenings within their workplaces, their relationships with families both found and birth, and their fights for survival and healing. Several of these essays were absolutely revolutionary to me - from discussions of sex work during the pandemic to the uneasy concept many of us have of what constitutes sexual assault. My favorites were: "Your Mother Is a Whore: On Sex Work and Motherhood" by Jessie Sage, "How to Not Be an Asshole When Your Sex Worker Partner Is Assaulted at Work" by Maggie McMuffin, "Undercover Agents" by Norma Jean Almodovar, "The New Orleans Police Raid That Launched a Dancer Resistance" by Melissa Gira Grant, "What Media Coverage of James Deen's Assaults Means for Sex Workers," by Cyd Nova, "Are You Safe?" by Reese Piper, "When She Says Woman, She Does Not Mean Me," by Lorelei Lee, "Going from Homeless Trans Youth to Holistic Caregiver" by Ceyenne Doroshow with Zackary Drucker, and "We All Deserve to Heal" by Yin Q.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
-Whorephobianiahflame's review
3.0
This book was hard to read. Women put up with physical abuse, mental trauma, drug addiction, and the money isn't even enough to live on most of the times. Being a sex worker sounds terrible, but it's their choice.
miilk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
kikola's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
hazelppp's review
4.0
✏️ I skimmed through the last 200 pages and probably skipped 2 articles. The reading was interesting and challenging. It was interesting as most of the information here was new, and challenging because it was difficult for me to ascertain my own opinion on the industry. While I agree on decriminalizing sex work, I still see sex work as an economic transaction derived from infringement on bodily rights. I read this collection of interviews between Chizuko Ueno and Suzumi Suzuki 2 years ago and formed the impression that although sex workers can declare all actions are born out of their own agency, “the personal is political”, and the statement can’t exempt that we’re all living in a system - namely, patriarchy.
The idea is also echoed by Lola Davina in this collection, in her essay “The Belly of the Beast”:
“p273 After all, I was profiting from a racist, misogynist, transphobic, fatphobic, ableist, ageist system perpetuating impossible standard of beauty - hard to call that life-affirming labor.
Racism and patriarchy define which bodies are full citizens and which are conditional, under threat from cradle to grave. Nowhere is this more blatant than in the sex industry, where the color of skin and the size and shape of body parts regulate marketability. Relentless dictates determine who "gets to" and who "has to"; who gets to screen clients and who has to service everyone who walks through the door. Who gets to charge thousands of dollars, and who has to take what they can get. Who gets to set limits, and who has to do as they're told. Lorde and other feminist and queer thinkers made it so I could no longer work with one eye open, the other closed, only half-awake.”
✍️ Back to the book, my biggest takeaways from skimming the essays are:
1. Intersectionality is pervasive.
2. A common thread is writers' criticism of law enforcement and incarceration.
3. And how the industry lacks labor law protection.
The idea is also echoed by Lola Davina in this collection, in her essay “The Belly of the Beast”:
“p273 After all, I was profiting from a racist, misogynist, transphobic, fatphobic, ableist, ageist system perpetuating impossible standard of beauty - hard to call that life-affirming labor.
Racism and patriarchy define which bodies are full citizens and which are conditional, under threat from cradle to grave. Nowhere is this more blatant than in the sex industry, where the color of skin and the size and shape of body parts regulate marketability. Relentless dictates determine who "gets to" and who "has to"; who gets to screen clients and who has to service everyone who walks through the door. Who gets to charge thousands of dollars, and who has to take what they can get. Who gets to set limits, and who has to do as they're told. Lorde and other feminist and queer thinkers made it so I could no longer work with one eye open, the other closed, only half-awake.”
✍️ Back to the book, my biggest takeaways from skimming the essays are:
1. Intersectionality is pervasive.
2. A common thread is writers' criticism of law enforcement and incarceration.
3. And how the industry lacks labor law protection.
witwickan's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
4.0
This is one of the only anthologies I've read where I didn't have to skip half the chapters. The vast majority of it is really great and illuminating and while I'm not a sex worker I am a queer traumatized slut and a lot of these chapters felt really empowering.
I do take issue with what I felt was tokenization of transfem sex workers while not including many of them and iirc only having one masc writer. There are a ton of nonbinary writers which I really appreciated but the vast majority of them were fem(me) and not transfem.
Overall I would really recommend this book and I genuinely loved it. I learned so much and it's a new favorite. It's just somewhat limited in its scope.
I do take issue with what I felt was tokenization of transfem sex workers while not including many of them and iirc only having one masc writer. There are a ton of nonbinary writers which I really appreciated but the vast majority of them were fem(me) and not transfem.
Overall I would really recommend this book and I genuinely loved it. I learned so much and it's a new favorite. It's just somewhat limited in its scope.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, and Classism