Harlots Parlour

As a practising Pagan I find societies horror of the Penis rather amusing and even a little disturbing. Considering half the population have them and with out them we would not exist as a species it is just a little weird that images of the Penis, especially an erect Penis are considered so dangerous for public morality that they are banned.

Any man who shows a flaccid penis in pubic never mind an erect one is likely to be charged with at least indecency and labelled a pervert and probably placed on some offenders register. How did we get to this ridiculous position?

Society has indoctrinated us all to be ashamed of our bodies which is very unhealthy. It is of course a reflection of a damaged collective psyche resulting from centuries of monotheistic indoctrination that human sexuality was something to be feared. The penis of course as the the most potent symbol of sexual pleasure was especially feared and banned.

In the past some strands of Christianity (and even some strands of Islam) have celebrated human sexuality as something joyful and sacred but have suffered for doing so at the hands of what became orthodoxy. Within Christianity for example early forms of Christian Gnosticism celebrated human sexuality as a something sacred in ways not dissimilar to our Pagan ancestors. They were of course horribly persecuted for doing so.

Before monotheism in its various guises forced itself upon humanity erect penises were understood to be a symbol of the divine and were to be found everywhere. The penis as an image blessing humanity was to be found in homes and temples and public buildings through out the world. (penis images as a blessing are still to be found in some parts of the world).

This book published privately in 1880 is a fascinating study of the penis as an object of devotion. It is interesting not only for its subject but also as a reflection of social attitudes toward that subject. Discussing the male penis as an object of worship was once considered so shocking that it was deemed only suitable for private distribution among members of society able to cope with such a shocking and unchristian subject. At least that attitude has changed, if only a little.

I have made it available on harlots because it is a fascinating read for those interested in sacred sexuality and because I believe that we as a society need to rediscover again the pleasure that our bodies give us and also to rediscover the spiritual and healing power of sex rather than always understanding sex as something dirty and shameful and even harmful.
I believe that we need to stop fearing what is normal and healthy. As a Pagan my religion is a fertility religion and my body and the bodies of my fellow humans are a joy and not something to be ashamed of or feared.

Enjoy reading this fascinating book.

Phallic Worship (The Masculine Cross) http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=3014888&access_key=key-oe9gubclm32thqr6r79&page=1&viewMode=list

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Dear Friends,

We are sponsoring an exciting Mothers March on Saturday 12 March, and very much hope you will join us on it. The March will be followed by a Speak Out (please see leaflet below).

This is a brilliant chance for us as sex workers to get some recognition for being carers, even if we can’t be public. Over 70% of prostitute women are mothers, mostly single mothers, doing what we can to survive and give our children a better chance in life. We are also grandmothers, sisters, daughters, aunties, partners . . . supporting families and whole communities. When do we hear that in the media?

We get no credit for our work, we are invisible. Unless of course we’ve been raided, arrested, jailed or murdered. The best known sex workers are those who have been exposed in the media or murdered by a serial killer. We can’t even report attacks without risking arrest.

As the cuts bite, there is less help with housing, debt, childcare, or any of the resources we may need to escape violence. More women are being driven into the sex industry. How else are we to support kids through school now EMA is gone and other benefits are being slashed? Why the surprise if some asylum seekers who have been left destitute or forced to live on vouchers turn tricks for a fiver, or some students do lap dancing to pay university fees?

Instead of being offered protection and support, we are witch-hunted by politicians and even some feminists who earn comfy wages lecturing us about changing our ways.

If you are as outraged about this as we are, please join us on the Mothers March. Together with other mothers from all walks of life we can have an impact and demand that all the caring work we do should be recognised and paid for. If we won that money many of us wouldn’t have ended up in the sex industry or we would have been able to leave if we wanted to.

If you can’t march, please send a message of support, a donation towards organising costs, write a letter to your local paper . . . There are many ways to be involved.

Best wishes,

Cari Mitchell

Why we’ll be marching:

“Most of the women that I meet on the street are there to keep their families together and their children out of care. They go out for an hour and make enough money to pay a bill. We are not ready to stay in bed and survive on bread and jam. Personally I feel I deserve more and so does my daughter. What I do is not dishonest. It is hard work.” Jenny, street worker

“What I want is a little recognition. I’m not asking for the hundreds they pay a stranger to do my job as a mother. Just a little of that money would have made my life and my daughter’s life much easier.” Mandy, street worker

“We are all mothers working in this place. Don’t talk to me about ‘my country’. What kind of country is it that forces mothers into prostitution to keep our kids safe? My son was nearly snatched off the street by a gang. He was saved by a passer-by. I never went home again. I moved area, found another flat and went on the game to cover the rent.”

