Share
Why Are People Into That?!
Live! Aya de Leon, Akynos, Jacq the Stripper: Writing about Sex Work
“The second you make someone laugh, it’s so much easier to get money out of 'em!” / Live from McNally Jackson NYC in January 2018!We discussed colorism at strip clubs, #MeToo issues, Spread Magazine, how being a stripper prepares you to write single panel comics, and a certain portrait of Aya's mom wearing a leopard print fur bikini holding a snake! / From I Was A Teenage Dominatrix to The Happy Hooker, classic sex work books have been limited to pretty one-dimensional points of view. In the 21st century, sex work books are as prismatic as the workers themselves. Join sex work journalist and podcaster Tina Horn for a panel on the exciting and nuanced ways sex work is being written about right now. Learn how strippers around the world represent themselves, on topics ranging from snacks to the male ego, in Jacq the Stripper's crowdfunded self published Striptastic. Learn why Aya de Leon chose escort characters as the protagonists of her Justice Hustlers crime series. Learn how Akynos uses both her blogging and performance art as activism. We'll be discussing everything from stigma to genre to branding to high heels in an effort to create a real and honest portrait of the modern literary sex worker.
/ Jacq the Stripper is a Canadian writer, comedian, stripper and illustrator. She lives in New York City with her wife and plants.Beaver Show, Striptastic, social media... / Aya de Leon is an author, teacher, and activist in the Oakland Bay Area. Kensington Books publishes her sex worker heist series, Justice Hustlers: Uptown Thief in 2016 (winner of Independent Publisher and International Latino Book Awards), The Boss in 2017, and The Accidental Mistress in 2018. She has received acclaim in the Washington Post, Village Voice, Tits and Sass, The SF Chronicle, and The Establishment. Her work has also appeared in Ebony, Guernica, Writers Digest, Huffington Post, The Toast, The Honest Courtesan, Essence, VICE, Bitch Magazine and on Def Poetry. She is also at work on a black girl spy YA novel called Going Dark, and an adult spy novel about FBI infiltration of an African American political organization. She teaches creative writing in the African American Studies Department at UC Berkeley, and blogs and tweets about race, gender, and culture at @AyadeLeon and ayadeleon.com.
kynos is a New York raised stripper and performance artist. For the past decade she has been featured in showcases from New York to Europe. She is a proud sex worker and human rights activist. She has spoken at events such as the 2016 International AIDS conference in South Africa and the AWID conference in Brazil of the same year. Her film Whore Logic has been featured in film festivals such as The Sex Worker Film and Arts festival. She currently has a new bi-weekly variety showcase with her dance troupe Koffee every other Thursdays at Essence bar in Brooklyn. To support her artistic endeavors please support her current gofundme campaign and sign up for her patreon where she will feature writings and a podcast on topics pertaining to her life, sex worker rights and conversations around sex and sexuality. She is currently a grad student at Goddard College in Vermont.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
More episodes
View all episodes
WE TOO: Yin Q on Kink Out and Forgiveness
01:23:33Yin Q, writer of the piece "We All Deserve To Heal" from We Too, discusses Spike Lee, Body of Workers, Kink Out Spaces at MOMA PS1, disassociation, complicity, power play, control, and forgiveness. // Yin Q is a mother, kink educator, writer, and activist based in New York City. Their media work includes Mercy Mistress, a web pilot, and Fly in Power, a short documentary. They founded a production team called Kink Out and organize with Red Canary Song, an APIA and Asian migrant sex and massage worker collective. Yin has been recognized by Spike Lee as an impact activist in his tribute to Jackie Robinson.// ABOUT WE TOO: This collection of narrative essays by sex workers presents a crystal-clear rejoinder: there’s never been a better time to fight for justice. Responding to the resurgence of the #MeToo movement in 2017, sex workers from across the industry—hookers and prostitutes, strippers and dancers, porn stars, cam models, Dommes and subs alike—complicate narratives of sexual harassment and violence, and expand conversations often limited to normative workplaces.Writing across topics such as homelessness, motherhood, and toxic masculinity, We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival gives voice to the fight for agency and accountability across sex industries. With contributions by leading voices in the movement such as Melissa Gira Grant, Ceyenne Doroshow, Audacia Ray, femi babylon, April Flores, and Yin Q, this anthology explores sex work as work, and sex workers as laboring subjects in need of respect—not rescue.A portion of this book's net proceeds will be donated to SWOP Behind Bars (SBB). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
