University of British Columbia Press
Selling Sex
Experience, Advocacy, and Research on Sex Work in Canada
Distributed for University of British Columbia Press
Selling Sex
Experience, Advocacy, and Research on Sex Work in Canada
Despite being dubbed “the world’s oldest profession,” prostitution has rarely been viewed as a legitimate form of labour. Instead, it is often criminalized, sensationalized, and polemicized. In Selling Sex, Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin, and Victoria Love present a more nuanced view of the sex industry. They bring together a vast collection of voices – including feminists, researchers, advocates, and sex workers of every stripe – to challenge dominant narratives surrounding sex work. Presenting a variety of perspectives on such diverse topics as social stigma, police violence, labour organizing, and human trafficking, Selling Sex is an eye-opening, challenging, and necessary book.
Table of Contents
Introduction / Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin, and Victoria Love
Part 1: Realities, Experiences, and Perspectives
1 Work, Sex, or Theatre? A Brief History of Toronto Strippers and Sex Work Identity / Deborah Clipperton
2 Myths and Realities of Male Sex Work: A Personal Perspective / River Redwood
3 Champagne, Strawberries, and Truck-Stop Motels: On Subjectivity and Sex Work / Victoria Love
4 Trans Sex Workers: Negotiating Sex, Gender, and Non-Normative Desire / Tor Fletcher
5 We Speak for Ourselves: Anti-Colonial and Self-Determined Responses to Young People Involved in the Sex Trade / JJ
6 Decolonizing Sex Work: Developing an Intersectional Indigenous Approach / Sarah Hunt
7 Transitioning Out of Sex Work: Exploring Sex Workers’ Experiences and Perspectives / Tuulia Law
Part 2: Organizing and Social Change
8 Working for Change: Sex Workers in the Union Struggle / Jenn Clamen, Kara Gillies, and Trish Salah
9 Overcoming Challenges: Vancouver’s Sex Worker Movement / Joyce Arthur, Susan Davis, and Esther Shannon
10 Né dans le Redlight: The Sex Workers’ Movement in Montreal / Anna-Louise Crago and Jenn Clamen
11 Stepping All Over the Stones: Negotiating Feminism and Harm Reduction in Halifax / Gayle MacDonald, Leslie Ann Jeffrey, Karolyn Martin, and Rene Ross
12 Are Feminists Leaving Women Behind? The Casting of Sexually Assaulted and Sex-Working Women / Jane Doe
13 Going ’round Again: The Persistence of Prostitution-Related Stigma / Jacqueline Lewis, Frances M. Shaver, and Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale
Part 3: The Politics of Regulation
14 Regulating Women’s Sexuality: Social Movements and Internal Exclusion / Michael Goodyear and Cheryl Auger