Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sex Work

 

Although sex work has a long history, and obviously relates to the lacrosse incident, for the purposes of this essay I will focus on one topic relevant to Duke: the Sex Workers Art Tour Show. The Sex Workers Art Tour Show came to Duke in spring of 2008 as part of an effort to dispel the myths surrounding sex workers, and to humanize them in contrast to stereotypes of sex workers. The show included a variety of artistic performances by phone sex operators, strippers, prostitutes, etc. About half of the performances were readings about personal experiences as a sex worker; the rest were more graphic and included nudity and demonstrations of the individual’s profession. All the performances stopped short of actual sex on the stage.

           I attended the show out of curiosity; it intrigued me that sex would be placed so blatantly center-stage (literally) at an academic institution like Duke. What interested me most about this performance was the unashamed way it countered traditional readings of sex, and presented oppositional readings of the sex industry as unquestionably acceptable (like the article My Mother Liked to Fuck, it was “shameless”). Sex – even in art form – is not ‘supposed’ to appear on stage; ‘good’ sex is a private act, not something that happens at a university in front of an audience. The individuals in these performances were unapologetically confident even though they were far outside the boundaries of ‘good’ sex; they countered the common sense notions of sex by demonstrating the diametrically opposite notion with ease and poise. 

While some audience members were uncomfortable with the performances, most of them were obviously fascinated by this insight into the real lives of sex workers. At one point, a woman demonstrating S&M invited the audience to join in her performance by repeating phrases after her. To my surprise, most of the audience joined in enthusiastically; I had anticipated that most people would be too embarrassed to join any kind of public sexual demonstration.

The day after the event, the woman in charge of the show was featured on Fox News. The anchorwoman tore the show apart; it was presented not as art, but as public sex that defiled Duke. The anchorwoman went on to say that it was unwise for Duke to allow this show on campus so soon after sex work (in the form of strippers) was at the heart of the lacrosse scandal. This attitude ties in with the myths and realities of fraternity and sorority parties at Duke; hiring strippers to perform at Duke parties is apparently not unusual. However, these parties are usually covered up, while the Sex Workers show was highly public and publicized. Nonetheless, the parallels people drew in their minds between the two situations caused hostility toward the show; both were labeled ‘bad sex.’ The implication was that the show was immoral, indecent, and unacceptable, and was simply an extension of the lacrosse case. Half of the show – the half that consisted merely of readings of personal experiences in the sex industry – was not mentioned; it was the pole dancing and stripping on Page Auditorium’s stage that held people’s attention. Even though the point of the show was to present each individual as an individual, the media lumped all the performances together and labeled them ‘bad sex.’

It is easier for me to understand the hostile reaction of the media, and the reluctance of audience members to join in the performance, than it is for me to understand how to change those reactions. My sense is that, by going to a show like this and placing ourselves in close proximity to sex workers, and especially by joining in their performance, we blur the boundary between ‘us’ and ‘them’; those who view sex in its common sense place – the bedroom, between a heterosexual couple – and those who challenge the good/bad sex spectrum. This challenge to common sense notions of sex was exhilarating for many in the audience and uncomfortable for others. Perhaps this is because innocence and morality are symbolically at stake here. If sex can be performed on stage, if the sex industry is placed in the spotlight, American ‘morality’ is supposedly threatened. This challenge to the division between the ‘us’ and ‘them’ constitutes a challenge to social hierarchies and moral imperatives.[1]



[1] Portions of this essay are excerpted from another essay I wrote in spring of 2008.

 

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