Audacia Ray's Blog, page 70

Video: Go-go boys, tentacle porn, and sex worker stories

More video from Sex Worker Literati in September!

The first is Gerry Visco, who describes herself as "illegally blonde" and writes about outrageous NYC nightlife at the New York Press. Gerry's not just a chronicler of nightlife, she's also a creator of mayhem. You can see what I mean in the below video, in which she not only has a lookalike but is also accompanied by two go-go boys. She'll be making a second appearance at Sex Worker Literati in March for our "My Favorite Outfit" event.

Also f...

Sex Worker Literati: Stories on Video & Call for Performers

I've been a bit lax about it over the past two months, partly due to some hard drive messiness (le sigh), but I spend some time this weekend digging into my archives of video files from Sex Worker Literati.

There are a lot of good stories coming down the pike, since I've now got 10 videos edited and ready to go, and I'll be posting at least two a week for the next while. I still have to edit videos from the December and January readings. At the moment, there are eighteen videos online - you c...

Neither Victims Nor Voiceless (crosspost from RH Reality Check)

Yesterday I had my first feature go up at RH Reality Check, and it's about sex work activism, the ways that the sex worker rights movement is sometimes misconstrued by the feminist movement, and it has some substantive writing on my time in India. Plus, there's a bit about the process of producing the short doc about IWHC partner org SANGRAM.

It was inspiring to meet the HIV-positive rural women, illiterate sex workers, and community health advocates who are working together to facilitate...

Laurenn McCubbin: Shaking it Up in Sin City (artfully, of course)

I am 90% happy that I am not in Las Vegas this week at the Adult Entertainment Expo. I do not miss the endless walking and leg ache of the convention hall, I do not miss the inevitable reminder that most of the porn industry isn't at all like the feminist queer bubble I exist in. I do, however, miss hanging out with my friends and especially chowing down at the Grand Lux Cafe and having weird moments. But I can certainly make my own weird moments here in NYC.

The thing I feel most bummed...

Five Favorite Press Moments of 2009

Ok, yeah, it's officially old news since it's now 2010, but I'm wrapping up my promised (to myself, as much as you) wrapping up of 2009 (for those playing along at home, I have yet to post my favorite images and favorite blog posts, those will be up in the next two days).

I was pretty picky about engaging with the press in 2009, but as these things seem to happen, there were a few bursts of activity inspired by various controversies, plus my second major mention in the New York Times. Here...

Five Favorite Videos of 2009

Ok, week of madness? Check. I'm trying to stick with my list-making and get my best-ofs posted before the year runs out. Previously, I did My 2009 Achievements in Review and Fifteen Favorite Books of 2009.

Here are my favorite videos, of the ones I made this year.
The Bi Apple - which was my first, and a feature at that, so extra h...

Fifteen Favorite Books of 2009

This year I started regularly using a site that has become one of my favorite ways to share knowledge online: Goodreads. I've been keeping track of my reading and my friends' reading there, plus reviewing some of the books I devour (and I have been crossposting some that to this here blog). I read a lot this year, partly because I now have a commute to work and I read a lot on the subway. In 2009 so far (because, let's face it, there ARE another few weeks in the year) I've read 55 books.

Here...

My 2009 Achievements in Review

As I wrote about in a recent post about trying to give myself a break, I've been going through some growing pains and stressing a bit about what I should be working on and what I actually want to be doing with my time outside of my (glorious, busy, fulfilling) job. Last week I sat down and combed through my blog posts and notes to myself and promotional materials for things I've done this year, and it reminded me that I am one busy lady who has certainly accomplished plenty this year (as in p...

December 17: Intl Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 17th is the annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, a day on which sex workers and their allies gather at vigils around the world to mourn our dead and bring attention to the continued acts of violence and injustice faced by sex workers. It's a tough event, but a necessary one - because sex workers are so stigmatized, they are often disrespected in both life and death. Our community must come together to memorialize those who have been taken from us, and...

My short doc on SANGRAM & Sex Worker Organizing in India

Ahhhhh! I'm so excited about this!!! Ok, must be professional. But seriously!!! Excited!!!

Back in September, my job at the International Women's Health Coalition sent me to India with my co-worker Khushbu Srivastava to do media training and documentation of the our partners in the country. I shot more than 6 hours of video footage, took more than 400 photos, and took many many notes. As a very prolific writer and speaker on sexuality and rights issues in the US, it was a tough but great...