Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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I Hate My Job is an anthology that features essays from ten sex worker contributors, both former and current, who explore the intersections of criminalized labor, working in an underground economy, respectability politics, class division, capitalism, and Carol Leigh’s coining of the term “sex worker.”
The book aims to provide a platform for sex workers to share their experiences and insights on the realities of their work. It is intended to raise awareness about the often-overlooked issues facing sex workers, and to challenge the stigma and discrimination they face in society. Most especially, this collection aims to provide a safe place for sex workers with ambivalent, or even negative, feelings about their work and clients to express this discontent without fear of the usual pushback i.e., “Why don’t you get a real job?”
Consisting of essays and dialogue from an intimate and diverse group of sex workers, including those who work or have worked in legal and criminalized sectors of the sex industry, this anthology will provide a unique perspective on the challenges and triumphs of sex work, and the ways in which it intersects with broader social and economic issues.
The book will be organized into four sections:
- Criminalized Labor & the Underground Economy: This section explores the experiences of sex workers who work in countries where sex work is criminalized. The essays will examine the ways in which criminalization impacts the safety, health, and well-being of sex workers, and the strategies they use to navigate the risks and challenges of their work. The essays will also explore the ways in which sex workers are forced to operate outside of the mainstream labor market, and the impact this has on their economic and social status.
- Capitalism and Sex Work: This section examines the relationship between capitalism and sex work. The essays will explore the ways in which sex work is shaped by capitalist structures and values, and the implications of this for sex workers and broader society.
- Em(power)ment: This section examines the ways sex workers are forced to justify their labor, and existence as a perpetual underclass, through an insistence that they feel “empowered” by their work in order to deserve both recognition of their humanity and their status as workers. This demand is a particularly misogynistic requirement, frequently weaponized against workers in traditionally feminine industries i.e., teaching, administration, domestic labor, and sex work seeking labor protections.
- Class Drag: This section interrogates the ways sex workers are forced to perform class performances that better their odds of financial success based on assumed notions held by ideal audiences. Examples include escorts who participate in etiquette trainings to better blend in in “high-end” encounters including formal dinners and galas; online workers who participate in “high-value” signalling through the conspicuous display of luxury and designer goods; and graduate students participating in underground economies who cosplay as poverty-stricken to gain sympathy and access to research subjects to lend legitimacy to their work.
I Hate My Job aims to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about sex work, to explore the broad variety and depth of experiences across the sex industry, lending itself to the rallying cry “sex work is work,” and to provide a platform for sex workers to share their insights, often overlooked by academic institutions and traditional publishing in favor of more salacious and sensationalized narratives. By sharing their stories, the authors hope to create a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of the realities of sex work, and to spark broader conversations about labor, capitalism, and social justice.
As of December 3rd, this project has raised $2,000 of their $15,500 goal. This project has 59 days left to raise the $15,500 or it will not be funded. For a pledge of $13, you will get one eBook. For a pledge of $25, you will get one paperback. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/workinggirlspress/i-hate-my-job-0?
