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Though the labour of sex work is physically, emotionally and practically exhaustive, sex workers are left out of conversations of burnout and self care. Several students who work in the industry spoke to the Daily about the personal labour and care work that goes into sex work, and the necessity for making space for self-preservation and reflection. Between “taking necessary sexual precautions,” regular STI testing, maintaining their appearance, and physical safety, respondents spoke to the labour that goes into the day-to-day of their work on top of balancing their school work.

“A lot of times, more privileged people paint the industry as glamorous. They might have been lucky enough to get nicer clients maybe, but I think also more privileged able bodied thin white cis women will be treated nicer because their bodies are more valued. But we don’t all get that experience. I think we all need support because we *are* workers (this is work!) but support is not the same thing as the pretense that some of the more privileged strains of liberal feminism work with; namely it attempts to combat the stigma we face by acting like those of us in this line of work don’t face abuse by people who think their money entitles them to do whatever they want to our bodies. “

– McGill graduate student who does sugar baby work

An undergraduate student at McGill who works as an escort spoke to the emotional and practical difficulties in their work: “virtually all my clients are awful to varying degrees; it requires a performance of femininity that runs contrary to my preferred gender presentation; the risk of violence is extremely high; the process of negotiating over how much my services are worth is profoundly demeaning; and the fact that I can’t talk about these things with many people in my life.”

Community based organizations, such as Stella and Maggie’s, provide supportive groups and spaces for sex workers, but many student sex workers still feel the strain of not being able to share the day-to-day pressures of their work, as most workers outside of the industry can.

As forms of digital sex work become more prevalent in the industry, advertising services and screening client bases online comes with a distinct set of challenges. Due to restrictive “community standards” and platform guidelines, sex workers often find their content removed, or their accounts suspended or silently “shadowbanned.” Recent legislation such as the FOSTA/SESTA bill passed in the United States provide legitimacy for these restrictions as they attempt to combat sex trafficking. However, bills such as these group definitions of sex trafficking in with consensual sex work, censoring and preventing sex workers from discussing and offering services, further complicating the labour of sex workers and implicating their work as illicit. In conjunction with subscription sites such as Patreon, credit card processing firms like Google Pay and PayPal flag and ban transactions involving “adult content,” making it difficult for sex workers to safely and easily recieve compensation for their services. As they are pushed off these platforms, not only are environments like these delegitimizing for sex workers and their labour, it also places significant barriers on workers maintaining their livelihoods and safety. In an interview with Vice, camgirl Melody Kush explained that platforms are “not discriminating our content, they’re discriminating our persons, our work, our jobs. They’re invalidating us.”

Stella, a Montreal organization for sex workers, keeps record of bad clients based on reports from sex workers. The list is updated monthly, because the labour of safety is ongoing. This labour is done by sex workers to protect themselves, but also to protect each other. Outside of Montreal, unofficial whisper networks serve the same purpose and are common within sex worker communities.

In addition to maintaining this list, Stella also provides medical and other services for sex workers. As in all industries, industry-specific resources and services are vital to sex workers. Unlike many other industries, the task of providing those resources is relegated to community organizations; both stigma and the law prevent sex workers from seeking those resources in more public spaces. Stella is run by current and former sex workers, as well as community workers, who do this extra labour because the precarity of sex work in the North American context demands it. In areas without centralized community organizations and support systems, much of this labour is left to individual sex workers themselves.

 

“There’s a very nuanced and tense debate among [sex workers] about how one should view the industry. Personally I’m very critical of [sex work] as a phenomenon – I think that under our current social conditions (that is, under a capitalist and patriarchal system) it’s pretty intrinsically harmful and fucked up. That said, we can also reduce harm to workers by decriminalizing [sex work], and that should be an immediate priority – I just don’t think it’s enough in the long term, ultimately we need to topple the aforementioned systems altogether.” 

