I received my first media inquiry a couple weeks ago from an outfit in the UK. There is a programme being put together wherein an actor, whose name I will withhold for now, wants to investigate the stigma and public perceptions of sex work. I have no idea why this particular actor is interested in the subject and it seems rather out of the blue. I politely declined the offer from the producer to participate. For one reason, I’m not based in the UK (yet) despite my very intimate knowledge of the country, its cultures, its people, etc.
The main reason I will probably end up denying most media inquiries is because I don’t trust most media regarding sex work. I know how many sex workers have been approached by producers with one angle only to see the finished product have a completely different and not-so-nice (aka exploitative) angle. My activism, thoroughly divorced from any official organization at this moment for reasons I won’t make public, is personal. I have no urge to be in front of a camera or on a mic. My voice is very distinctive and easily identifiable as my voice. For example, I did a random “person on the street” interview when walking home from my mainstream job and a reporter from the local station wanted to ask me about the weather. So I gave a response and went on my way. By the time I got home, I had received a ton of calls from family members, some of whom I hadn’t spoken to in years, telling me that they recognized my voice even though they weren’t in the same room as the television. Just imagine if I had been talking about whoring instead of snow.
Moreover, I never feel experienced enough to opine about sex work in the media. Opining about sex work on my blog is completely different, in my opinion. I usually redirect such requests to those sex workers I feel are better equipped for the job.
This programme just rubbed me the wrong way. I did not get a good vibe from it at all. Perhaps I will be proven wrong but I usually judge situations correctly. 
Leave a Reply