“I’m marching for safety. We get raped and beaten and then the police tell us that if we don’t like it we should stay home. If we do report an attack, more often than not we are arrested for prostitution while our attackers go free.”

“About a year ago I was determined to get out. I got a cleaning job but it only just covered what I had to pay for someone to look after my daughter. I would have had to work two jobs to have enough to support us. This job can destroy you. But other jobs destroy you just as good.”

“I was 18 and pregnant when I started working as a maid. The father of my baby wasn’t around and I was very hard up. I thought it wouldn’t be forever. My job was to look out for the girl and make sure she was safe. After a few months the police raided. They told me if I didn’t give them information I would be charged with brothel-keeping. I had no information to give. That conviction has ruined my life. I have tried for all kinds of jobs since then and it has always come up.”

“I am a mother. I was raided for working collectively with other women. How else could we work safely? The jury sided with me and I was found not guilty. But now I am forced to work alone or I’ll be arrested again. Why put us at risk?”

“Making us illegal doesn’t stop prostitution. It merely makes us vulnerable to psychopaths. The police take advantage, they raid us and seize all our money and assets. Some of it they just steal, it’s never accounted for. Many are also clients. Some of them don’t agree with the laws but they don’t speak out.”

International Women’s Week & Mothering Sunday

MOTHERS MARCH
Sat 12 March 2011 w All welcome
London: 12 noon Trafalgar Sq, 2pm speak-out: call for venue
Invest in caring not killing
For Everyone’s
SURVIVAL
& WELFARE
End Cuts, Poverty & Discrimination
WOMEN, MEN, YOUNG, OLD BRING YOUR DEMANDS!

Why a Mothers March? Because:
· Mothers produce and care for the world’s people, while brutal market forces destroy us and our planet.
· Mothers’ basic contribution to survival and welfare is unrecognised and unpaid.
· Governments invest in weapons of war, banks and corporations. Feeding, housing, health, support, education, the environment – they couldn’t care less.
· Our young people are victimised for defending everyone’s right to education.
· Everywhere people are risking their lives to bring change – from Palestine to Egypt, from Haiti to Colombia, from Kashmir to Congo and Nigeria …

Why march with us? Because:
· Many of us do caring work, whether we’re mothers or not.
· We’re all being robbed of benefits and services our labour and taxes paid for.
· We’re thrown out of jobs or made to work for less.
· Mothers can help bring together all who stand for life, against war and exploitation.
· Everyone’s contribution and struggle must be counted and supported.
· Fathers, sons, brothers, partners . . . it’s time to show your support.

Mothers March in Guyana, India, Peru, the US.
ASK ORGANISATIONS TO ENDORSE THE MARCH

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I hope that most people who know me or who read this blog will appreciate that I am the last person to want to censor anything. I dislike censorship with a passion. As a gay man I am more than happy to accept the odd amusing remark, even sometimes rude remarks aimed at homosexuals if in the right context. I am not overly very fond of the politically correct lobby.
Having said all of this I was shocked by this advert for Lager. It is so blatantly homophobic. I can imagine children who are gay being deeply upset at the homophobia displayed as humour in this advert. It incites homophobia and justifies the crass remarks that perhaps passes as humour among some young men desperate to prove their heterosexuality. Can you imagine this advert being allowed if it were poking fun at black men, or Muslims or any ethnic community?

The advert is here. I have made an official complaint for the first time in my life to the advertising standards authority. I hope others will do the same. You can register a complaint

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February 13th, 2011 Press Release
IUSW response to Tory MSP comment – was rape victim a prostitute?
The International Union of Sex Workers
Sunday 13th Feb 2011 Immediate Release

TEXT BEGINS
I write as an activist with the International Union of Sex Workers, an organisation of people who work in the sex industry. Like many others, we deplore Bill Aitken’s comments. However, the idea that a woman’s consent to sex counts for less if she has sex for money is a common one – it is shared by those who campaign for criminalisation of sex workers’ clients. The ideology that buying sex is violence by men against women is often presented as the feminist viewpoint on prostitution, and the criminalisation of purchase (the “Swedish” model) presented as the solution. One of the most ardently advocated feminist principles is that “no means no”. Ironically, according to some feminists, for sex workers, “yes” cannot mean “yes”. Until our consent is treated with the same respect as that of any other woman, attitudes like Bill Aitken’s will continue.