– McGill undergraduate student who does escort work

Even in countries (such as Canada) where sex work is technically decriminalized, there are aspects of sex work that are still prosecuted. Canada operates on the “Nordic model,” i.e. criminalizing clients instead of sex workers themselves. In theory, this is supposed to make things easier for sex workers. In practice, they can still be criminalized for soliciting sex in a public place, using their homes as spaces in which to conduct their work, and living off of the profits obtained through sex work. In short, sex workers can’t be arrested for having sex, but they can be arrested for virtually every non-sexual part of their jobs. Many sex workers have reported that criminalization of their work has led to a reduced ability to negotiate safer sex with clients, as carrying condoms and lubricant can be used as evidence of sex work. Studies have also shown that disclosing one’s identity as a sex worker can have a negative impact on relationships with service providers, and could lead to police entrapment. One study showed that “even when physical access to cervical screening sites appears to be sufficient, social and structural barriers continue to impede regular, voluntary cervical screening among sex workers.”

While keeping oneself safe from prosecution is one type of labour that sex workers need to perform, they also need to consider their bodily safety. According to Maggie’s, a Toronto organization for sex workers, “many workers do choose to host at their own place or a hotel despite the legal risk because hosting offers other types of safety.” Maggie’s also suggests that people “work in well-lit, populated [areas] when possible. While this can discourage bad dates, it may lead to unwanted attention from police, neighbours, etc.” Having to decide between which type of safety is more important is an emotionally-draining type of labour that many don’t think of when considering sex work.

As a undergraduate student who does cam work told the Daily, “Some people talk about sex work as this dehumanizing thing, but in my experience with camming (which I know is very different from other kinds of sex work) it hasn’t been any more dehumanizing than working retail, for instance. Not to blame capitalism, but like, it’s because of capitalism. In my experience, neither customers nor employers see you as a human being. […] At least when you’re self-employed, like I am, you only have shitty customers to deal with.”

This article was originally published in print on November 24, 2019 as part of the Labour, Body and Care joint issue. 

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Complementing its exhibit on the designs of Jean-Claude Poitras, McCord Museum held a “5 to 9” event on November 21. The event, called Slow Fashion: Mode écoresponsable, featured pop-up shops, fashion shows, and demonstrations. It was clear that the students were the ones driving the theme of the evening, as their work was the highlight of the night. A small collection of clothes made entirely of scrap fabric was featured on the second floor. Most of those pieces were beautiful and innovative, and the students involved in the show were passionate about improving many issues in the fashion industry – starting with sustainability issues.

On the first floor, models showing off coats made of recycled fur walked the makeshift runway. While the coats were gorgeous, the entire show was sponsored by Montreal-based fast fashion chain Ardene. While Ardene may claim to value social causes by sponsoring the show, they’re still contributing to the climate crisis simply by their very nature as a fast fashion company. However, the irony of them sponsoring slow fashion seemed lost on the event’s organizers.

Sponsor hypocrisy was far from the only problem at the event. The many pop-up shops, some of which boasted hand-made jewelry and clothing, were also performative. Upcycli’s shop sold incredibly expensive items, even though they were all second-hand clothes. An alternate option is shopping at inexpensive thrift stores, with some who donate their profits to charitable causes. Similarly, the Shwap Club promoted their subscription-based clothing exchange service, charging an exorbitant $90 yearly membership just to swap clothing with other people.

There are groups on Facebook which allow you to do the exact same thing, free of charge. Businesses like Shwap Club are greenwashing the practices which lower-income and environmentally-minded folks have engaged in for ages, and have faced judgment for as well. Upcycli, which also had a booth at the event, is not (strictly speaking) a business which sells used clothes. Rather, they are a free app which allows users to sell their used clothing.

The workshops, such as the natural dye demo, were interesting, though they focused on a neoliberal form of fixing the fashion industry that puts the burden on individual consumers instead of solutions that could be implemented in the larger industry. Additionally, it would have been beneficial to learn about these techniques as traditional knowledge rather than as a craft or hobby. There was no mention throughout the entire event of non- Western models of sustainability. Instead, environmentally-conscious techniques were implicitly suggested to be novel. The fashion show took place directly outside of the McCord’s permanent exhibit Wearing Our Identity, which showcases clothing that has “social, cultural, political, and spiritual” importance to Indigenous peoples. It was unclear whether the event’s organizers were attempting to make a statement or whether they were simply unaware of possible implications.

