If you can’t get
to the exhibition (Nov 1st to March 1st 2020)
buy the book!
http://howtogoon.com/index.
http://howtogoon.com/index.
This an exhibition
that you can listen to, read, watch
This exhibition will
make you think
This is exhibition
is not for the weak willed or the faint hearted.
This exhibition
demands and needs you time and your attention
This is the wrong
exhibition if you are looking for light entertainment
This is the best
exhibition if you want to be educated,
This is an excellent
exhibition see and get an understanding of one shadow side of Western
culture
If you enjoy being
moved to tears, shocked, horrified, amused visit this exhibition
This is an excellent
exhibition if you are on the fence about whether you support
the legalisation of
prostitution, abolition or the Nordic model
Jimini Hignett has
the stories (portrayed by actors) and the photos (masked) of
prostitutes on one side of the small exhibition space. Facing them on
the opposite wall and through the centre of the space are tourist
trinkets – from t- shirts to snow globes, from clogs to a salt
shaker and pepper pot set – all extolling Amsterdam’s ‘No 1
Tourist Attraction’ – the Red light district. In the middle
ranged along the ceiling are the brown paper bag masks the women made
(of themselves) and wear in the photos
All painting the
trinkets create a warm, friendly, cosy picture, normalising the
exploitation and sale of sex. Creating a vision (and a fallacy) where
women choose prostitution as a viable means of earning their living
and exploring their sexuality and boundaries while earning a good
living.
It’s easy to skip
by the close typed commentaries next to the trinkets, especially as
they all begin by describing what you are seeing. If you get past
that, it took me a while, then I went back and read them all
minutely. They are texts from the book. They are the voice of the
artist speaking. She is humerous, acerbic, sharp, intelligent and
very clear.
I was appalled to
discover that the cost of a session with a woman in a window in the
red light district in Amsterdam is now €20
cheaper than it was 20 years ago. The cost of the rooms has also come
down but still requires at least 12 johns before it is paid!
Prostitution is, in
the vast majority (98%) of cases violent exploitation of individual
women’s bodies. To cater to a belief that all women are and should
subject to (the sexual needs, demands and desires of) men. There are
no happy hookers who love their job and do it through choice. There
are no prostitutes who would choose prostitution as a job if they
were offered fair wages, an education, a pension, workers rights and
protection and or the same ability to choose work times. I have yet
to meet women who truly freely chose to do it, every single one has
had at least one extenuating circumstance that led them to believe it
was an inevitable or the best or the only option.
People who want to
legalise prostitution, are asking society to give pimps and violent
exploiters free rein to traffic women and children with impunity. The
only achievement will be undoing every step towards female
emancipation, equality equanimity and autonomy achieved over the last
120 years. People who try to convince young girls that the so called
sex industry is a liberating or in any way positive place to try to
function need to be criminalised.
What positive
reasons are there (that do not centralise men their rights and their
feelings above those of women) for the support and maintenance of
prostitution?
Wow, this exhibition is wrong in so many ways. Let's start off with the descriptions, which are full of LIES.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, sex does not sell for 20 euros in window prostitution. I know this because I work as a sex worker in window prostitution. Sex starts off at 50 euros and we charge for extra services, like touching or getting naked, so the price is often much higher than this.
Hignett uses CATW as a source, but anyone who is seriously interested in studying sex work from an academic perspective knows that CATW has seriously flawed and ideological methodology. They do not provide accurate information on trafficking against women. Better to listen to the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW).
I don't know where Hignett gets this 98% number either, but it is BULLSHIT. And sex work is not inherently violent, but stigma and criminalization (of either sex workers, third parties or clients) leads to more violence against us that we cannot report.
Yes, happy hookers do exist. I am one of them, and many of my colleagues would say the same.
But no one who works for sex worker rights is trying to convince young girls that this work is emancipating or liberating in any way. And no one is denying the fact that trafficking does occur in the sex industry. But what we are trying to do is make people realize that trafficking exists in all major labor industries, whether paid sex is involved or not. And that RIGHTS, not RESCUE, help fight this serious problem. There is a lot of peer-reviewed research that shows the harms of end demand policy in that it 1) does not reduce trafficking or prostitution and 2)ends up hurting sex workers more. There is a good reason why sex workers advocate for full decriminalization.
Would be good for you to know that Hignett also actively misled and lied to sex workers in her research for this abolitionist exposition.
