Sex witch I need your help. After seeing the books by black women discourse post I came to the decision that for every prompt that I filled in my bingo with a book by a white author, I’m going to redo with a book by a nonwhite author. Problem is that I was going to read revolting prostitutes for the social justice and activism prompt except as far as I know neither of the authors are racialised. As the resident pro sex nonfic reading person I know of, do you have any books about sex work activism written by non white people? Im doing my own research as well but thought I might ask you as well. Cheers and godspeed
I LOVE a fun little research challenge, and I especially enjoyed this one. it's awesome that you're so dedicated to seeing through the book bingo with authors of color, and that you're so passionate in this particular topic! I found a lot of books that I'm definitely adding to my own-to read list.
an anthology that I've had on my own list for a while is the anthology Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex, which features contributions from sex workers with a wide array of racial identities, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds and has at least one Black editor, peech breshears (who I've seen referred to with both she/her and they/them pronouns, preferred identity unknown).
it also may not be exactly the type of nonfiction you're after if you're looking for something similar to Revolting Prostitutes, but there are also some very cool memoirs in this area. Maya Angelou's Gathering Together In My Name recounts her own time in sex work as a young mother, both as a pimp and as a sex worker herself, and for a more contemporary account of working in the porn industry there's Asa Akira's Insatiable.
some other very cool-sounding titles that I've amassed, listed chronologically:
I've Got to Make My Livin': Black Women's Sex Work in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago (Cynthia M. Blair)
To Live Freely in this World: Sex Worker Activism in Africa (Chi Adanna Mgbako, 2010)
Dealing in Desire: Asian Ascendancy, Western Decline, and the Hidden Currencies of Global Sex Work (Kimberly Kay Hoang, 2015)
Camming: Money, Pleasure, and Power in the Sex Work Industry (Angela Jones, 2020)
We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival (edited by Natalie West and Tina Horn, contains contributions by several writers of color, 2021)
But I Am Here: Speeches, Writing and Art from the Sex Worker Movement in New York City (edited by Kate Zen, 2021)
Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice (Chanelle Gallant and Elene Lam, 2024)
and as always if anyone else has a cool title they'd like to drop, I'd love to hear about it and I'm sure this anon would as well :3
