11.21.00, 4:32 p.m. ||
live nude girls unite...and then have to explain why a million
times
Today I coughed so hard in class I had to leave the room. Um,
yuck.
Last week Julia Query, sex worker, stand-up comedian, and
co-filmmaker of Live Nude Girls Unite! came to present clips from
the documentary about dancers (including herself) unionizing at the Lusty
Lady and field questions from the students. She
was funny, articulate, and clear about her politics: no matter what you think
about sex work and its "morality," it is a legitimate feminist position to
argue that women in sex work -- there by "choice" or economic despair--
deserve to be safe, to have rights as workers and
legal recourse for abuse or discrimination from clients and employers.
But some of the students were clearly put off by
the fact that we had a sex worker in the classroom. (Later, one
would write, "I just told myself that she was a lesbian to put her
ideas in context," suggesting that because she is a lesbian, she might "naturally" have deviant
notions?) They asked with furrowed brows, "So, are you
saying that you encourage women to do sex work?" "Um, are you saying that
it's a good job?" "Don't you think sex work perpetuates the objectification of
women?" "Don't strippers make it worse for other women?"
She patiently and politely answered their
questions. (I'm paraphrasing here.) "No, I'm saying that women who do
do sex work deserve rights and legal protection." "I'm saying that
it's just another form of work, and for some women who want a flexible
schedule because of school or other jobs, they might find that dancing
is a good trade-off." "Well, what are the boundaries of sex
work? Law firms and ad agencies hire young white attractive women
to be receptionists. Waitresses are forced to smile. Those of
examples of how women are forced in other jobs to use their
sexuality. You, you're looking cute today. Are you
perpetuating the objectification of women?" "Strippers don't make it
worse for other women, the system that perpetuates misogyny and the
stigmatization of some women's sexuality in order to regulate
others does."
I watched the expressions of doubt and
stubborn disbelief furrow their faces, and
sighed.
And at the end --perhaps frustrated-- she reiterated, "Okay, it's
just another kind of work. And because of that it's not that sex work is
empowering -- it's the act of unionizing that is
empowering."