And sex workers can speak for themselves. Why Hignett thinks she can tell our stories better than ourselves if beyond me. LISTEN TO SEX WORKERS.
I don't believe you have seen the exhibition and you don't seem to have read my review properly
DeleteEverything on the left hand wall are the words and stories of (ex)prostitutes.
The descriptions are of the trinkets, they are full of opinions, which doesn't necessarily make the opinions lies - just because you disagree.
It says nowhere that sex is sold for 20 euros.
the main difference between GAATW and CATW is that the latter operates from a radical feminist standpoint and the first from a Liberal one.
the 98% is my personal experience after 40 years of working with prostitutes in all different ways over 4 continents.
Actively misled and lied to sex workers in her research? Really how, where, who?
Sex workers are not artists - this is an art exhibition which is an exploration of an artists view of something specific.
the total abolition of the Patriarchy is what is called for not cosying up to it in a effort to climb the ladder.
I would be interested to talk to you in 20 years time about your work and hopefully you will still see and describe yourself as a happy hooker.
As the comments in the penultimate paragraph are again based on my personal experiences in schools that I have worked in and at a couple of events I attended. You are mistaken in your belief that NO ONE working for your rights is not also miscommunicating the truth.
the fact that trafficking occurs across a number of fronts doesn't make legalisation or decriminalisation the obvious way to deal with it.
Many prostitutes are abolitionists.
The exhibition is about listening to them
Actually I did go to the exhibit. You're right, it doesn't say 20 euros, it says 30 euros. Not much better. You yourself in your blog post says that you found out that sex sells for 20 euros in the red light district. I don't know who you heard this information from but it's wrong.
DeleteAnd ok, so you work with sex workers. Great. But have you ever been one? There is still a difference there.
Where are sex workers abolitionists? I only know VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING who are abolitionists, but again this is not sex work. And under full decriminalization, trafficking, rape, and child prostitution would still be illegal. Usually people who work with sex workers but still advocate for abolition or end demand only work with victims.
And it doesn't matter if in 20 years I don't find myself a happy hooker. It was MY DECISION to make and that is something I have to live with. But nobody should be able to say that I can't make this decision, or assume that I am automatically going to regret this decision either.
The exhibition is not about listening to abolitionist sex workers, it is about equating all prostitution with violence and exploitation. There is no room for nuance or debate about this in the exposition, either.
And yes, I know that the artist has gone to workshops that were for sex workers and allies only. And I know she conducted interviews for sex workers without telling them the true purpose of the interviews. Or without telling the sex workers that she was an abolitionist.
Firstly my article says that it sells for 20 euros LESS than the last time I asked.
DeleteIn the documentary 'Jojaneke in de Prostitutie' - she went all over NL and spoke to women IN WINDOWS and many of them told her the price was 30 euros
Also the artist definitely told everyone she worked with, that her interviews and workshops were towards her work and her views on the institution.
All over Latin America there are abolitionists - definitely in Argentina (e.g. AMAHD) prostitutes are actively fighting for it's abolition. While also working for respect and dignity while they do the work. I know many women working in prostitution (who have chosen to go into it) who are abolitionists - jn Macedonia, Amsterdam, UK, Eire, Spain, France, Italy, Germany.
No one is saying that you cannot make a decision and change your mind at some point.
Being against the legalisation of prostitution doesn't preclude being an ally of prostitutes (who wish to leave their (un)chosen work)
I do indeed agree with the exhibition and equate all prostitution with violence because I see it as exploitation and exploitation is a form of violence.
Ah, I didn't see the word "less." :P I am sure that some window workers in NL sell sex for 30 euros. But this is not the price in De Wallen, at least for most of us who work there. But of course all of us can go above or below this number. As independent business owners, we can set our own prices and change them at any time. But when this 30 euros number is exhibited in the museum, clients will hear this and this will make the negotiation process MUCH more difficult. Of course you probably think there should not be a negotiation to begin with. But until prostitution is eradicated, this is the reality we have to work with. And something like this, presented as fact, will make setting our own wages more difficult for sex workers.
DeleteI can see how many sex workers don't find this work empowering. But to equate all forms of prostitution with violence is dangerous because when you equate all sex work with RAPE, you make it impossible for us to report actual instances of rape. Police will laugh in our faces because they will say, What did you expect? Isn't this just part of the job? And then any female-looking person who looks too much like a whore will also not be taken seriously if they experience sexual harassment or assault.