WE TOO: Selena the Stripper
45:04“They have no stakes. We have all of the stakes.”In the latest episode of my special series on WE TOO: Essays on Sex Work and Survival, I interviewed Selena the Stripper, who wrote the book's introduction.Discussed: FKA Twigs' pole dance appropriation; who gets to use the word Heaux: sugar dating; the status value of a Birkin bag; Strippers United //Selena The Stripper is a sex worker, writer, podcaster, and community organizer. After graduating from MICA in 2015, fae felt out of place in the elitist world of institutional art. Through stripping fae found financial stability and a community of incredibly strong, radically free thinking artists. Faer Instagram (@prettyboygirl) highlights faer writing and photography, but weekly exclusive content can be found on Patreon (@therealprettyboygirl). Fae is a resident author with Berlinable, a Berlin-based erotica publication. Faer podcast, Heaux in the Kneaux, is available on all platforms. // ABOUT WE TOOThis collection of narrative essays by sex workers presents a crystal-clear rejoinder: there’s never been a better time to fight for justice. Responding to the resurgence of the #MeToo movement in 2017, sex workers from across the industry—hookers and prostitutes, strippers and dancers, porn stars, cam models, Dommes and subs alike—complicate narratives of sexual harassment and violence, and expand conversations often limited to normative workplaces.Writing across topics such as homelessness, motherhood, and toxic masculinity, We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival gives voice to the fight for agency and accountability across sex industries. With contributions by leading voices in the movement such as Melissa Gira Grant, Ceyenne Doroshow, Audacia Ray, femi babylon, April Flores, and Yin Q, this anthology explores sex work as work, and sex workers as laboring subjects in need of respect—not rescue.A portion of this book's net proceeds will be donated to SWOP Behind Bars (SBB) Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
WE TOO: Natalie West
01:23:52For the first episode of a special series celebrating the release of We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival, I chatted with the book's editor Natalie West. (I associate edited and contributed to the anthology!) //"You have to be ok with ambiguity to grapple with what the book presents and what sex work is."//Natalie reflects on her choice to market herself as the Lesbian Dominatrix of Los Angeles. Then we get into the long history of how we came to co-edit this anthology of sex workers responding to the Me Too movement. Stay tuned for more episodes featuring other contributors to the book. And snag your copy, out 2.9.21 from Feminist Press! //Natalie West is a Los Angeles based writer and educator. She worked as a professional Dominatrix while obtaining her PhD in Gender Studies. These days, she is a professor who moonlights as a sex work, BDSM, and queer community authenticity consultant for film and television. //We Too is a collection of narrative essays by sex workers presents a crystal-clear rejoinder: there’s never been a better time to fight for justice. Responding to the resurgence of the #MeToo movement in 2017, sex workers from across the industry—hookers and prostitutes, strippers and dancers, porn stars, cam models, Dommes and subs alike—complicate narratives of sexual harassment and violence, and expand conversations often limited to normative workplaces.Writing across topics such as homelessness, motherhood, and toxic masculinity, We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival gives voice to the fight for agency and accountability across sex industries. With contributions by leading voices in the movement such as Melissa Gira Grant, Ceyenne Doroshow, Audacia Ray, femi babylon, April Flores, and Yin Q, this anthology explores sex work as work, and sex workers as laboring subjects in need of respect—not rescue.A portion of this book's net proceeds will be donated to SWOP Behind Bars (SBB). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
YAPIT Update
03:10Hey YAPIT fans! I'm focusing my energy on SfSx Volume 2, the hustle, and work/life balance in these turbulent times. Listen for a few words on my hiatus, and what to expect in 2021. xoxoxo TH Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
Annie Rose Malamet: Vampires
01:31:29“No amount of assimilation or pride has shaken this sense of myself as an inverted dark predatory lesbian.” //Certified lesbian vampire Annie Rose Malamet joins me to explain the appeal of darkness, finesse, predation, the night, immortal codependency, two little wounds in the neck, ejaculating blood, obsession, morbidity, the shadow self, and performance; with nods to Octavia Butler, Anne Rice, Countess Elizabeth Báthory, Phantom of the motherfuckin Opera, Xenomorphs, Ovi positors, slutty Halloween werewolves, tentacles, and evil computers. //Annie Rose Malamet is a writer, teaching artist, and podcast producer. As the creator of the podcast "Girls, Guts, & Giallo," she examines subversive and controversial films from a femme leather dyke perspective. In her writing, she blends personal narrative and film theory. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
