The longer I go without blogging here, the more I feel like I need to re-enter with some grand statement. But that’s bullshit really. It’s just blogging, and its my own damn site, so I need to chill out. I’m trying to reorganize, re-align my priorities and all that junk. No reason I can’t do that without some fast and loose blogging. I have wannabe posts in the drafts folder. But that isn’t really what you want to hear (they’re interesting though, I promise).
Earlier this week, I returned to NYC from Chicago (my first time there), where I was attending Desiree Alliance, a conference by and for sex workers and their allies. It’s cool to see this conference develop and evolve in different cities. I’ve attended each of the past three years: Las Vegas, San Francisco, and now Chicago. Each time was different, partly because of the vibe, the organizations and individuals present - but a lot of it was because of where I was at.
This year I had the weird realization that I actually am somewhat distanced from the sex industry and my experiences in it. Since quitting $pread in January, I’ve been focusing on other issues of sex and culture, not necessarily stuff that’s connected to the sex industry and its struggles. That distance kind of snuck up on me, and I felt it in Chicago.
More than that, I felt my exhaustion with activism creeping in. Maybe not so much creeping as whooshing. Sex worker activists are a very special breed - because of a combination of stigma and legal issues, many folks in the sex workers rights movement are unable or unwilling to step outside of the sex industry support network to ask for help. And by help, I don’t mean “assistance exiting the industry” - I mean help getting grants, dealing with organizational structure, etc. This means that forming effective non-profits is extra challenging, and there seems to be a bit of reinventing the wheel happening.
I came away from the conference thinking a lot about sex worker rights activists instead of just sex workers. The folks who attended the conference very much fell into the activist category, and there just aren’t that many of us, though there seem to be more cropping up every year. Despite the fact that many of the activists are sex workers themselves, there’s this peculiar thing that I noticed for the first time, though I’m sure its been going on a while. Many activists in this realm focus really hard on service to other sex workers, while ignoring their own issues. By which I mean, self-care and care for each other among activists is almost non-existent. There was a lot of support (though also arguments and conflict) happening around issues in the sex industry, but the difficulties of being an activist went largely ignored.
If sex work is work, activism needs to be considered work too, and we need to get better at taking care of each other and ourselves, otherwise all this hard work will implode with no one to sustain it.
9:01 am
This is an absolutely fascinating issue. It seems like it is equal parts organization/activism and then combating stigma. Perhaps a blog-network of sex workers might be helpful? Or video testimonials? Have you considered ways in which activists could use the web to confront each element of the issue?
9:29 am
I totally hear you on sustainability, self-care and getting assistance to build effective nonprofits/organizations. In many ways I’ve really benefited from places that help nonprofits and political movements. Like the SPIN Project I know is definitely supportive and so helpful, many cities have a Donor’s Forum that help with proposal writing, free accounting assistance too.
Some places are not so helpful when they realize we’re not into “rescuing” people and that includes many foundation sources. Young Women’s Empowerment Project was turned down repeatedly for nonprofit status from Illinois state gov because they thought we were an escort service (since we were giving cash stipends to youth for their work and supported youth still involved).
But we built in a lot of self-care and structure into the organization to address that struggles that we face as activists and staff of a project. Conferences can be great to get an assessment of things, but it sounds like a lot of groundwork is needed outside of all that.
10:16 am
@Alex Steed I think we’re actually using the web in pretty effective ways, and there’s definitely a network of sex worker bloggers and allies. Being in a physical space together really shakes things up though - and that’s where the most help and support is needed. Plus, though many of the people present are actively online, others aren’t, and that shouldn’t be a basic requirement for being involved and getting support.
@Claudine The leap to trusting allies and allied organizations really needs to happen before we can reach out and get real support I think. But I think you’re right that it’s out there, it’s just a matter of finding the right folks.
3:14 pm
Yeah, I agree about activism being work. That’s why a lot of us who organized this conference are burned out from the planning process. Unfortunately, activism doesn’t pay, which is probably why it’s so difficult to get other sex workers involved in it. I have to find a way to make it worthwhile to them, whether it be as simple as telling them they’ll have a community of other sex workers they can lean on for support. Sometimes that’s really all it is.
I do spend a lot of time lending support to other sex workers without getting much of that reciprocated. There was a lot of fallout ( it terms of personal relationships) among the organizational leaders of Desiree board during the planning process, most like due to people not getting the emotional support they needed when they needed it. We spent a large portion of Sunday trying to work through these issues, but I do also think this is the nature of activism. I know it really sucks to say it, but you have to be prepared to get shit on, and be prepared to clean yourself up. I think we’ll have more support once we build a bigger and stronger movement, but for right now things are going to be a little rough.
7:50 am
@Audacia Ray: Thanks so much for your answer.
@SerpentLibertine: I am really interested in the planning burnout factor/making it worthwhile to goers. I just wrote a long post about contrasting the perceived hardship of opting-in to an issue, meeting, or cause. I’d be interesting in your feedback and hearing more about the experience.
10:43 am
you make a really valid point…so many folk there seemed in some way or another to be ill, or run down, or just fried..and in other cases, burned out.
6:34 pm
[…] Waking Vixen » Blog Archive » Notes on Chicago and Activism “If sex work is work, activism needs to be considered work too, and we need to get better at taking care of each other and ourselves, otherwise all this hard work will implode with no one to sustain it.” (tags: activism sexworkersrights sexwork) […]
7:55 pm
I think that a lot of activist get caught up in a self perception of autism, and force themselves forward without a lot of self-care. I’ve realized recently after the pretty nasty reaction to an article I recently published that I seriously need to take a break. Unfortunately it took several hysterical crying episodes before that sank in.
10:26 am
Good point about activist self-care. There was a huge need for it this year. Problem is, where would we get it from? At least you’ve pinpointed the problem and put a name to what I think was bugging a lot of people this year.
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