Episode 32 features an interview with NYC based dominatrix, full spectrum doula, and sex worker rights advocate Danelle Blunt. We discuss the work that she did with Persist Health Project, connecting those who work in the sex trades with affirming health care services. We also examine the way that stigma impacts health care and some strategies that sex workers and other marginalized communities employ in order to get the care they need. We also talk about the value of doulas.
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Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t (Shave Pubic Hair)
Written by Jessie Sage, originally published in Pittsburgh City Paper. In the early 2000s, at nine months pregnant, I went to have my eyebrows threaded. I told the esthetician that my baby was due in a week, and she asked me if I wanted to add a Brazilian wax. Tired, uncomfortable, and not in the mood, […]
Episode 31: Christina Springer: Stories and Poems from a Happy Ending Massage Parlor
Episode 31 features an interview with Pittsburgh-based Alt.Black artist and spoken word poet Christina Springer. Her new book, The Splooge Factory, comes out on Frayed Edge Press this month. It is a collection of poetry exploring her experiences as a receptionist in a “happy endings” massage parlor in Pittsburgh, PA. We talk to her about her experience at the massage parlor; her own history and art; love and intimacy; race, eroticism, and sex work; and motherhood and aging.
Aging in the Sex Work Industry
Aging in the Sex Work Industry Written by Jessie Sage, originally Published in The Pittsburgh City Paper. Sex workers are all too familiar with the question: What are you going to do when you aren’t young and hot anymore? We’re asked it by people critical of our jobs, and, in moments of doubt, we ask it […]
Trans Rights Must Be Protected
Written by Jessie Sage, originally published in Pittsburgh City Paper. In Allegheny County, any transgender person seeking to legally change their name and gender marker schedules a hearing with Judge Christine Ward. Once a month she conducts a closed-door court ceremony where each person gets to come forward with their family or support persons and be […]
Episode 30: Lorelei Lee on Finding Strength in Sex Work Communities
Episode 30 features an interview with sex worker, activist, and writer Lorelei Lee. We discuss her article, “Once You Have Made Pornography,” which describes the many ways sex work stigma manifests and its impacts your life. We also talk about strategies for combatting stigma and how sex workers rely on each other for support and affirmation. Julian Gill-Peterson, author of Histories of the Transgender Child, joins us to discuss the Trump administration’s recent memo instructing government agencies to no longer recognize trans identities.
What the Midterm Elections Mean to the Sex Work Industry
Written by Jessie Sage, originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper. In light of the upcoming midterm elections, I take a step back to talk about the way in which elections impact the lives of the sex work community. Sex work is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide array of erotic services: stripping, webcam modeling, […]
Episode 29: Laura Helen Marks on Hardcore Pornography and the Victorian Gothic
In Episode 29, we interview professor Laura Helen Marks and discuss her new book, Alice in Pornoland: Hardcore Encounters with the Victorian Gothic, which explores Victorian and Gothic literature’s connection to past and present pornography. We also talk about her tortoise, and her thoughts about anti-porn feminism.
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