The violence sex workers experience is often used by those oppose prostitution itself as an argument for our eradication. But a project in Liverpool shows what can be done if the authorities listen to us when we talk about violence. Working with a specialist Independent Sexual Violence Advisor based at the Armistead project, police prioritise protection rather than prosecution. Using a “hate crime” model, they achieve a 90% conviction rate for crimes of violence against street sex workers, and a 68% conviction rate for rape.
Policies that solve problems are based in reality and on evidence, not ideology.
TEXT ENDS
——-
The International Union of Sex Workers:
For our human, civil and labour rights. For our inclusion and decriminalisation.
For freedom to choose and respect for those choices, including the absolute right to say no.
For the full protection of the law. For everyone in the sex industry.
ONLY RIGHTS WILL STOP THE WRONGS.

ARTICLE AS REPORTED IN

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I was made aware of his article in the Guardian on Students paying their college fees by Lap Dancing on the face book site SAVE HACKNEY’S STRIP VENUES
You can read the full article with links “HERE”

Student by day … lap-dancer by night It doesn’t clash with lectures and pays up to £300 a night. Rowenna Davis talks to students who are funding their studies by lap-dancing

Rowenna Davis The Guardian, Tuesday 15 February 2011 Article history
Of the lap-dancers by surveyed recently by Leeds University one in three were working to fund education. Photograph: Anna Gordon

Joy Nilsson is a student protester, but not as we know it. She has just started an MSc at a London university. Today she is bundled up in a puffa jacket and a fluorescent waistcoat outside Hackney Town Hall, marching along with a group carrying signs and shouting through megaphones. But this protest is not about tuition fees or higher education funding cuts. These women are here to oppose a plan to clamp down on east London’s menagerie of strip and lap-dancing clubs. If the plan goes through, Nilsson says she will struggle to be able to pay for her postgraduate course, because she is funding it with her job as a professional lap-dancer.

“If they close the clubs many women will drop out of higher education,” she says. “I don’t want to owe £50,000 when I graduate, and I know other women feel the same. I love my job and I’m very proud of what I do – it fits perfectly with my studying, it’s very flexible and you get your money up front. What other jobs give you that kind of freedom?”

Lap-dancing for degrees is becoming a common phenomenon. A recent study of over 200 lap-dancers carried out by Leeds University found that one in three of those surveyed were working to fund education. The majority of these were younger women, with 14% working to fund undergraduate study; 6% were on postgraduate courses and 4% in further education. At a time when fees are about to increase, there is widespread expectation that more women will turn to this industry to fund their studies.

Patricia Barnes is one example. A 19-year-old in her first year at Southampton Solent University, she started dancing at a local club, Aqua Lounge, to pay off debts that started mounting when her student loan arrived three months late. With no space available in over-subscribed student halls, Barnes rented a shared house in the private sector, which cost a good deal more. She maxed out her overdraft and credit card in the process. Her mother had already got into debt trying to help her, and Barnes says there was no way she could ask for more. Now when her mum asks where she’s getting her money, Barnes simply tells her she’s working part time for a communications company.

“No one wants to see their kids doing it, but I know why I’m here,” she says. “In my last job I wasn’t guaranteed £20 for three hours; here I could make £200. I’ve paid back the deposit on my house, started paying back my credit card and kept up with my rent. I can make my rent in three days here. Without that I’d still be in a lot of debt.”

Good money

Barnes says she got into dancing during a night out. She and some friends went into the club for fun, and got talking to one of the dancers. When her eyes widened after hearing that it was possible to make £300 a night, the dancer said they were looking for more women, and introduced her to the manager.

“I had to audition on a client in the club, but I practised on one of the girls beforehand. She gave me some tips, like doing more floor work. You have to be completely naked. That was the worst part – getting comfortable with everything. I practised on my housemates, too, after a few drinks – I figured if I could do it for them it was OK. I was embarrassed at first, but that went away. The girls are great, and my manager is excellent.”

Barnes has mixed feelings about what she is doing. “At work I’m proud of dancing, but out of work I feel a bit ashamed,” she says. “People can judge you – it’s the picture it paints: she’s a stripper so she’s a slag … I haven’t told anyone apart from my best friends, and my mum’s religious so I definitely wouldn’ t tell her.”