Fast fashion has a massive negative impact on the environment, and the slow fashion event was a well- intentioned step towards recognizing the industry-wide problem. However, recognition only goes so far, especially when one is also participating in greenwashing and avoiding discourse about the industry as a whole. Unfortunately, the event missed an opportunity to use this platform to press for larger structural change in the fashion industry.

Greenwashing is a practice wherein businesses perform sustainability in order to appear more environmentally- conscious than they actually are, oftentimes in an effort to diminish their negative impacts on the environment, or to gain social (and following that, economic) capital.

This article is a part of our joint issue with Le Délit on Labour, Body, & Care. To read their pieces, visit delitfrancais.com.

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I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya (2018)
Kate Ellis (Culture)
content warning: gender dysphoria, transphobia, homophobia, sexual harassment

Raw, real, and refreshing, this 2018 creative nonfiction piece tackles gender and how we view femininity and masculinity. It is a breath of fresh air in the world of cis authors writing sappy “wrong-body” narratives and just plain-old getting it wrong. I’m Afraid of Men perfectly articulates those feelings of not “doing” gender in a way that cis people approve of and the frustrations that come with it. It’ll hurt, make you uncomfortable, and make you go “ah, someone finally gets it,” all in one sitting. At 85 pages, you really have no reason not to read it.

Aye, and Gomorrah, and Other Stories by Samuel R. Delany (2003)
Phoebe Pannier (Illustrations)
content warning: suicide

Every story in Aye, and Gomorrah is unified by the idea of displacement – no matter how many galaxies may exist between its settings. Samuel R. Delany’s collection features protagonists who are, in one way or another, part of a diaspora. First published in 2003, the stories were mostly written in the 1960s and 70s. When reading it, though, it doesn’t feel like your typical 1960s sci-fi. In many ways, even today this collection pushes the envelope with its questions about sexuality and relationships. Other themes include communication (both in terms of linguistics and in terms of interpersonal connection), mythology, and complex epistemologies (it sounds pretentious, but I swear it isn’t). Aye, and Gomorrah, and Other Stories is a good way to dip your toes into Delany’s challenging but ultimately worth it, prose.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (2002)
Cadence Thakur (Staff Writer)
content warning: genocide, anti-semitism

Published by Jonathan Safran Foer in 2002, Everything is Illuminated is a historical fiction novel written from autobiographical and epistolary points of view. It chronicles three narratives detailing the author’s own fictionalized journey to Ukraine accompanied by a quirky translator, an old chauffeur, and a one-eyed dog. As they search for Augustine, a woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis, Safran Foer spins a tale that’s brilliant, hilarious, and all too real (despite the hints of magical realism which pepper the text). This novel takes you on a wild ride that’ll have you screaming with mirth, laughter, and tears until the very end.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Willa Holt (Sci+Tech)
content warning: abuse, sexual assault, gendered violence

Through a new take on an old fable and a series of other short stories, Machado expresses the struggle of existing in the systems of womanhood. Her razor-sharp prose cuts to the heart of indescribable aspects of moving through the world as not only a woman, but as a gay woman. If you’re looking for lesbian art, beautiful writing, or an author who seems to just get it, look no further. Anything I write about this book would do it an injustice. Go read it.

Evicted: Property and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (2016)
Rosa Sundar-Maccagno (Contributor)
content warning: racism, classism

Evicted discusses the reality of the housing market, with a specific focus on the lives of low-income tenants and their landlords, using Milwaukee as a model for other major metropolitan areas in North America. It reads like fiction, as it follows different individuals and families through their experiences. This book is brutally revealing and packed with statistics; because of the accessible way in which it’s written, you don’t realize how much you’re learning until you put it down. This book will remind you of the necessity of ending capitalism, but it will also make you smile and maybe even tear up.

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On November 11, seven Palestinians in Gaza were killed by an Israeli special forces operation. This was the latest event in the violent, decades-long occupation of Gaza by Israel, though there had been a ceasefire since 2014, with Israel easing up its siege and allowing money and fuel to be sent over the border. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, said on November 13 that if Israel “stops its aggression,” it would be possible to return to the ceasefire understanding of before. Even with the ceasefire, Gazans still live in unfair and inhumane conditions.