But can you please explain to me exactly how prostitution is inherently exploitative? How is this different from other wage labor in other service industries besides the fact that sex is involved?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAnd I don't see any information whatsoever online about AMAHD, besides it being mentioned in Hignett's Kosovo2.0 interview. Can you name any other abolitionist groups that are run by sex workers, and not just trafficking survivors?
DeleteSo what is the difference between a sex worker and a trafficking survivor?
DeleteMost of the trafficking survivors I know are still working as prostitutes...
Well there are several definitions of trafficking, as national governments have not decided on one singular definition to follow. Therefore, in some countries, consent is not required in order for something to be considered trafficking. According to the Palermo Protocol, you need 3 aspects of transportation, deception/coercion/force, and the purpose of exploitation. And you're right, there are trafficking survivors who work as prostitutes. However, Chin and Finckenaur (2012) and Parennas (2011) show that many migrants (who could be defined as trafficking victims) actively choose to sell sexual services, even under exploitative circumstances, in order to avoid the worse conditions in other labor industries, like factory work and domestic service. The point is not to argue against the existence of violence of exploitation in the industry, but that you cannot generalize all sex work in this way, and you certainly cannot ignore that many migrants make an active decision to sell sexual services when weighing all their options. Otherwise you are actively silencing voices and experiences like mine and those of my colleagues, some of whom have worked in the sex industry for over 30 years and still identify closer to a happy hooker than an oppressed victim.
DeleteAnd again, the dichotomy between happy hooker and oppressed victim is a facade. Reality and people's lived experiences are much more complex. For example, I know someone who has worked behind the windows and migrated specifically to work in prostitution, but once she arrived in the Netherlands, she was forced to give half of her earnings to the people who helped find her a place to live and fix her paperwork. This is a clear example of exploitation, and this person is legally labelled as a victim of trafficking. But this should not negate the fact that she wanted to work in prostitution in the first place. And once she left her traffickers, she continued to do sex work for many years because that's what she wanted. So again, the point is not to ignore that trafficking or exploitation and violence occur in the sex industry, but that it is important to fully contextualize it and acknowledge the nuances and the bits of agency and choice that "victims" do exhibit. And another point is to understand how end demand legislation actually marginalizes sex workers further and is not proven (with solid methodology) to decrease rates of either voluntary prostitution or sex trafficking.
DeleteAt the end of the day, you can still think sex work is unhealthy for people but realize that in this harsh world, prostitution will never go away until society loses its grip over monogamy, the nuclear family, and misogyny. You can still think sex work is degrading, fine, although I don't see how anyone can make this claim without doing the work themselves first. I hope where we can find common ground is that we want all people who voluntarily choose to work in prostitution to be safe and respected, and that people who are forced into this work can get the proper help they need and deserve. But if we disagree on a fundamental ideological basis where you think all prostitution is rape because no one could actively consent to it in their right mind, then talking about useful policy regimes also seems futile. I can send you all the peer-reviewed research on end demand and full decriminalization (where rape, trafficking, and child prostitution are still illegal), but radical feminists (perhaps not you?) will still need sex workers to be unsafe and dead in order to gain support for their theories and funding for their rescue organizations.
DeleteAnd have you ever thought that those survivors of trafficking still work in prostitution because either a)they chose this work in the beginning, like my friend did, b)they see it as a better way to make money, given their current circumstances, c) they have no other viable job options because they are migrants, or d) they are no other job options because the stigma against prostitution lets others discriminate against them in the "normal" job market? If we want people to be able to leave the industry, we need to combat stigma against sex work. And we also need to open up all other labor industries to women, so women have equal pay and opportunity in all job markets. Would help is asylum seekers, refugees, and other migrants have fewer restrictions on labor options as well.
DeleteAnd you have yet to answer these questions: How is sex work inherently exploitative? And how is this different from other wage labor in other service industries besides the fact that sex is involved?
DeleteAlso, I want to make it clear that there is no such thing as a binary distinction between the "oppressed victim" and the "happy hooker." People's lived experiences are much more complicated than this.
