Melissa Gira Grant

heycashkitty: “One of my childhood dreams was to own a big...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:44:59 -0400

“One of my childhood dreams was to own a big place way out in the country, and my income from escorting made that possible. But country life has its odd little incidents, like feral cats having kittens on the floorboards of your four-wheel-drive farm truck. Since I’m retired now, this cash is from the “straight” business which we started out here, and which was also originally funded with escort cash; I just wish it was as lucrative as the escorting was!”- Maggie McNeill

One day left to submit to CA$HKITTY: illustrating the value of sex work with cash + cats.

ladydrawers: From “A Ladydrawers History of Women’s Rights PART...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:43:38 -0400

ladydrawers:

From “A Ladydrawers History of Women’s Rights PART VI: EARNINGS & YEARNINGS” by Anne Elizabeth Moore and Corinne Mucha. (Click for the full strip!)

Check out the rest of our monthly strips here.

"The conditions in which the actresses work, the degrading contracts they sign, their inability to..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:38:37 -0400

“The conditions in which the actresses work, the degrading contracts they sign, their inability to either control images of themselves once they’ve left the profession, or earn money from their use—the censors aren’t interested in any of these aspects of female dignity. The authorities aren’t bothered that there isn’t a single specialist center where actresses can go to access the various pieces of extremely specific information pertinent to their work. One kind of dignity obsesses them, but they don’t give a damn about the other. Yet porn is made with human flesh, with the flesh of actresses. And in the end, the only moral issue it poses is the political aggressiveness with which these women are treated—offstage.”

- King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes (via marginalutilite)

"Imagine if we spent half as much time talking about the needs and challenges of freelance..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:55:52 -0400

“Imagine if we spent half as much time talking about the needs and challenges of freelance journalists as we do talking about “becoming your own brand.” Or imagine if we acknowledged in all the debates about new business models, how many of those models depend on stringers and freelancers.”

- Talking To Strangers: How Do We Make Freelance Journalism Safe, Secure and Sustainable?

Radio Dispatch, 6/17/13

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:20:21 -0400

Radio Dispatch, 6/17/13:

Today I talked with the excellent Molly Knefel, co-host of Radio Dispatch, all about the constitutionality and politics behind the anti-prostitution pledge (which the Supreme Court is expected to rule on in the next two weeks).

heycashkitty: “I lent this stack to a sex worker in need a...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:48:35 -0400

heycashkitty:

“I lent this stack to a sex worker in need a while ago, and she has paid me back in cash! Always knew she’d come good…great timing too…tax is due. Argh! Some of it will go to my beautiful daughter’s vet bills too, she is the equivalent of 92 human years, and I make sure she’s looked after. There might be enough left to buy myself a sticky bun afterwards?” - Dollymopp of London

Submit your own by this Thursday, and be part of our group show in Chicago (and on the internet forever).

“And the only reason Nancy Jo is at all relevant—at all—is...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:50:00 -0400

“And the only reason Nancy Jo is at all relevant—at all—is because I had a fucking meltdown on my television show. She claims that we’re fame-obsessed teens. No, shame on you, Nancy! You have taken the pain you have caused me and you ran with it. Everything that they claim we are, they are. Everybody wants to be famous.” (via)

"At her lawyer’s office, a week before her arraignment, Neiers denied any involvement in the..."

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:48:00 -0400

“At her lawyer’s office, a week before her arraignment, Neiers denied any involvement in the burglaries. “I’m a firm believer in Karma,” she said, “and I think this situation was attracted into my life because it was supposed to be a huge learning lesson for me to grow and expand as a spiritual human being. I see myself being like an Angelina Jolie,” she said, “but even stronger, pushing even harder for the universe and for peace and for the health of our planet.” She was sounding almost like a real celebrity. “God didn’t give me these talents and looks to just sit around being a model or being famous. I want to lead a huge charity organization. I want to lead a country, for all I know.””

- Lots of Lean In vibes in The Bling Ring. (Here’s the original Vanity Fair story.)

(via DIRTY COURSEBOOKS - Pavel Fuksa, via fucktheory)

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:46:11 -0400

(via DIRTY COURSEBOOKS - Pavel Fuksa, via fucktheory)

“The virtual assistants don’t get tired and they never...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:26:55 -0400

“The virtual assistants don’t get tired and they never complain. A hologram won’t slap you if you try to put your arm around it. It doesn’t need a bathroom break.” – Joanne McNeil, Prêt à travailler: workaholic holograms

Summer is.

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:12:09 -0400

Summer is.

"One of our members works in a prison with women offenders, and she relates to a conversation she had..."

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:00:04 -0400

“One of our members works in a prison with women offenders, and she relates to a conversation she had with a young woman who had experienced prostitution of her own volition. The young woman was adamant that she was not a victim and that it had been her choice. Without wishing to patronise her in any way, her forearms were covered in so many scars it was impossible to see any unmarked flesh. To those of us who have been fortunate to have had a (fairly) stable childhood, where abuse has not damaged our understanding of bodily boundaries, her defence of ‘not being a victim’ has a hollow ring.”