On November 14, an agreement was reached between the Palestinian and Israeli governments with the help of the deal brokered by Egyptian officials. Egypt has also been engaged in blockades against Gaza, restricting movement at the border between Egypt and Palestine. This deal, which was agreed upon in order to avoid the possibility of war, has reportedly already decreased violence in the region. The possibility of peace seemed to be in jeopardy after Israel’s covert mission, but Haniyeh has stated that “[Hamas] will respect this declaration as long as the Zionist enemy respects it.” Yahya Sinwar, another leader of Hamas, has said that he would also like to avoid war. “Through war, we achieve nothing,” he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wishes to avoid war, as evidenced by his agreement to the deal. Gideon Levy, an editor at Al Jazeera, commented that while “both parties are not interested in war, [neither are] doing enough to prevent one.”

UK and EU Reach Deal

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a Brexit deal this past Tuesday November 13, calling an emergency Cabinet meeting. Since the 2016 referendum, where over 50 per cent of UK citizens voted in favour of leaving the EU, there have been extensive deliberations on how Britain can and should exit the European Union.

May’s deal includes details of the 21-month withdrawal and transition period, the new rights and commitments of EU and UK citizens, as well as the the sum of money to be paid to the EU. On November 14, the deal was approved by Cabinet, but not without opposition. Since an agreement was reached, two Cabinet ministers and numerous junior ministers have resigned, and Prime Minister May has received several letters of non-confidence. If May is presented with 48 letters, a vote to oust her as leader and Prime-Minister could be held.

The deal will be up for EU approval at the emergency summit to be held on November 25. If passed, the current deal will be voted on within the UK Parliament. If Parliament does not back the deal, the government has 21 days to produce a new deal, or face following re-negotiations, or even hold a general election. If Parliament votes in favour of the deal, the EU will produce an official Withdrawal Bill which will have to go through a number of stages of approval at the EU ahead of the withdrawal, which will occur on March 29 2019.

Conflict in Cameroon Escalates

Dozens have been killed in Cameroon this past week as fighting increases between Cameroon militia and separatist rebels. The increase in casualties on both sides follows the October re-election of President Paul Biya for a seventh term. Biya is the oldest leader in sub-Saharan Africa; he has ruled Cameroon for almost 40 years.

The conflict stems from a divide in the predominantly French-speaking nation between Anglophone separatists and government forces. The then-German protectorate of Kamerun was split between France and England by the League of Nations in 1919, causing the current language divide. Following a referendum in 1972, French and English speaking territories came together to form the United Republic of Cameroon.

Separatist rebels seek the creation of an independent, English-speaking state called “Ambazonia.” Separatists have targeted English-speaking areas that conform to the Cameroonian national identity, including kidnappings and violence in Western Cameroon. However, it is often unclear who is behind the violence. To stifle the rebels, army forces have actively killed, kidnapped, and targeted villages. Strict and enforced curfews have been imposed in English-speaking zones to limit separatist activities after dark. Reports indicate that more than half of the English-speaking city of Bamenda have fled their homes, with schools closing, and roads remaining unsafe. The crisis has forced civilians to flee Anglophone regions for French-speaking ones, or to neighbouring Nigeria.

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American midterm elections will be held November 6; however, states across the country are passing legislation to suppress the voting rights of people of colour. Carol Anderson, chair of African-American Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, GA., told the CBC that she believes laws with the goal of suppressing Black votes are being drafted with “horrific efficiency.”

Georgia has an “exact match” policy, meaning that a voter registration form can be rejected if it contains a single misspelling. On October 24, only two weeks before midterms, a judge ruled that voters must be notified of their status and given a chance to fix the error. 70 per cent of voters denied due to the exact match policy have been Black. The exact match policy is enforced by chief election officer Brian Kemp, who is running for governor against Democrat Stacey Abrams. If she wins, Abrams will be the first Black female governor in the entire country. Kemp has been endorsed by President Trump and has a largely white voter base.

Dodge City, Kansas, which is predominantly Hispanic, has closed its only polling place: residents will now have to travel further to access a polling location. This will require voters to take more time off from work in order to vote, and will require access to a vehicle; as, the nearest bus stop is a mile away from the new polling place. Dodge City is currently being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for intentionally misleading voters about the location change.

