$pread: The Best of the Magazine that Illuminated the Sex Industry and Started a Media Revolution

by Rachel Aimee (Editor), Eliyanna Kaiser (Editor), Audacia Ray (Editor)

Overview

“A fascinating collection from a group of courageous women who created the first publication to explore sex work in a compelling and intelligent way.” —Candida Royalle

$pread, an Utne Award–winning magazine by and for sex workers, was independently published from 2005 to 2011. This collection features enduring essays about sex work around the world, first-person stories that range from deeply traumatic to totally hilarious, analysis of media and culture, and fantastic illustrations and photos produced just for the magazine. The book also features the previously untold story of $pread and how it has built a wider audience in its posthumous years. What started as a community tool and trade magazine for the sex industry quickly emerged as the essential guide for people curious about sex work, for independent magazine enthusiasts, and for labor and civil rights activists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558618725
Publisher:	Feminist Press at CUNY, The
Publication date:	03/10/2015
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,116,570
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Rachel Aimee cofounded $pread magazine in 2004 and was an editor-in-chief for four and a half years. Now a parent and freelance copy editor, she also organizes for strippers’ rights with We Are Dancers. She lives in Brooklyn.

Eliyanna Kaiser is a former executive editor of $pread magazine. She is currently raising her two children in Manhattan. In her spare time, she writes fiction.

Audacia Ray is the founder and executive director of the Red Umbrella Project (RedUP), a peer-led organization in New York that amplifies the voices of people in the sex trades through media, storytelling, and advocacy programs. At RedUP, she publishes the literary journal Prose & Lore: Memoir Stories About Sex Work. She is the author of Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing in On Internet Sexploration and has contributed to many anthologies. She joined the $pread staff in 2004 and was an executive editor from 2005 to 2008.

Table of Contents

Preface: The Sex Worker Rights Movement in the Early 2000s?A Primer Rachel Aimee Eliyanna Kaiser Audacia Ray 11

A Short History of Spread Rachel Aimee Eliyanna Kaiser Audacia Ray 17

Part I Workplace

Introduction Lulu 37

Indecent Proposal: Fucking the Movement Eve Ryder 39

Positions: Is Sex Work a Sacred Practice or Just a Job? Vero Rocks Tasha Tasticake 42

American Brothel: A Photo-Essay Erin Siegal 46

Stripping While Brown Mona Salim 59

Positions: No Sex in the Champagne Room? Mary Taylor Carol Leigh 66

Menstruation: Porn's Last Taboo Trixie Fontaine 69

Diary of a Peep Show Girl Sheila McClear, writing as Chelsea O'Neill 80

Part II Labor

Introduction Radical Vixen 89

Positions: Can We Justify Working for Pimps? Anonymous Eve Ryder 92

The Sex Workplace: No Day Without an Immigrant Rachel Aimee 95

Respite From the Streets: A Place to Retire for Mexico City's Elderly Prostitutes Marisa Brigati 104

Black Tale: Women of Color in the American Porn Industry Mireille Miller-Young 113

The City's Red Lights: Mumbai's Boomtown of Migrant Laborers Svati P. Shah 122

Part III Family and Relationships

Introduction Kevicha Echols 131

Wives Jenni Russell 133

Keeping Her Off the Pole: My Daughter's Right to Choose Katherine Frank 134

Hot Topic: People Who Date Sex Workers Peter, Natalie Allen, Bob C. Fred 142

I (Heart) Affection, and Other Forms of Emotional Masochism Hawk Kinkaid 146

The Coldest Profession Eliyanna Kaiser 153

Hell's Kitchen: Growing Up Loving a Working Mother Syd V. 156

Part IV Clients

Introduction Sarah Elspeth Patterson 167

Cher John (Dear John) Mirha-Soleil Ross 169

Indecent Proposal: Bento Bitch Miguel 175

Empower: In Defense of Sex Tourism Chanelle Gallant 177

Haikus for Mistress Octavia Jimmy Bob 187

Honest John: An Interview with Caveh Zahedi Kristie Alshaibi 189

Hot Topic: Would You Steal From a Client? Moxy Violine Verseau Jessica 196

Indecent Proposal: Tiny Town Audacia Ray 199

Healthy Hooker: Condoms 101 Eliyanna Kaiser Dorothy Schwartz 203

The Last Outcall Fabulous 211

Part V Violence

Introduction Brendan Michael Conner 221

Paradise Lost, Paradox Found: Or, Don't Get Caught Slipping in the Big Hypocro-Easy Cha Cha 224

Tsunami Report: Sex Workers in South Thailand Empower Foundation 231

Epidemic of Neglect: Trans Women Sex Workers and HIV Mack Friedman 235

The Unicorn and the Crow Prin Roussin 244

Escort Rape Case Causes Uproar in Philadelphia Catherine Plato 250

Bodies Across Borders: Experiences of Trafficking and Migration Melissa Ditmore Juhu Thukral 253

Part VI Resistance

Introduction Bhavana Karani 265

I Have Nothing to Say: A Story of Self-Defense Lynne Tansey 267

The Cutting Edge: On Sex Workers, Serial Killers, and Switchblades Sarah Stillman 273

Fashion with a Function: The Aphrodite Project Erin Siegal 281

Young 2 B 4Gotten: Youth in the Sex Trade Brendan Michael Conner, writing as Will Rockwell 283

Alphabet Hookers: B is for Bobbi Morgan Ellis 294

Part VII Media And Culture

Introduction Damien Luxe 301

Sex Work and the City: An Interview with Tracy Quan Rachel Aimee 304

Up in Buck's Business: An Interview with Buck Angel Audacia Ray 315

Intercourses: An Interview with Pro-Choice Activist Joyce Arthur Eliyanna Kaiser 322

In Her Own Words: An Interview with Deborah Jeane Palfrey Radical Vixen 329

The Real Media Whores: Uniting Against Sensationalism in the Wake of Spitzergate Caroline Andrews 340

Dirty Words: An Interview with Craig Seymour Brendan Michael Conner Will Rockwell 348

The History of Spread: A Timeline 356

Acknowledgments 367

Editorial Reviews

"Most magazines tell their readers how to live, what to buy, and who to be. $pread Magazine, like the best forms of media and art, shows us ourselves—in ways we have not before recognized. This anthology is diverse, hilarious, intelligent, resilient, vulnerable, and sometimes frightening."
—Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart

"$pread is a fascinating collection from a group of courageous women who created the first publication to explore sex work in a compelling and intelligent way. Be prepared to have your preconceived notions challenged."
—Candida Royalle, author, entrepreneur, erotic film director

"Everyone needs $pread—sex workers, sex customers, sex readers, sex writers, sex thinkers, and everyone having sex."
—Vanessa Place, author of The Guilt Project

"From activists to mercenaries, college-girl escorts to needle exchange veterans, $pread published the writing and opinions of sex workers, for sex workers, warts and all. This smart, funny, and heartbreaking anthology is as real as you can get."
—Susie Bright, author of Big Sex Little Death

"Spanning Mumbai, Mexico City, New Orleans, New York, and Phuket, this anthology examines sex work through the politicized lenses of worker solidarity, communal care, and intersectional feminism. $pread is a phenomenal resource for sex worker self-determination and renegade social change."
—Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, author of The End of San Francisco

From the Publisher