The club’s manager, Vicki Andrews, also paid her way though university as a dancer, working for eight years before she opened Aqua Lounge in 2005. Now she says she’s in a position to provide opportunities for others, and would give priority to students looking for work. “We’ve had a lot of inquiries from younger girls since the [student] protests started,” she says. “From 18-year-olds who think they’ll be off to study soon and they need to do something to help fund it. Some are worried about paying for accommodation, and many parents are not in a position to help. We rarely turn anyone down, but if we reached saturation point I would prioritise those who felt most hard pushed trying to fund their education.”

In the research study by Leeds, most women worked between two and four eight-hour shifts a week, and the average earni ngs were £232. However, there was huge variation between clubs, reflecting the diversity of work available. While Barnes generally makes £60-£80 a night to help fund her degree dancing privately for individual clients in her underwear, Nilsson can often earn up to £200 a night for her MSc by putting on collective shows for large audiences in a strip club that offers something much closer to burlesque entertainment.

Three quarters of all the dancers surveyed reported good job satisfaction, but interviews took place only in clubs where open access to staff had been granted by the management, so a high rate of satisfaction could be expected.

“Dancing is a strategy,” says Dr Kate Hardy, who helped to undertake the research led by Dr Teela Sanders on behalf of the Economic and Social Research Council. “A large proportion of the women we spoke to were dancing to continue education or to balance inconsistent work, often in the creative arts. Most saw it as a bit of fun because it wasn’t for ever – after studying, the idea is to move and get a graduate job. The money isn’t easy, but 80% of the women said they liked the work because they earned more than in other jobs and 88% said that they liked the flexibility – there’s no need for them to go in when exams or essays are due in.”

The hours mean that students are able to lead something of a double life, engaging with lectures and studies during the day and working evening shifts late into the night. “I don’t think anyone has any idea what I do,” says Nilsson with a smile. “Sometimes I go to lectures with a bag full of kinky outfits so I can go straight to work. During the day I don’t even wear any make-up. It just shows that you never know.”

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*** Fridays 18th.  This case has been delayed until Wednesday/Thursday.  Please check back.  ***

The ECP has issued this statement re Ms Morris. Ms Morris reported an attack by criminals upon a flat where women represented by her worked. The women were threatened with quite awful violence. The police however instead of pursuing the criminals decided to target and prosecute Ms Morris. Reported on Harlots “HERE”.

Abuse of Process case is adjourned to Monday 21 February 10am Guildford Crown Court

Ms Morris says “I would like to thank everyone who gave their support, either in body or spirit, for my court case on 4 February. It is gratefully appreciated. This is a harrowing time for my family and I, but we are strengthened by knowing that people’s thoughts are with us.

The case has been adjourned till 21 February, if anybody would like to attend court you’d be very welcome as we hope to put forward a strong united front.”

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Shelly Stoops.

I am very pleased to post two short films featuring Shelly Stoops from the Liverpool Armistead Street project. The films are short excerpts from a week long series by ITV Granada television called hidden lives. The series looked at aspects of the sex industry in that area of the UK.

One of the films features an interview with Hazel Blears who as a Labour MP and minister in the last Labour government shares some of the responsibility for the ill thought out changes to the law on prostitution introduced in the Policing and crime Bill 2010. She was also a labour MP and minister for ever tarnished by the “expenses scandal”.. Noticeably she seems to still manage to take the moral high ground despite her own less than scandal free past. Her claims to not want to normalise prostitution and her dislike of the term sex work reveals so much about the hypocrisy and double standards that prevail in the so called liberal ruling class. The safety of women and men who work in the sex industry (or any industry) should be the priority of any decent person regardless of how icky they may feel personally about that work. Not for Hazel Blears and her kind however.

The films spotlights street work which Shelly points out represents the minority of sex work, something Hazel Blears ignores. The street workers who did appear however were very brave to do so. If only some of the more mainstream sex workers were as brave and as willing to get involved it would make our collective struggle for rights much easier and help to challenge the media’s obsession with caricaturing all sex workers as people with social problems. It was also interesting how Blears picked up on the negative response from the woman working in the brothel when asked if she wanted her children to work in this industry. Perhaps her reluctance for her children to be in the sex industry was not the work but rather the social stigma encouraged by the criminalisation of so much of our industry and the resulting sleaziness and danger. Hazel Blears responses illustrate how successive governments are happy to discriminate against (government own estimates) eighty thousand sex workers, to place them in danger and to deny them basic human rights, just because they feel uncomfortable about our work. UK justice has a long way to go I fear.

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