Flesh It Out: In Praise of Sex Workers On International Sex Workers Day

Let’s talk about my favorite whores!

Hey Fleshbot fans! Today, June 2nd, is International Sex Workers Day. We are pro sex work by enthusiastically consenting adults here at Fleshbot for obvious reasons, namely, we’d be out of business if not! I thought it would be interesting today to take a look at some of my favorite sex workers from mainstream media, fictional and otherwise, inspired by a piece I did a little awhile ago about this same topic reviewing The Celluloid Bordello, which is a great piece of viewing material for today (available at PinkLabel.tv) if you’ve not already seen it.

One of the first dirty books I found and read at a thrift shop while my Mom was looking for stuff in another area was The Happy Hooker by the famous Dutch hooker and madame Xaviera Hollander, published in 1971. I always beelined for the book section but that day was especially fun! Fun fact, her name inspired porn legend Audrey Hollander's stage name. I read quite a bit of it, flipping around to the most smutty parts because time was of the essence, and stored it in my spank bank and it helped me in part become the big perv that I am today and make me cognizant of the fact that female sexuality is power. Curiously enough it was also a sexual discovery vehicle for my first boyfriend who lived almost clear across the country from me-- I think his parents had a copy kicking around. I didn’t buy the book back then, but I bought it years later. It really lends itself to an audiobook, but there’s only an abridged version out there now and I’m an unabridged snob, sorry not sorry. The book tells all sorts of sordid and amusing tales of Xaviera’s life. There was an indie porn movie called The Life and Times of Xaviera Hollander released in 1974 starring Samantha McLaren and directed by Larry G. Spangler. I can’t seem to find it anywhere to watch in its entirety, sadly. There were, however, three mainstream movies made about Xaviera, all of which are available streaming on Amazon Prime Video and various places for purchase at press time. The most successful of the films was the first in which Hollander was played by Lynn Redgrave. They are definitely worth a look even though the book is better.

In college, I took a few history courses about women and for one of them, we were assigned to watch Dangerous Beauty (1998) which was about real-life courtesan Veronica Franco who lived in Venice from 1546-1591, portrayed in the movie by Catherine McCormack. This was the lush costume drama movie that came out in 1998 that wasn’t Ever After (also a favorite of mine). The latter was for a teen audience, arguably, but Dangerous Beauty was a more adult depiction of a young woman who wanted free reign over her life and loved someone above her assigned station. Her mother, who had also been a courtesan, got her into the profession so she could have a shot to be with the man she loved. Younger Veronica was fascinated by the freedom these women had at court and in society and once she stepped into the giant-ass gorgeous library that was accessible only to men and courtesans, she was pretty much sold on the life. I mean, I would be too. Marry some crusty old dude and be his baby factory, or get to read and hang out at court and write poetry and have a lot of sex with hot rich dudes who buy me shit? No brainer. Gifts and spoiling back then was a bit different. They didn’t have CashApp so like, a client could give you a whole-ass live peacock, for example. Veronica runs afoul of the plague (we know how much those suck now!), and Spanish Inquisition-- no one expected them, of course, and other challenges I won’t spoil for you. The film is currently available on the Plex app for your streaming device of choice.

Being a nerd, I’m of course a Browncoat, or a lover of the Joss Whedon created TV series Firefly (2002) and its follow-up movie Serenity (2005). Morena Baccarin’s character Inara Serra is a Registered Companion, more akin to a courtesan than a hooker. Companions choose their own clients and are trained in an environment similar to courtesans in history-- they are well-educated and well-rounded in skills from sex to swordfighting to listening to people’s problems. Companion training in houses led by Priestesses begins as early as 12 and nothing remotely sexual even enters into it for awhile. A session with a Companion can be part therapy, part sexy time, for sure. In a rather famous scene, we learn that not all of Inara’s clients are male! Inara had her own shuttle that she leased from the Captain and traveled around with the ragtag crew of Serenity entertaining clients while the rest of the crew did whatever jobs they needed to survive. Had the show stayed on longer, we likely would have learned more about Inara’s past and been able to see more about her relationships with each crew member including the fraught one with Nathan Fillion’s character Captain Malcolm Reynolds. This video will give you a quick overview of Inara, but I highly recommend watching the series, currently available on Hulu. There’s also books, graphic novels, and a board game!

The realities of sex work and the real lives of historical figures are often vastly more nuanced than these depictions, but I enjoy these stories as largely positive portrayals of sex workers who used their sexuality and intellect to chart the course of their own lives when choices were taken away from them and open doors that were previously closed to them. Hail The Whores!