Whores and Other Feminists [Hardcover]

Jill Nagle (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415918219 | ISBN-13: 978-0415918213 | Publication Date: July 22, 1997 | Edition: 1

Whores and Other Feminists fleshes out feminist politics from the perspective of sex workers--strippers, prostitutes, porn writers, producers and performers, dominatrices--and their allies. Comprising a range of voices from both within and outside the academy, this collection draws from traditional feminisms, postmodern feminism, queer theory, and sex radicalism. It stretches the boundaries of contemporary feminism, holding accountable both traditional feminism for stigmatizing sex workers, and also the sex industry for its sexist practices.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Strippers, peepshow dancers, and porn stars trade spiked heels for footnotes while demonstrating their often overlooked ability to engage in scholarly discourse in this collection of essays focusing on the subject of feminism as practiced by those who call themselves "sex workers." Along with the first-person accounts by such underground luminaries as Nina Hartley, Tracy Quan, and Annie Sprinkle, are forays into the sex dens by a number of academics. The writing is frank, though hardly pornographic, and many of the points raised and discussed are treated with more seriousness and considerably more insight than they usually are in the mainstream press. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

This book is provocative. The title shocks; the content stimulates. Feminism sorely needs exactly what is provided in this book.
–Journal of American and Comparative Cultures

Nagle has definitely broken new ground and established one of many stances of 'third wave' feminism. Whores and Other Feminists is fascinating and liberating.
–The Lesbian Review of Books, Spring 1999

This book provides a welcome change from the more familiar puritanical version of feminism.
–In These Times

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (July 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415918219
• ISBN-13: 978-0415918213
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,770,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Kinds of Feminists, September 29, 2006

By 

Christine Beatty (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Whores and Other Feminists (Paperback)

As a journalist from the San Francisco area who knows nearly half of this book's authors, as a lifelong feminist, and as a sexworker for over 20 years, my perspective is widely encompassing. This book expands the boundaries of feminism beyond the conservative boundaries of the women's movement of the Seventies. After decades of the bipolar assault on womens' sexuality, from Andrea Dworkin to Phyllis Schaffly -- two sides of the same conservative coin -- it is refreshing to see a new generation of women not only claiming their own bodies but also taking charge of them. This book helps give them a voice.

Certainly, there are sad cases in the adult industry, and perhaps some of them do end up in sexwork because of a difficult past, yet to suggest there would be few sexworkers if every woman in America were happy and well-adjusted is a fallacy in logic. I have personally known many brilliant, self-actualized women who have done and continue to do sexwork. You'll find some of them in the pages of this book.

I can easily understand the negative reviews, however. Many Americans are so rooted in the Puritanical yet hedonist nature of our culture, there is a prevalent sexual ambivalence in our society: we're fascinated and titillated by sex, yet also afraid of it. We're simultaneously obsessed and fascinated with bodies (ours and others') yet also ashamed of them. Then there are the reviews clearly sent by female Rush Limbaugh "dittoheads" -- people who use the word "feminazi" with a straight face and secretly believe a woman is a second class citizen. Forgive them, Mother, they know not what they say.

This is an excellent book on sexwork as the new radical, leading edge of feminism, and I highly recommend it to any woman (or man) with an open mind who isn't afraid to think for herself.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is enlightening!, January 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Whores and Other Feminists (Paperback)

As a college student studying American cultural studies and emerging feminist discourses, I found this book to be an important and must read for any feminist regardless of their position on the issue of sex work and feminism. After reading this book, I am interested in learning more about feminist theory and how it relates to sex work. Jill Nagle compiles a various assortment of different kinds of sex work from stripping, to S&M, to phone sex operators. As a woman, as a feminist, as a man, as a critical reader, as a sexual being, please do read this book. highly recommended!

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jill Nagle Smashes Stereotypes, June 4, 2001

By 

"susie4eyes" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whores and Other Feminists (Paperback)

I am mystified by some of the negative customer reviews of this book. Jill Nagle's anthology of essays across the sex worker theme did nothing short of smash every stereotype I had ever held about prostitutes, exotic dancers and other sex workers. These stereotypes have undoubtedly been created by the alternate over-glamorous and sub-realist portrayals from Hollywood. While any critically thinking reader will understand that Nagle doesn't cover the seedy underbelly of child prostitution and harmful sex services, what she shows is voluntary sex work on an equal par with any other skilled profession, though with a healthy dose of self-reflection, feminism and personal growth on the part of the workers themselves. I probably bought five additional copies to send to friends. It's an eye-opener.