San Francisco? No kidding? | I was wondering when we were gonna have another hooker story... |
| It's sweeps week for blogs, I think ... |
SAN FRANCISCO - The 25 students in jeans and T-shirts could have been in any career that requires hustle. The classes, covering topics such as effective marketing, stress reduction and legal issues, could have been part of any professional development seminar. But this was "Whore College," and any illusion it was just another corporate how-to for young go-getters abruptly ended at the sex toy display and was stripped away for good during a graphic demonstration that put a whole new twist on the concept of hands-on training. "We are still illegal," instructor Kimberlee Cline said before her 20-minute demonstration. "If we want to be treated as business professionals, we need to act ethically within the industry."
Ethical whores? You mean, like politicians? | Hey, don't insult hookers like that! |
Presented in conjunction with the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival, the class Wednesday at an erotic art gallery was billed as a way for working girls and guys to polish their skills in a supportive atmosphere.
The San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival? No, I'm not surprised...
It was the first time the biennial festival, begun in 1999 to showcase films about and by sex workers, included a session devoted to how to maintain a satisfying career.
I dunno? Get screwed a lot? Make a lot of money?| Catch the clap every now and then? Die of AIDS? |
Although famously permissive San Francisco has long been a hotbed for prostitutes' rights activism, the school reflects the movement's maturation away from a focus on decriminalization toward a broader agenda that includes occupational health and safety and community-building, said organizer Carol Leigh.
Hi, hon. I'm from OHSHA for Whores. Where's your hard hat?
Other cities, including Tucson, Ariz., Portland, Ore., Montreal and Taipei, Taiwan, have similar events, said Leigh, a veteran activist who takes credit for coining the term "sex worker" as an anti-euphemism.
And thanks so much for that, Leigh. Who coined the term "anti-euphemism", by the way?| Are there sex peasants, too? |
By light of day, the women and men of the night swapped tips, argued over personal grooming choices and heard from others considered experts in their field. Many of the attendees said they were motivated as much by the networking opportunity and doing what they could to normalize the world's oldest profession as furthering their education. During Cline's workshop, for example, some in the audience skimmed magazines and chatted despite the carnal knowledge unfolding in front of them. Participants who stuck it out for the whole day received diplomas certifying them as G.S.W's — graduates in sex work.
Certification, as we all know, is a must in all your top of the line whorehouses...| An asset for any resume. I always look for it... |
| Just you wait until they start offering advanced degrees ... |
Several students went to lengths to explain that they see themselves as inheritors of a proud tradition — specialists with a choice instead of exploited victims. Sporting nary a stiletto heel among them, their expressed reasons for turning to sex work — an umbrella term that encompasses everything from exotic dancing and acting in pornographic films to turning tricks — were as varied as their hair colors and body types.
The noble foot soldiers of whoring the sex industry...
"My own personal experience has been negative and positive, as with any job," said Kymberly Cutter, 36, a mother of two from Tucson who returned to prostitution two years ago to boost her income and regards it as part of a journey in "personal self-discovery." Her children, ages 7 and 9, know what she does for a living, she said.
"Personal self discovery"? Hey! I think I'm a whore!| Just how many ways are there to spell "Kimberly"? Are there any hookers who aren't named some variant of Kimberly? |
The more shadowy aspects of the profession were covered in the curriculum. Lawyer Erin Crane explained that accepting money for a specific sex act could land someone in jail, but she repeated several times she couldn't advise anyone on how to break the law.
Well I can see why Erin's a lawyer. She looks like she's up on all the latest "lawyer" stuff...I guess accepting money for a generalized sex act wouldn't land you in jug:
"Wanna do somethin'?"
"Yeah! How much?"
"Fifty bucks!" |
Students practiced using assertive screaming for self-defense and they were told how to assess dangerous situations, and how to break free from an assailant's grasp.
Unless that's what they paid for maybe?
| Assertive screaming as opposed to mouthing obscenities? |
Erin O'Bryn, 36, who has appeared on adult television networks, worked in massage parlors, owned an escort referral service and last year ran for Congress in Hawaii, said wearing a power suit and good heels dissuades clients from thinking they can take advantage of her.
Hey, she ran for Congress! I was right earlier!| She lost, though. That's because she's not a real Kimberleigh. |
| Maybe she was a Kymberlay. |
"Sex work is work. Prostitution is work," Leigh said. "The most important thing is that we are diverse. Some are on the streets and in a very desperate situation. Others are in a working-class situation and maybe bored in their jobs. And others see sex work as their calling."
So hug a hooker today!| ... some are on salary and some do... ummm... piece work. But the important thing is that they're diverse. That gives them something in common. I guess. |
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