SX Noir on Black Sex Worker Liberation + more
01:27:01"How can brands do more for social justice movements? Give people pleasure! Give people a reason to have a wet a$s p#ssy! Uplifting difficult conversations about Black Lives Matter: that’s what makes p#ssy wet! Loving relationships and care starts with pleasure and understanding your needs. And guess what? Social and political justice are needs like orgasms are needs.” — SX Noir /Who better than thot leader SX Noir to weave together BLM, COVID, and pleasure principles? In this special episode, sponsored by LELO, SX and Tina explore: privacy and persona in digital space, the Black Sex Worker Liberation March, mutual aid, sex tech, remote control vibrators, why we need to stop and erotically appreciate the flowers, the importance of masturbation during quarantine, and W.A.P. /Don’t forget! You can get 15% off your self-love routine with the code SEXTECH on https://lelo.to/WhyArePeopleIntoThat . This applies to every pleasure product on the site (except for already discounted products). Offer valid now through Dec 31, 2020 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
Juno Mac: Interrobang?!
40:16“Kink is an arena where I find tidiness.” //In Part 2 of my talk with Juno Mac, co-author of Revolting Prostitutes, we discuss: great books about sex work, rational thoughts in an irrational world, whether there's such a thing as the sex worker gaze, what the Hustlers of prostitution will look like, why it’s imperative that sex work activism centers mutual aid and the experience of migrants, and how Juno is trying not to be the movement’s mother so she can be a @FeralMommy in her personal life. //“Our fangs are so fucking sharp." //Juno Mac is a professional leg spreader and opinion haver; a sex worker, activist, author, and photographer based in London, UK. She is an organizer with Sex Workers’ Advocacy and Resistance Movement, a collective of sex workers based in different cities around the UK. She is one of the co-authors of the book Revolution Prostitutes: The Fight For Sex Workers’ Rights released in 2018, and is currently working on a part documentary/part memoir photographic project about the intimate spaces in sex working lives. Her 2016 TED Talk is called: The laws that sex workers really want. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
Juno Mac: Revolting Prostitutes Pt 1
51:42“Is it ok for 'Juno Mac' to be an anxious hooker and an advocate for sex worker rights? Am I allowed to be a messy, complicated person?” //The co-author of the indispensable book Revolting Prostitutes join me over the phone from her quarantine in England to discuss: the unfair pressure of compartmentalizing our own sex lives and whoreientations, why doing sex work digitally feels like Buffy losing her super-strength and not being able to open a jar of pickles, dinner party Decrim talking points, and “calling in” the analogy "sex is to rape as sex work is to trafficking." // Juno Mac is a professional leg spreader and opinion haver; a sex worker, activist, author, and photographer based in London, UK. She is an organizer with Sex Workers’ Advocacy and Resistance Movement, a collective of sex workers based in different cities around the UK. She is one of the co-authors of the book Revolution Prostitutes: The Fight For Sex Workers’ Rights released in 2018, and is currently working on a part documentary/part memoir photographic project about the intimate spaces in sex working lives. Her 2016 TED Talk is called: The laws that sex workers really want. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.
SfSx: Jen Hickman Interrobang?!
01:10:37“The push and pull between clarity and imagination is something I think about a lot in visual storytelling.” //I called up SfSx series artist Jen Hickman to celebrate the release of our SfSx: Volume 1: Protection trade paperback on July 22nd!Jen and I discuss our collaborative process, and Jen gives some insight into how they think about formatting sequential art, color as music, and an art school game that’s like exquisite corpse but with dicks. We also touch on Jen’s talent for “character acting” and one of my favorite examples of this from SfSx, how they made an air duct scene sex charged and hilarious, the role of time in comics especially smutty comics, and what kind of sex robot we'd want to fuck. // Jen Hickman is a visual storyteller and a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design's Sequential Art program. Past work includes TEST, Moth & Whisper, Jem and the Holograms, the Femme Magnifique anthology, and more. They get really excited about dystopian fiction, good coffee, and drawing hands. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yapit.