CYBER HARLOT

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  • Safety First Wales Exhibition

    Posing in front of my writing contribution on the wall (photo taken by my friend)

    This week I had the best time attending an exhibition in Swansea, Wales. But it wasn’t just any exhibition; it was put on by Safety First Wales, an organisation ran in collaboration with sex workers for the decriminalisation of sex work in Wales – they had their launch in the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) last year, which was very exciting to see decrim making waves in my home country. So when they asked if I’d like to contribute to their zine/exhibition, of course I said yes! 

    I always feel so lucky when I get to visit new places, and Swansea was new to me and the people there are all so lovely. It’s a studenty town with a very artsy feel to it, lots of graffiti and independent shops all over the high street. The exhibition was put on in the theatre, and it was a gorgeous flourish of pink furs and bright colours, walls covered in photos from protests, placards, letters and poems. It was clear a lot of love had gone into the curation and setting up the evening, the exhibition was interactive and included lots of booklets to flick through, letters to read, headphones to listen to and a gooey pink postbox full of facts about decriminalisation.

    The evening had a very safe community feel to it, sometimes as a sex worker I can be quite skeptical about events where civilians can attend (I guess I’m worried about our spaces becoming unsafe), but everyone there was so open and the audience was full of allies to the cause. The event had plenty of snacks and drinks (and even a decrim cake! Totally iconic, but of course I forgot to take a photo of it), and included a panel talk session and some audience speakers.

    The panel included some amazing heavy hitters in the decrim movement, including ECP, Decrim Now and Scotland for Decrim amongst others. I got to meet so many people who I’ve looked up to online and I was feeling very star-struck by the time it was my turn to speak from the audience (so much so that I got incredibly nervous and forgot a lot of what I wanted to say…). It was incredibly informative, and to see these global movement groups come together is testament to the love in the community (and the effort made by Safety First Wales to put on an event inclusive of many nations). I always feel so full of love and community for the few days following events like this, and getting to connect with the community is always so heart-warming, I get a bit lonely living up North away from all my sex work friends so it’s always nice to get the chance to see everyone.

    Thanks again to Safety First Wales for putting on the event and for inviting me to contribute and attend!

    A. x

    I’ve included some photos from the event below;

    My favourite corner of the exhibition, showing letters from real-life institutions’ unjust treatment of sex workers – highlighting the importance of decriminalisation.
    Scotland for Decrim (find them @ scotland4decrim on social media)
    Powerful statements by the ECP.

  • PGRSWN Conference

    I recently had the joy of presenting a paper myself and my lovely co-author Carmela Morgillo have been working on for the last few months at the PGRSWN research conference at Leeds University in the UK.

    It was so wonderful to attend and see the amazing keynote speakers and also get to present our work alongside some amazing researchers I met at the event!

    Our paper is off to editing now, but once it’s live and available to read I’ll update here!

    A. x

  • Sluts In Gameland

    My newest article for Tryst is now live!

    Here’s the link: Article link

  • University College London May 4th

  • Sex Work & Folk Devils

    Image by Tryst

    My newest article is live on the Tryst Blog. Excerpt and link to the full article below;

    “The media depiction of sex workers varies so wildly that it adds an additional element of confusion into the mix. Think the Cinderella like story of Pretty Woman followed up by a gritty dark-filtered, exploitative documentary on red light workers living on the streets. It’s a constant pendulum swing, like people can only grasp the most extreme ends of the spectrum, while entirely ignoring every reality that lies between. This became a bit easier to digest when I realised we are just a character to them, a narrative to fill in. A caricature or folk devil.”

    Sex Work & Folk Devils

  • Sexquisite Bristol – September 2023 (Diary Entry)

    DISCLAIMER: Apparently when I’m drunk I like to write like some pseudo-deep guardian reviewer. I tried not to edit this too much, just corrected some mistakes and removed some word vomit. Short n sweet.

    A. x

    Somewhere below the bustling traffic of the streets lays an alcove of pure decadence cascaded in violet lights. While tourist laden coaches pass overhead the red brickwork archways of disused railway tunnels muffles the noise slightly, but behind the curtain exists a whole new world. (I’m writing this drunk in my hotel right after the event so please forgive my rose coloured glasses, but this was honestly as magic as it sounds).

    Sexquisite events represents something that we need in our community; it’s a safe space, a place to celebrate, and it felt like a haven. One thing that always strikes me when I attend an event like this is the ease at which I’m accepted into the fold – within twenty minutes of arriving I was talking to people who were strangers who now felt like friends – something we don’t really experience in the day to day when our jobs are vilified to such an extent. My own sex work community exists up North, so being down in Bristol was new territory for me completely, it’s testament to the inclusivity of the sex work community and the event itself that no matter where you are, the community is still yours.

    At sexquisite there is no right and wrong (within reason of course), there is no judgment, and everyone is there for a common purpose – to celebrate our community and enjoy a little debauchery along the way. I’m not doing the ethics of the event a lot of justice here so please do have a look at their sites and attend for yourself if you can (you won’t regret it), it’s an entirely sex worker led co-op and put together by a group of incredibly passionate people – which was clear by the love and thought that’s been poured into the event in spades. From powerful spoken word about shitty ex boyfriends and the perfect bookings, country songs about riding cowboys and androcide, physics defying jiggling and bending, to the sparkliest bedazzled jockstrap you will ever see in your life, sexquisite literally had it all. It’s hard to explain quite how seen I felt going into this event, more so than I have at many others. The individuals on stage spoke with such evocation that it was hard to comprehend that we had not all lived the same life in that moment. It was a kind of acceptance that from speaking to others attending had become the norm at these events, the ease at which everyone melds together.

    The beauty of this event is that the talent of sex workers is celebrated in all mediums, not only the nude performance aspect that is often seen in non sex worker led events. While yes there was plenty of nudity, how could there not be, it was clear that we were all there to enjoy the cabaret, the choreography, the work, not to gawk and stare in the way that chino-clad client does with his sweaty fivers in hand. It was sex work presented as art. That sounds so fucking pretentious but I don’t mean it in that privileged neo-sex work way that forgets the history of the community – it embraced the reality of the sex worker experience while saying that there is beauty in all of it. There is beauty in the uncensored self-expression, the weird shit we put up with in our jobs, and the connections we make with each other along the way. The night embodied this feeling.

  • Misogyny/Women on the Internet Panel 2023 @ the National Eisteddfod

    Helloooo! I’m speaking in a panel at the Eisteddfod about online misogyny and women on the internet! Thursday (August 10th) at 1pm – Come to the women’s tent in the science & technology village to find us 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿✨

  • Camming Etiquette 101: How to Be the Perfect Fan

    My new piece with @thegoodclientguide is now live!

    Ever wondered how to be the perfect cam client? ✨🤫

    You can read the full article on their website here: https://goodclientguide.com/cam-girl-etiquette-sex-worker-blog/

  • Schrödinger’s Whore: Sex Work & Academia

    Image by Tryst Link. Illustration by @/squiggles_and_sluts

    An article I recently wrote about my experience as a sex worker in academia is live on the Tryst Blog. Excerpt and link to the full article below;

    “ The archetype of the whore exists as a manifestation of carnal desire, and often little more than that. She exists in direct contrast to the virtuous Madonna, the virginal image of purity and serenity, the whore exists for ruination and sin. While the Madonna is proclaimed in literature as the love interest, the main character, the victim to be rescued and molded to her creator’s image, the whore exists as a secondary character, a character-arc or subplot, the first one to be killed in the horror movie. Lilith cast from the Garden of Eden.”

    Schrödinger’s Whore