Audacia Ray's Blog, page 63
March 19, 2011
Sex working nostalgia:
There is no good reason for me to keep a...
Sex working nostalgia:
There is no good reason for me to keep a wig and thong I worked in when I was 23. There just isn't. I am trying to clean house. It's a little painful. Putting pictures on the Internet helps though.
I am doing an excavation in my apartment, which I've lived...
I am doing an excavation in my apartment, which I've lived in for eight years, in prep for the big move to my new place (probs in May). Just unearthed these: red suspenders with penguins on them.
March 18, 2011
http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand...
[link above is to my statement at the UN human rights council today]
so some context for that last photo. today the united states made its report to the united nations human rights council on its response to the "universal periodic review" (UPR) – a new process at UN HRC that reviews the human rights records of countries every four years. i wrote about this back in november when i was in geneva for the beginning of the process (when countries made recommendations to the united states) so have a look back at that if you like.
the photo is from a demonstration in nyc which was in response to a call from sex worker groups to mark this day b/c the united states actually accepted a recommendation from uruguay to address violence and discrimination against sex workers as a human rights issue. the exact text from the US was: "we agree that no one should face violence or discrimination in access to public services based on sexual orientation or their status as a person in prostitution." this was (i believe) the first time that sex workers' rights were affirmed at the UN human rights council. certainly the first time by the US. it represents a shift in policy (or at least language) by the US – they didn't rely on the typical anti-sex work language in the name of anti-trafficking that has marked past US statements on the international level. even when the delegation was discussing the recommendations they received on labor rights and trafficking, they still did not fall back onto the same old line. it is just language, in a way, but like foucault said, language is power, and this represents a real change in power. it is entirely possible that the anti-sex work activists were simply not in the house or not lobbying so maybe we will see a backlash, but (it seems, at least) that we have built some actual relationships at the state department and can leverage that to make some change. which is a phenomenal concept.
as part of the US report today, just as with any UPR report, NGOs had an opportunity to speak (as did states). i was fortunate enough to be one of the ten speakers – which is a story in itself that perhaps i'll tell another day. i tried to find a line between forcefully calling on the government to follow up on its words with actions and making them feel good about what they had done – it seems i may have succeeded, according to both my colleagues and the attitude of the members of the US delegation towards me afterwards. i do have to say that the government made a very impressive effort to be open and transparent with this process, which is exciting by itself. after the report adoption, the US delegation (or some of them at least) had a very intimate sit down meeting with US NGOs and it was a really interesting conversation. i appreciate those who criticized the process and/or the outcomes, as well as the amount of appreciation in the room – the delegation seemed quite willing to take critique and talk about next steps. as much as i might criticize the obama administration, i have to say that i can't imagine anything like this happening under bush or perhaps even clinton (not old enough to really know!) and it's a real testament, in my opinion, that they went about this process in such an open way. for sure there were plenty of problems, but on the average i would say that not only was the process positive but also the outcome.
""I was really surprised at how normal most of the people who called me are," says..."
"I was really surprised at how normal most of the people who called me are," says Lorenzana, who maintains relationships with two dozen regular customers. "My clients are usually in their mid-40s. Sometimes married. It's almost like they just want a girlfriend for a while."
But like her mother — with whom she often shot up with — Lorenzana is now seriously attached to meth, spending at least $400 a week to maintain an addiction that has destroyed most of the veins in her arms. ("My arms are gone. I used them up a long time ago.")
She eventually married David, her mother's former boyfriend, 23 years her senior and still living with his parents.
"-
Steve Duin: Ashly Lorenzana is surviving, suffering, on her own terms | OregonLive.com
Ashly is reading from her self-published memoir, "Sex, Drugs, and Being an Escort" at the April 7 Red Umbrella Diaries.
Fun fact: this picture was taken by Morgan Goode really early in...
Fun fact: this picture was taken by Morgan Goode really early in the morning (6 am!) on July 28, 2009 - the fifth blogoversary of my Waking Vixen. Blogging has brought many wonderful people into my life, including my smart and handsome friend Sinclair!
The photo was used in the 2010 NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar. We were April - our mutual birthday month.
Dear Waking Vixen readers/RSS subscribers...
I've been blogging at Waking Vixen (Blogger, then MovableType, then WordPress) since July 2004. As you've surely noticed, I don't blog as much or the way I used to. I used to write daily, long personal stories, cultural analysis, TMI… but I don't anymore. Waking Vixen has been sitting quiet and unposted-on a lot in the past few years. That's a shame, but I haven't been exactly silent.