ReplyDeleteThat you're shocked by this exposition was exactly the intention of this 'artist'. She dehumanises sex workers and is in favour of the Nordic Model/End Demand, like a lot of Christian organisations who don't care about women's right at all. This model is a huge failure in all countries where's it implemented, it diminishes the safety and health of sex workers, mostly women, and doesn't work against trafficking. In a very recent Irish rapport, they found human trafficking got even worse. Here research from the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women https://gaatw.org/resources/publications/941-sex-workers-organising-for-change. They concluded sex workers organisations work as de fact anti-trafficking organisations and the Nordic Model is very harmful for sex workers choosing this work ánd for victims of trafficking. Note that regular anti-trafficking organisations get millions (NL) to billions (USA) in government funds, while sex workers organisations do better work without.
ReplyDeleteThis is the wrong exhibition if you are looking for an enlightening picture of sex work.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best exhibition if you want to be misled.
This is an excellent exhibition to see and understand a shadow side of Western stigmatization of sex work.
If you like to be lied to, to be led with misconceptions, elicited by drug images, then visit this exhibition
This is an exhibition that is nothing more than an anti-sex work animation that aims to introduce legislation based on the Nordic Model in order to prevent sex work.
My replies to Caro and AbBuus seem to have disappeared - very clever.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Caro;
It says no where in my review that I was or am shocked.
I disagree with your opinions.
The artist in no way dehumanises anyone.
Certainly not in the way she is being dehumanised by her detractors.
The equation of the Nordic Model with End Demand and Christian organisation and your comments following are inaccurate and fatuous if not downright deceitful.
I read the article you linked and your comments there are also inaccurate. The conclusions you have drawn from what they say are far fetched at best.
How exactly do all three(?) diminish health and safety for women working in prostitution?
The countries in which the research was conducted do not operate the Nordic Model and therefore it is impossible to compare.
In individual and very specific cases particular groups of workers aided specific individuals - that is hardly de facto, more incidental and definitely not 'better work' than anti trafficking organisations.
AbBuus
So what's the problem with being anti prostitution?
Where exactly would or could anyone be misled in this exhibition?
Which lies? What drug images?
Stigmatisation? It is more an exploration and illumination of exploitation. No lies, your disagreement doesn't equate with misconceptions
It is an art exhibition that gives one person space to interpret and share their vision of something
If you want an enlightening picture of sex work - create one and get it exhibited!
Otherwise, get over yourself and get a bit more education before criticising and condemning work that you are incapable of replicating or bettering
Your unwillingness to read research, to address facts and to listen to arguments outside the scope of your 'Prostitution is Bad'narrative, show me there's no way to discuss sex work constructively in any way outside your carceral and patriarchal point of view. Your opinion is stigmatising and harmful to people. Lie to yourself all you want, that will not change a thing.
DeleteJust the way the artist talks about us sex workers is dehumanizing. It's in the language. Where we "are allowed to be fucked by many men," for example. Where we are only victims who have bad things done to us. This artist victimizes me, not my clients.
DeleteI would like a couple more examples of the dehumannizing language cos I can't quite see how your quote dehumanizes you
DeletePersonally I do not and never have seen prostitutes as 'only victims'. I think all women are 'victims' of Patriarchy (and men too).
Yeah, I didn't memorize every single thing written in this exposition. But often us sex workers are talked about as mere vessels who have sexual violence done to them. No option of agency or complex thought processes. But I suppose you are right, that this is up to interpretation. There is no doubt, however, that this exposition is stigmatizing. A perfect example is when the artist says that both sex workers and LGBTQ people experience disproportionate rates of STIS and HIV/AIDS. Perhaps that is true in countries where condom use is used as evidence to arrest sex workers, or where harm reduction practices are not prevalent, but in the Netherlands, sex workers have lower rates of STIs than the general population.
DeleteAnother example of a stigmatizing claim Hignett makes is that most sex workers get into this industry because we lack confidence and self-esteem, usually because we were previously abused. Neither solid, peer-reviewed research (that goes beyond street levels of prostitution) nor many lived experiences prove this idea. In fact, the way my colleagues and I see it, we value our bodies and our time so much that we are not willing to just give it away for free. Setting a fee to these services is us saying "Hey guys, just because you want sex doesn't mean you get to use us however you want. You must respect us and our boundaries first, and pay what we ask, or else hit the road." And we are not selling ourselves, unless you see all wage labor under capitalism in this way. Yes, we use our genitals for work. But this is just another part of the body, and we ALL use our bodies in work. Unless you are a moralist, there's nothing wrong with someone choosing to work with their genitals if that is their CHOICE. And again, denying the fact that many of us make this choice just makes it more difficult to report abuse and exploitation we didn't choose.
