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Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work (Jacobin) Kindle Edition

by Melissa Gira Grant (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 225 ratings
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Recent years have seen a panic over “online red-light districts,” which supposedly seduce vulnerable young women into a life of degradation, and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s live tweeting of a Cambodian brothel raid. But rarely do these fearful, salacious dispatches come from sex workers themselves, and rarely do they deviate from the position that sex workers must be rescued from their condition, and the industry simply abolished — a position common among feminists and conservatives alike.

In Playing the Whore, journalist Melissa Gira Grant turns these pieties on their head, arguing for an overhaul in the way we think about sex work. Based on ten years of writing and reporting on the sex trade, and grounded in her experience as an organizer, advocate, and former sex worker, Playing the Whore dismantles pervasive myths about sex work, criticizes both conditions within the sex industry and its criminalization, and argues that separating sex work from the “legitimate” economy only harms those who perform sexual labor. In Playing the Whore, sex workers’ demands, too long relegated to the margins, take center stage: sex work iswork, and sex workers’ rights are human rights.
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  1. Part of series
    Jacobin
  2. Print length
    137 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Verso
  6. Publication date
    March 11, 2014
  7. File size
    1066 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Collectively as a society we've got a whole bunch of tangled, warped intuitions and policies towards the exchange of money for sex. Melissa Gira Grant does a remarkable job of rigorously teasing these apart and righteously scrapping those she finds wanting. Her work has been hugely influential in how I think about sex work and outright changed my mind on a number of points. She's a must read.”
—Chris Hayes, All In With Chris Hayes

“An important contribution to debates around sex and work, and deserves to be read by anyone who wants to get beyond tired and damaging understandings of both.”
—Nina Power, author of One Dimensional Woman

“Thoroughly researched, eminently readable...Keeping the focus on ideas instead of autobiography has an impressively unsettling effect, as we're forced to acknowledge the writer's boundaries, and our own voyeurism.”
—Village Voice

"Gira Grant is one of the most interesting policy thinkers in the country when it comes to sex work, and this short book introduces and outlines her thinking on the matter.”
—Mike Konczal, Washington Post

“An informative and extremely worthwhile addition to the existing body of literature on sex work.”
—Stoya, adult performer and Vice columnist

“Learn, listen, take heart—this is the real deal.”
—Susie Bright, sex and culture critic, and founder of On Our Backs

“Well-researched and provocative … A vital text on an incendiary topic.”
—Lily Burana, author of I Love a Man in Uniform and Strip City

“Gira Grant weaves her way through sanctimony and hypocrisy with wit, eloquence, insight, and a dose of necessary outrage.”
—Laura Kipnis, author of How to Become a Scandal

“Makes precisely clear that a culture that polices, silences and marginalizes women who sell sex is a culture that cares nothing about women. Period.”
—Janet Mock, author of Redefining Realness

“As self-appointed saviors like Nicolas Kristof command mainstream media attention for their crusade on behalf of trafficked women, Melissa Gira Grant provides a sharp and powerful counternarrative, a layered, justice-minded critique of such interventions as well as a much needed skewering of ‘carceral feminism.’ An important, illuminating and engaging read.”
—Liliana Segura, Senior Editor, The Intercept (First Look Media)

“In [Playing the Whore], Grant critiques the policing of sex workers, the conditions of the industry, and the ongoing discussions surrounding how we see the sex industry as well as the sex workers themselves. [She] hits the major points of these huge topics and takes a powerful stance on the rights of sex workers.”
—River H. Kero, Book Riot


“In [Playing the Whore], Grant critiques the policing of sex workers, the conditions of the industry, and the ongoing discussions surrounding how we see the sex industry as well as the sex workers themselves. [She] hits the major points of these huge topics and takes a powerful stance on the rights of sex workers.”
—River H. Kero, Book Riot

About the Author

Melissa Gira Grant is a writer and freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Glamour, the Guardian, the Nation, Wired, and the Atlantic. She is also a Contributing Editor to Jacobin.
Her website is melissagiragrant.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00F8EYVQ2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Verso (March 11, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 11, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1066 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 137 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1781683239
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 225 ratings

About the author

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Melissa Gira Grant

Melissa Gira Grant

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I’m a journalist and author, covering sexual politics and human rights. I'm a columnist for Pacific Standard, and my reporting and commentary has appeared in The Nation, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, VICE, Wired, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Dissent, among other publications. I'm the author of Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work. I live in New York.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
225 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

J. Doe
5.0 out of 5 stars Informayive and Well Organized
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is very good if you want information on sex work that isn't from a religious or anti-sex work position. It's a job. It is addressed as such from a very honest perspective.
3 people found this helpful
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Jacob Santillan
5.0 out of 5 stars Extreme Consciousness Raising
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2014
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I don't remember reading a more consciousness-raising book before this one. Grant potently lays out the hypocrisy of anti-sex work folks and just how terrible the "Rescue Industry" is. It's appalling, as are the hypocrisies of the anti-sex work reformers when it comes to their complicity in the police brutality and sexual assault sex workers face as a result of criminalization and stigmatization.

