Star Light Ministries

Yeah, even after all these years, sometimes I still get that question.

Here’s LaLibertine’s interpretation, which is nearly the best I’ve seen. Quantifiable? Maybe not. But real? Absolutely.

Star Light Ministries:
I have to do a special shoutout to Lia here. Starlight Ministries is not specifically a sex worker rights organization dedicated to changing legislation. However, it does aim to help destigmatize sex work. Starlight Ministries is a Christian organization (yes, I know!) that primarily works with exotic dancers but all sex workers are genuinely welcomed with open arms. There is no patronizing or condescending here. No, “Well, God would love you if only you got out of sex work!” It’s more, “God loves you” period. Let’s face it, for many sex workers, that little statement would make ALL the difference in the world. I won’t lie, I do not like the Christian Church at all for many reasons. However, Lia and her ministry practice what that whole “Love thy neighbor as thyself” thing is supposed to be. Truly.

LaLibertine has written one of the best posts I’ve seen about the Sex Worker Movement. And yeah, it is a movement. If you really want to understand, go read it. Please, go read it.

Renegade Evolution. A brilliant, beautiful and ballsy (I had to say that because it’s alliterated, okay?) woman.

She’s writing a series of articles at Feministe, and I really, really want to repost them here so I can be sure that you, dear readers, read them. However, linking to them is better. Then she gets the traffic. So get your butt over there and read them, puh-lease.

First post: The Sex Workers Rights Thing: An Overview

Second post: Sex Work Activism: Topic One, Harm Reduction.

Third post: Sex Work Activism: Two- Decriminalization

Fourth Post: Sex Work Activism- Three: The Problem with Creating a Monolith

Can’t you tell she’s brilliant?

I like Ruth Fowler. I enjoy reading her blog. She turns a pretty phrase. I may not always like her content (sometimes I find my self saying, “Too much information! Too much information!”) I think that’s just because I worry…

It’s a funny thing, this internet. I find myself invested in people’s lives, the writers of the blogs I read. There’s Ruth, Dacia Ray, Amanda Brooks, The Panther in Pumps (this site is currently down). I love these women for the stories they have told, the tears they’ve shed, the laughter they’ve brought to my life. I even love the fact that sometimes I have to cover my eyes and navigate off their pages really quick.

And then something happens. You meet them (Hey, Dacia and Amanda!), or you read something by them, and you just want to say, “I never knew you!” It’s a pleasant surprise, you learn wonderful things about them, you learn that they have a whole life outside the internet. And it’s good.

I read Ruth’s book, No Man’s Land, feeling the same surprise. I think it is a beautifully written book. Ruth Fowler really knows how to turn a phrase. She is poetic in prose. She builds a wonderful picture of words.

But it’s not a pretty picture. I felt her life in the club was filled with darkness. If Mimi, Ruth’s stage persona, is not feeling pain in the book, she’s busy numbing herself to not feel pain. The book filled me with sorrow.

Others have been disappointed with the book. Hobo Stripper (another amazing blogger) wrote,

“All the way through the book she has drunken horrible experience after drugged up horrible experience, explaining it all with the great WE. You see, WE strippers can’t strip sober. That’s why WE all have such horrible experiences. Lucky for her, a year or so after she descends into our underworld, Ruth gets a book deal and quickly ascends away from us (only to reappear in a book dictating our experiences and g chats asking about strip clubs in Alaska).”

I don’t think that Ruth Fowler’s experience every person’s experience in stripping. There are dancers out there who are thrilled to go to work, thrilled to make the money they make, grateful for the experience.

And there are others who have to heal from it, because it hurts and they need to numb the pain.

The voices are not monolithic. They are varied, and we need to hear each voice, because when we listen to each voice, we have a better idea about the true experience of sex work.

So, to the beautiful women bloggers out there, and to Ruth Fowler, I say, “Shine On.”