DeleteAnd just to ensure that these too are not deleted here are my two replies to Lilly and her reply between
ReplyDeleteI don't believe you have seen the exhibition and you don't seem to have read my review properly
Everything on the left hand wall are the words and stories of (ex)prostitutes.
The descriptions are of the trinkets, they are full of opinions, which doesn't necessarily make the opinions lies - just because you disagree.
It says nowhere that sex is sold for 20 euros.
the main difference between GAATW and CATW is that the latter operates from a radical feminist standpoint and the first from a Liberal one.
the 98% is my personal experience after 40 years of working with prostitutes in all different ways over 4 continents.
Actively misled and lied to sex workers in her research? Really how, where, who?
Sex workers are not artists - this is an art exhibition which is an exploration of an artists view of something specific.
the total abolition of the Patriarchy is what is called for not cosying up to it in a effort to climb the ladder.
I would be interested to talk to you in 20 years time about your work and hopefully you will still see and describe yourself as a happy hooker.
As the comments in the penultimate paragraph are again based on my personal experiences in schools that I have worked in and at a couple of events I attended. You are mistaken in your belief that NO ONE working for your rights is not also miscommunicating the truth.
the fact that trafficking occurs across a number of fronts doesn't make legalisation or decriminalisation the obvious way to deal with it.
Many prostitutes are abolitionists.
The exhibition is about listening to them
Lilly5 November 2019 at 11:36
Actually I did go to the exhibit. You're right, it doesn't say 20 euros, it says 30 euros. Not much better. You yourself in your blog post says that you found out that sex sells for 20 euros in the red light district. I don't know who you heard this information from but it's wrong.
And ok, so you work with sex workers. Great. But have you ever been one? There is still a difference there.
Where are sex workers abolitionists? I only know VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING who are abolitionists, but again this is not sex work. And under full decriminalization, trafficking, rape, and child prostitution would still be illegal. Usually people who work with sex workers but still advocate for abolition or end demand only work with victims.
And it doesn't matter if in 20 years I don't find myself a happy hooker. It was MY DECISION to make and that is something I have to live with. But nobody should be able to say that I can't make this decision, or assume that I am automatically going to regret this decision either.
The exhibition is not about listening to abolitionist sex workers, it is about equating all prostitution with violence and exploitation. There is no room for nuance or debate about this in the exposition, either.
And yes, I know that the artist has gone to workshops that were for sex workers and allies only. And I know she conducted interviews for sex workers without telling them the true purpose of the interviews. Or without telling the sex workers that she was an abolitionist.
Reply to Lilly5's reply
ReplyDeleteMaxi McNaughty8 November 2019 at 02:14
Firstly my article says that it sells for 20 euros LESS than the last time I asked.
In the documentary 'Jojaneke in de Prostitutie' - she went all over NL and spoke to women IN WINDOWS and many of them told her the price was 30 euros
Also the artist definitely told everyone she worked with, that her interviews and workshops were towards her work and her views on the institution.
All over Latin America there are abolitionists - definitely in Argentina (e.g. AMAHD) prostitutes are actively fighting for it's abolition. While also working for respect and dignity while they do the work. I know many women working in prostitution (who have chosen to go into it) who are abolitionists - jn Macedonia, Amsterdam, UK, Eire, Spain, France, Italy, Germany.
No one is saying that you cannot make a decision and change your mind at some point.
Being against the legalisation of prostitution doesn't preclude being an ally of prostitutes (who wish to leave their (un)chosen work)
I do indeed agree with the exhibition and equate all prostitution with violence because I see it as exploitation and exploit
Wow Caro!
ReplyDeleteJust immeadiately descend into insults - that is an excellent way of moving forward.
My views are related to prison and Patriarchal? I guess that is because I disagree with you...
My opinion is stigmatizes you? Disagreement is automatic disapproval then in your narrow view?
Disapproval cannot harm anyone though it may of course be slightly irksome or even painful to someone so stuck up their own backside with the need to be agreed with.
You are the only reason we cannot have a constructive discussion.
You carry on throwing insults instead of engaging in an intelligent and respectful exchange where knowledge and information rather than agreement are the aim.