I don’t think the problem is isolated. But for whatever reason it doesn’t make me pessimistic — maybe because I know better than to believe those comments? It does sadden me though.

XX

Thank you. You get it.

JW,

Yes, fulfillment is simply warehousing stock and fulfilling orders. Some places also offer credit card processing and an online shopping cart (or their own online catalog for sales processing). That’s pretty much it. (I don’t have a merchant account and so wanted a more complete package of fulfillment services.)

Thais,

No, it’s not new, but it is one of the few “acceptable” prejudices to have in America (and the whole world, really). Plus, it made a catchy title, IMO.

There has been a lot of progress but that it’s still okay to consider sex workers as inhuman is highly offensive to me. Gays were generally seen as freaks or sickos — but still mostly human. Other alternatives sexualities are still often seen as abnormal — but identifiably human.

The Internet has made a huge difference in sex workers communicating with each other. To be frank, I don’t expect to see the changes I want in my lifetime. But I do hope to at least see sex workers accepted as humans, however “wrong” or “immoral” they may be.

I do a news blog for SWOP-East and every day in my Google Alerts I see comments (after blog posts and news articles) where the commenter doesn’t even see the sex worker as human. Chilling comments. The prevailing attitudes are awful. For whatever reason, sex workers are unwitting symbols of a deep hatred for sexual women. Changing that attitude first will change everything else. Unfortunately, that attitude is still perfectly socially acceptable. Maybe that’s the real problem.

XX

But the key word I am afraid is ‘beginning’ not ‘accepted’. It’s going to be a long struggle. I suggest we look at what’s already been achieved and draw strength from it: communications between sex workers all over the world, sex work rights movement, conferences. Who could have imagined any of that 20 years ago?