I have, however, been super active in other places online. Blogwise, I spent 8 months running Naked City for the Village Voice in 2008, and for the past two years I've been editing and writing for Akimbo, the blog I launched at my job at the International Women's Health Coalition. I've also been especially verbose on Twitter - and I'm reviving my use of Tumblr now too. If you're reading this in your RSS reader, and you just saw a sudden flood of posts from me, it's because I made the move to replace the Waking Vixen RSS feed with my feed from Tumblr. I've been messing around on Tumblr for a few weeks now and I think that's what's up.
The thing is: adapt or die. And Waking Vixen has been languishing. It's taken me a while to even think about letting go, but its time I figure out how to not hang onto Waking Vixen for nostalgic reasons.
I'll be reconfiguring some things over the next few weeks, and we'll see how it all shakes out. Two weeks ago I wrote my first Tumblr post in more than a year: I miss the internet. It's true, I do. Waking Vixen doesn't feel organic to me in the way it once did, and the way other platforms do now. So, a salute to loving the internet again and figuring out how to do it better.
Webcast from UN Human Rights Council review on human rights in the United States
Live! From Geneva - right now.
Today the United States is accepting recommendation 86, with this language:
86. We agree that no one should face violence or discrimination in access to public services based on sexual orientation or their status as a person in prostitution, as this recommendation suggests.
Most exciting of all - there is a sex worker in Geneva right now who is going to get to read a two minute statement from our community. So! Tune in. Check it out. Even though UN webcasts seem boring and wonky, there is shit happening there!
March 17, 2011
"Ottensoser works for Star-K, a nonprofit that certifies food products as kosher. Of several hundred..."
-
Wired 12.11: The Geek Guide to Kosher Machines
Did you know appliances can be kosher?
We're learning lots of new stuff as we wade through the many choices involved in (re)making a home. When David called for price quotes on appliances today, he was told that the GE Profile line is not kosher. I wasn't sure what this meant, so I did some googling and found this old Wired article about a guy who works with companies to make electronics kosher.
(via apt4e)
On Tuesday, March 22 from 7 to 9:30 pm I'm doing a...
On Tuesday, March 22 from 7 to 9:30 pm I'm doing a panel at my alma mater. Excited about this! And I'll be in good company too.
WORK STUDY: SEX WORK, FEMINISM, AND THE NEW SCHOOL STUDENT
Wollman Hall, Eugene Lang College, 65 West 11th Street, New York, NY
This past fall, New York Post headlines decried the "Hooker Teacher!"—a tenured public school teacher who is also a graduate of the New School. Amid the myths and sensationalism is the plain fact that many New School students and professors count sex work among the jobs they have held to pay bills.
Join moderator Jennifer Baumgardner (Lang writing faculty), writers Audaci…a Ray (a Lang graduate) Melissa Petro (the "Hooker Teacher" in question), and Melissa Febos (a Lang graduate and current faculty), Niesha Davis (a current student), and advocacy group leaders, to discuss media, feminism, and why an open conversation about sex work is critical now.
Co-sponsored by Gender Studies, Lang@25, Paradigm Shift, and n+1. Advocacy groups include Sex Workers Project, the PROS Network, SWANK, Red Umbrella Project, and others.
Jennifer Baumgardner is a magazine writer, the author of several books about feminism, including Manifesta: Young, Women, Feminism and the Future and Look Both Ways, and the creator of the I Had an Abortion Project.
Melissa Petro is a writer, researcher and former sex worker. Her work appears on The Huffington Post, Daily Beast, The Rumpus.net and elsewhere. She has been interviewed by Marie Claire, Bust and Mother Jones. She has an MFA from The New School.
Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir, WHIP SMART. Her writing has been published in The Southeast Review, Redivider, Dissent, The Chronicle of Higher Education Review, and Bitch Magazine, among many others, and she has been profiled in venues ranging from the cover of the NY Post to NPR's Fresh Air. Recently named one of "Five New Queer Voices to Watch Out For" by Lambda Literary, she is the winner of the Memoirs, Ink half-yearly contest, and a 2010 MacDowell Colony fellow. She teaches at Purchase College, Sarah Lawrence, The New School, and NYU, and holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence.
Audacia Ray is a former sex worker and the director of the Red Umbrella Project, which does media trainings and creates storytelling spaces for sex workers. She is the author of Naked on the Internet and was an editor at $pread magazine for three years. Audacia has a BA from Eugene Lang College at the New School and a MA from Columbia University.
Niesha is a 24 year old writer and performer who has lived in San Francisco, New York, and Amsterdam. Her writing has appeared in Time Out Amsterdam Magazine, $pread Magazine, and on Patch.com.
"Eve, who asked that we not reveal her real name or age, spent two years in prison. During her time..."
- Federal Civil Rights Suit Challenges Louisiana's Felony Sex Work Law - COLORLINES