North Dakota has a new policy in place which will target Indigenous voters. North Dakota was the only state in which voters were not required to register before election day and provide proof of residency in order to vote. Now, voters must provide a residential address, which proves difficult for many Indigenous people, as the five reservations in North Dakota do not use the same addressing system as the rest of the state. The policy, put in place by a Republican-led Legislature, is being introduced prior to the potential re-election of Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, who narrowly won a Senate seat in 2012 due to support from Indigenous communities.

Khashoggi Case Drags On

Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2. Khashoggi was a journalist for The Washington Post, a U.S. resident, and a critic of the Saudi royal family. He went to the consulate to retrieve proof of his past divorce so he could marry his fiancée. Initially, Saudi officials had denied any knowledge of what happened inside the consulate. Later, they retracted their statement, instead saying the journalist died in a fist fight. After weeks of pressure by Turkish prosecutors, they admitted that the murder was premeditated, and identified 18 suspects in the case.

The Turkish government, unhappy with the way the investigation has been proceeding, has insisted that the suspects face prosecution in Turkey, but Saudi Arabia demands that the case be dealt with on their own grounds.

Currently hindering the investigation is the unknown whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body. “I want to bury the body of beloved Jamal. Therefore I am asking once again, where is his body? I believe that the Saudi regime knows where his body is. They should answer my demand,” said Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée. Despite pressures from Turkish officials, Saudi authorities have not yet forfeited any information pertaining to the location of the body.

The United States has hesitated to get involved in the issue, although they have condemned Saudi Arabia’s resistance to a full investigation. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated it would be a “handful more weeks” before the U.S. could retaliate. Security interests, such as U.S. access to Saudi Arabia’s petroleum resources, could be at stake if the U.S. decides to further their investigation of Khashoggi’s death.

Merkel Resigns from CDU

On October 29, Angela Merkel announced in an address to her party that she will not be seeking re-election as Germany’s chancellor when her office term ends in 2021. Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered heavy losses in regional elections in the German state of Hesse. Merkel took responsibility for the CDU’s losses in the local elections, and confirmed to party members that she will not run again for the leadership of the party come December. The party’s decline in popularity is related to the rising right wing and anti-immigration sentiments, notably in the form of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party. The question is now whether Merkel will be able to last her full term. It is speculated that the current coalition between her party and the Social Democrats may collapse before the next national elections, in which case a snap election would be called.

Whichever direction the upcoming elections take, changes at the top of Germany’s political hierarchy can have important implications for all of Europe; the announcement of Merkel’s resignation itself has shaken confidence in the Euro within the region. Her successor will face major challenges. Reshaping the European Union after Brexit, Europe’s response to refugees, strengthening European unity, and clashes with governments in the west (the United States and the Trump Administration), and to the east (Russia and the Kremlin) are all factors the next chancellor must deal with. Merkel has confirmed that she will not be formally backing any of the candidates for the position.

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Capitalism is a political system in which private corporations, rather than the government or the workers, control industries and the means of production. In theory, this does not seem inherently negative. However, in practice, capitalism allows for businesses to be virtually unrestricted when it comes to the treatment of their employees. While most Western countries have laws preventing certain human rights abuses, corporations’ control over the industry gives them undue political sway in how laws are written. Labour laws therefore contain loopholes that allow for exploitation regardless. All material consumption in a capitalist society plays into this system of exploitation. While there are brands which truly are less exploitative than others, their mere existence as for-profit corporations hurts marginalized people.

Factories are often located in Majority World countries, where populations, and therefore employees, are not white. Through systemic oppression, racialized communities overseas end up coerced into performing cheap, exploitative labour under capitalism. Even within Minority World countries, the institutional racism inherent to capitalism creates exploitative labour through poverty wages and poor working conditions which are exemplified in sweatshops. As people of colour in the West are not afforded the same opportunities as white people, they are often overrepresented in underpaid and dangerous types of jobs.

While there are brands which truly are less exploitative than others, their mere existence as for-profit corporations hurts marginalized people.