Be prepared to have any previous assumptions, perceptions, or prejudices you may have about sex work and sex workers powerfully challenged. It takes a lot of courage to advocate for the rights of sex workers, particularly in a country like America, where our handling of human sexuality is ridiculous and slut-shaming can be a powerful deterrent,

Much thanks to Guardian columnist Margaret Corvid for referring me to this book.
20 people found this helpful
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kambizT
4.0 out of 5 stars Educating for any reader
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2014
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One of the best books on sex work, views, lobbies, history and movements and politics of it. I am usually hesitant to read books on this subject since usually the books on area of sex work are fantasy tale of good and evil with erotic dressing. After reading the review of the book on Boston Review, I started reading the book. It is a very good read and educates the reader very well.
13 people found this helpful
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Kimberly Felix
5.0 out of 5 stars Deep insights into sex work
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2014
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"Playing the Whore" offers readers a unique examination of the space which various forms of sex work occupy in the socio-political cultural realm of North America, specifically the USA (but also on a global scale). This book helps us to understand sex workers as human beings like everyone else, rather than objects of disinterested scrutiny, abstract worship, or scornful pity. Anyone who wants to analyse the divisive debates around the various options for addressing the wider social issues raised by sex work should have this book. Listening to sex workers themselves is the critical starting point for gaining a true appreciation for their concerns, their perspectives, and their lives.
16 people found this helpful
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Shamaine Reis
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book that has never before been written
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2014
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The historical context grounds this otherwise sensational topic and reveals the social and political work labor forces the continue to deny basic human rights for people who work in sex grant is at once stark and poetic sticking to events and facts over her own story we are lucky to have her w us in this fight for rights and reapect not only sex workers but our customers communities and families too
4 people found this helpful
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Brent Dyer
3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written but basic and unsourced. Don't spend the money unless you are looking for a primer on the topic.
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
I bought this book expecting a well-sourced, thoughtful discussion of the history and present reality of sex work. It did not meet my expectations.

The author writes well, and she does a passable job of providing an overview of the issues raised by sex work, but it is only an overview. The book is surprisingly short and offers virtually no substantive analysis of the topics presented. Most disappointing for me, however, was the total absence of any citations to sources. It is simply inexcusable to present conclusions that are often antithetical to the majority views held by society and not provide any source for the conclusions.

There are much better sources of information on the topics presented available for free on the internet. It would be worth the price to read this capable author's in depth exploration of these issues (with footnotes, please), but the cursory treatment of the subject matter does not justify the relatively high purchase price.
15 people found this helpful
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Onnie
5.0 out of 5 stars Of you actually want some knowledge on the topic
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
Not only does this book present completely new ideas I haven't seen before but it presents me with so man notions that I jus want to slap myself for not having already thought of.

It also has a lot of references to her source material, this book will keep me busy getting mysel informed for a while.
One person found this helpful
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Paul J. Ste Marie
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2016
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Before recording opinions or worse, making laws, about something you've never done, it's worth reading and listening to what actual sex workers have to say.

This book is a great discussion of the pornographuc nature of the "rescue" industry and how it causes actual harm to those it purports to help.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

caroline g
5.0 out of 5 stars A very important book.
Reviewed in France on October 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book put into words my thoughts and provided me the vocabulary to explain my position to others. I'm so grateful to the author.
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Ms Bee
5.0 out of 5 stars A small but vital text.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
Anyone wishing to understand the state of sex work in the UK needs to read this text. It's small but gets right to the point.
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Heather Number 1
5.0 out of 5 stars like all work
Reviewed in Canada on April 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
Sex work is work. Anyone who claims to be a feminist while ignoring this fact (and, like all work, it can include a spectrum of exploitation to mastery – see also: slave labour in garment factories to millionaire haute couture designers) has an agenda that will leave a lot of women hurt and dead.
4 people found this helpful
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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to read after "Revolting Prostitutes"
Reviewed in France on July 9, 2021
Verified Purchase
I really gave so much to think. It was really an interesting and quite easy read with many layers of feminist, historical, cultural, sociological and even philosophical analysis.
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Tamsyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic summary of the legal situation and societal attitudes around sex work.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
Not necessarily new information for those already involved academia or activism in this area but definitely one of the most concise summaries I've ever come across, with great references to other resources you can follow up with in order to read in greater depth. It's also really accessible and easy to get to grips with for those who may not know much about the language or the politics around prostitution. Fantastic.
2 people found this helpful
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