- This was offered as “evidence” from a local chapter of Amnesty International to support a sex work criminalization bill. Amnesty International was not pleased, and told me why they actually support sex workers’ rights for the New Statesman.

There’s a lot to say about infographics! So just a quick...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:52:00 -0400

There’s a lot to say about infographics! So just a quick note of background on this one created for the series I’ve been writing for The Nation on the anti-prostitution pledge. It’s important to note (as the story does) that the pledge is vague, and doesn’t give guidance on what kinds of prevention and treatment activities with sex workers are allowed for groups that receive AIDS funding from the US. The result, though, has been that some groups have stopped serving sex workers, or only do so under-the-radar. (That’s dangerous, obvs.) Click for the whole story.

(via INFOGRAPHICS: How the Anti-Prostitution Pledge Hinders AIDS Prevention | The Nation)

Exhibit A, B.

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:00:31 -0400

Exhibit A, B.

heycashkitty: “This is a roadtrip cash kitty. We were in...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:44:00 -0400

heycashkitty:

“This is a roadtrip cash kitty. We were in a motel room (in case you can’t tell from the awesome bedspread) and I was about to take her to our new home on a plane, but first we stopped in this town where I made a lot of stage tips. It was pretty sweet to have a cat to come home to on a strip trip.” – strippertweets

Submit yrs!

sex + work + cats + cash + art = ??? ca$hkitty!!! Have you done...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:54:11 -0400

sex + work + cats + cash + art = ~~???~~ ca$hkitty!!!

Have you done sex work? Do you have a cat? Get on CA$HKITTY. Submit your cat/cash here by June 20th to help tell a bigger story about the value of sex work in our lives.

CA$HKITTY is a collaborative art project. It will debut as part of the Ladydrawers’ upcoming show, SEX. MONEY. RACE. GENDER. opening June 28.

It’s a loving mixed-up homage to Stacks & Cats and cashcats.biz, and a tumblr so anyone see the work even if they can’t make it to the show. (You can submit a cashkitty anonymously, too).

Spread the word (spread the cats – that’s my little Valerie Solanas to inspire you, and there’s more on the blog), and join us by June 20th.

"…and so each of us have heard, over and over and from all the good liberals, “but you’re..."

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:08:01 -0400

“…and so each of us have heard, over and over and from all the good liberals, “but you’re doing it for a story, right?” The tone says, “if you’re doing it for money, ew” and/or, “do it so I can do it vicariously.” Marche says so, too, when he burdens Calloway’s choices with his respect. He is comfortable with her sex work, if not with the sexuality itself, because he sees it as performative—sacrificial, even!—or for reasons of art. That “art” is more important than “work” is often questionable, but never more so than when I’m reading sentences as artless and un-startling as Calloway’s. Her documentation strikes fresh awe into this Romantic Dad not because it’s original, but because—I will bet my entire gchat log—he’s never used Tumblr, heard of Constantia Phillips, or read Mary MacLane. Like the middle-aged men who watch Hannah Horvath disenjoy herself on Girls, Marche has found a female writer he can love specifically because there’s fuck-all to fear. Calloway’s plain, stated vulnerability poses no threat to virile hope. Her willful naïveté won’t wilt his intellect. At one point in Adrien Brody, she writes, “I’ve never been able to figure out why I get off on being used as on object.” To this, as a writer who cares about girls enough to want them to grow up, I would say: Try. Or else: Decide your sexuality is something visceral, pre-verbal. If old words don’t suffice, make new. Try. The purest thing is really to work.”

- Sarah Nicole Prickett, The “Real Thing” of Women’s Writing: A Note for Stephen Marche | The Hairpin

"The sexuality itself, at least to me, is utterly boring. But then again I have never been turned on..."

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:06:28 -0400

“The sexuality itself, at least to me, is utterly boring. But then again I have never been turned on by the sight of a bruised tit. Certainly the taboo violations are old hat. There is nothing here that hasn’t been explored in Belle de Jour or Story of the Eye.”

- Marie Calloway and Tao Lin - The New Bad Kids of Fiction - Esquire

I don’t know why I keep posting these, but only an idiot reviewer would a) need us to validate their sexuality and b) compare these three books.

"More than once I have heard expressed by other women—particularly woman writers—the wish that..."

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:58:45 -0400

“More than once I have heard expressed by other women—particularly woman writers—the wish that Calloway and her book simply didn’t exist, that we might all just ignore it. It’s a weary wish, not a malicious one: It would just be easier, they sigh, and maybe better that way. I confess that being asked to write about this book inspired in me a similar wish—that the email had not been sent, that I would not have to decide—and mine was as useless.”

- Marie Calloway: what purpose did i serve in your life is a titillating, frustrating debut. - Slate Magazine

How is wishing a woman simply didn’t exist not violent – when it’s admitted to this limply?

warrenellis: Via: http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/signaling-turk...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:58:23 -0400

warrenellis:

Via: http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/signaling-turkish-protests.html