Furthermore there has been a trend in recent years of companies performing allyship and “woke capitalism” in order to succeed economically. Corporations have realized that the quality of their products has become less significant to customers due to the sheer number of similar retailers in the market. In order to stay competitive, they position themselves as superior to the other, less-ethical brands. They have recognized that people are speaking out against systemic injustice, especially engaging with feminist rhetoric and they have rebranded themselves as “woke.”

The most obvious example is Nike, who has hired Black Lives Matter activist Colin Kaepernick as their new spokesperson. Kaepernick’s slogan is “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” But Nike’s supposed activism hardly constitutes sacrifice; online orders of their products rose 27 percent compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, they have not addressed allegations of human rights abuses directed against them. As recently as 2017, the Fashion Transparency Index gave Nike the lowest possible score due to the poverty wages they pay their workers. Beyond being underpaid, Nike’s labourers in these Majority World countries have also been subject to inhumane working conditions, such as working in 37°C heat during ten-plus hour shifts, six days a week. In many cases, this has led to serious health consequences for these predominantly racialized workers, who are often working under precarious short-term contracts and cannot file reports against their employers without losing their jobs. Yet Nike’s revenue continues to rise as a direct result of their performative allyship.

Many other brands have also participated in woke capitalism, selling clothes with messages which are not reflective of their actual human rights records. Forever 21 has been accused of gender discrimination and transphobia. Yet, Forever 21 is currently selling over a hundred different rainbow-printed items. And no, their designers don’t just like rainbows. Search “LGBT” on their website and you’ll see everything from skinny women in rainbow-striped thongs to skinny girls in rainbow shirts that say “girls for the future.” Recommended for me is a t-shirt which reads “What I want / what I really really want / is equality” and ironically costs more in “plus” sizes than in smaller sizes.

This isn’t an isolated incident, for-profit corporations cannot, by definition, prioritize anything over their revenue.

Rebranding corporations as “woke” has been taken further by brands such as Feminist Apparel. The company exclusively manufactures products featuring catchy feminist slogans, such as “pizza rolls not gender roles” and “men of quality respect women’s equality.” They use popular symbols, such as the pride flag and Rosie the Riveter, which have been adopted by young activists. The website clearly states that consent is “clear, conscious, and enthusiastic,” and that we should “talk about consent.” However, the company’s founder and CEO must not be a man of quality; he is an admitted sexual abuser. When confronted and asked to resign by his employees, he fired them all without notice or severance. Beyond this blatant disregard for employees’ rights, Feminist Apparel showed that when forced to choose between ethics and profit, they chose profit. This isn’t an isolated incident, for-profit corporations cannot, by definition, prioritize anything over their revenue.

Do the people who buy these things know that they’re supporting and perpetuating the very injustices they claim to oppose? Do they care? Most consumers of “woke” clothes are privileged enough that they don’t need to worry about how their things are made, who they’re made by, and what impact their purchase has on the lives of others. “Activism” that uses money to buy feminist shirts and LGBT Macbook stickers while not engaging in anti-oppressive practices is just performative allyship. After all, performing wokeness is the easiest way to achieve “good person” symbolic capital, and doesn’t require much time, energy, or desire to actually create change. The failure to recognize the inherent exploitative and performative nature of woke capitalism not only commodifies activism, but also perpetuates cycles of oppression. Actually participating in activism, however, requires both physical and emotional labour.

“Activism” that uses money to buy feminist shirts and LGBT Macbook stickers while not engaging in anti-oppressive practices is just performative allyship.

Yes, the use of young people’s activism by corporations as a new way to make profit is wrong and should be acknowledged. However, while existing in a capitalist system, everyone can make choices that combat capitalist exploitation. Owing to privilege, it isn’t fair to expect everyone to make the same less-exploitative choices, but no one is entirely powerless. You can buy things used, you can use trading groups on Facebook to get rid of things you don’t need in exchange for things you do. If you have to buy something new (I just don’t want used underwear and I can’t shame anyone for feeling the same), do your research about which brands you choose. There will never be ethical capitalism, and consumers need to recognize that and take their impact into consideration every time they buy anything. Giving up and just buying a cheap tee with a pseudo-feminist slogan is certainly not a solution.

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