Whorticulture: Volume 3
Quick and dirty things I found on the internet that intrigued and delighted me.
The internet has been good to me this week! I had a lovely friend staying with me this week which added a sprinkle of deliciousness and delight to my weekend; full of dancing, rock climbing, cold plunges and good conversations. I still made time for reading though, and these were some of my favorite things I found:
Quick reads this week:
I’m not an active listener to Call her Daddy, but it is undeniable that she has done some incredible interviews. Her down to earth interview style makes her podcast a safe space for many of her guests to be more candid and honest than they would in any other setting, and I loved this interview Alex did with Monica Lewinksy recently about her two-year affair with Bill Clinton while she was an intern at the White House, and her life now. In particular, I found the conversation about her reclaiming her identity to be particularly powerful:
“Why should I have to change my name? I bet nobody has asked Bill, did he ever think about changing his name? OK, I get because he was the most famous person at the moment, and the president, etc. But just even the idea would never cross someone’s mind to a man. I regret a lot of different decisions I’ve made both prior to ’98 and post ’98, I’m a human being. But I’m not ashamed of who I am.”
What happens when we legalize sex work and treat sex workers with, well, dignity? In 2021, Burlington and Montpelier Vermont decided to remove harmful and misogynistic language around consensual sex work from their city charters, essentially decriminalizing it. This article, by Henri June Bynx, the co-founder and co-director of the Ishtar Collective, Vermont’s only organization run by and for sex workers and survivors of exploitation or trafficking, argues that when sex workers are treated with respect and dignity, communities quickly respond in kind. I wonder what would happen if we decided on this tactic country-wide, instead of conflating sex work and sex trafficking, or blaming sex workers for the increased misogyny and violence of men?
Loved this interview with Luna Sofia Miranda, who played Lulu in Anora, starring opposite Mikey Madison as her best friend at the club. A long-time stripper, actor, and currently working on her own film, she talks a lot about how Hollywood loves to make films about sex work, but rarely wants to lift up the voices of sex workers, or sex workers themselves. This is a sentiment I also share (and see a lot of in my personal life and relationships) is the co-opting of cool that comes with being a friend of a sex worker, while still being actively harmful or ignorant about how to actually be a good friend or ally to the sex worker community. I will be looking forward to her film with great anticipation.
Linder Sterling is an iconic artist who made shocking collages out of porn, punk images, and mass marketed consumer media that are both a comforting reminder of our chronically online inconography and also a stark warning. As this gorgeous Guardian piece about her recently-opened career retrospective in London reads, “Linder’s work casts doubt on the idea that material comforts will make us happy. “In capitalism, you have this progress narrative, like: buy this, do this, and life will get better,” she says. “Suddenly you think, ‘It could get a hell of a lot worse, very quickly.’” At the moment, she says, “everything we fought for feels as fragile as a magazine from the 1950s. You put the blade into it and it just tears.”
This post, “i have friends, i definitely have friends,” is almost laughably sweet and innocent as it’s by Ellie Lucie on the plight of being an adult and realizing that you are more alone than you seem, laughable simply because she is only 24, but there are currents in it that strongly resonated with me; such as making lists of friends to prove that I have them, and the slow shift of living with your entire social circle when you’re a kid living at home or crammed into a dorm with people the same age as you, to now meeting more often in impersonal spaces or at formal events in peoples homes. I was struck by this post in particular after hosting a very intimate movie night this past weekend at my house with home baked goodies, potato chips, and the very important activity of just hanging out. Within the context of being a sex worker who feels slightly unsettled when I’m by myself because we live in a constructed world of people being able to access me almost 24/7, it was a beautiful read on intentional connection and perhaps, moving forward, being more conscientious of what we do when we are alone, or with our chosen connections.
Current girl crush: Elle Voss
If you love puns and a girl with a snappy head on her shoulders, I cannot recommend this babe enough. Our paths have unfortunately not crossed as of yet, but a girl can dream, can’t she? She’s stunning, gorgeous, and oh so funny….. <3
Like this? Let me know in the comments and I’ll do more of em. Until then, stay golden pony boy <3
I know what you mean about Elle Voss...
Much liked. Thank you!