‘Nothing about us Without us’: An Interview on the Sex Worker Syllabus

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The whorearchy refers to a stratification system within the sex industry or, as Raani Begum says, it is ‘dividing sex workers into categories of marginally respectable to least respectable’ (McNeill 2010; Grant 2014; Knoxx 2014; Sciortino 2016; Begum 2020; Graceyswer 2020). On her blog, Street Hooker, Graceyswer explains, ‘the whorearchy is used to describe the hierarchical difference between the vast number of sex workers based on the stigma they face, how intimate they are with the client and the likelihood of them having interactions with the police’. While we have seen many different diagrams outlining which forms of labour are ostensibly above others, such debates can thwart solidarity and reinforce lateral whorephobia (Vixx 2019; Witt 2020). Lateral whorephobia points to the privileges of certain forms of sex work over others and how sex workers practicing privileged forms of erotic labour often look down upon workers in more stigmatised sectors.

2 See, Twitter threads here: https://twitter.com/drjonessoc/status/1385003297568927744?s=20; https://twitter.com/drjonessoc/status/1401161254807420931?s=20

3 https://peepshowmagazine.com/2020/05/08/sex-work-and-sex-workers-syllabus/

4 See, for example: https://twitter.com/drjonessoc/status/1407778572463489032?s=20

5 https://maggiemcneill.com/2010/09/18/black-men/

6 And as academics, our experiences also widely vary based on our identities, institutional location, and career stage.

7 A slogan originating in the disability justice movement that has also been widely embraced by sex worker activists.