Pussy power not pity porn: Embodied protest in the #FacesOfProstitution Twitter network

Abstract

The use of selfies as a political tool is critical to the form, shape and expression of online activist networks. In the trending Twitter #FacesOfProstitution, such self-presenting practices challenged the prevailing politics of anonymity around sex work and articulated new modes of political organizing, agency and information dissemination within a networked online community. Analysing the sex worker online campaign using feminist materialist approaches to the body this interdisciplinary article contributes to current discussions about selfies and embodied forms of activism in online spaces and addresses a gap in sex advocacy literature on digital protest cultures.

Platforms, sex work and their interconnectedness

“…Audacia Ray's (2007) Naked on the Internet is arguably foundational here; providing an experiential insight, it considers (amongst other things) internet sexploration and diverse sexualities in the context of online cultures. More recently, digital tools used by sex worker support services have been examined in the human-computer interaction literature (see Strohmayer et al, 2017Strohmayer et al, , 2019, and technology as political protest has been considered in Sexualities (Middleweek, 2020). Research on webcam workers has considered the role of entrepreneurialism ( Van Doorn and Velthuis, 2018) and interactivity (Bleakley, 2014).…”

What is sex journalism or, rather, how does it become? Interviews with news workers on the risk and precarity of a gendered news niche

“…Developments in digital technology were seen as crucial because 'The internet finally gave a place to put this content' (Interviewee 2), 'democratised the ability to write about sex' (Interviewee 4) and provided 'a lot of space online for women to speak their truth' (Interviewees 10, 7). However, as I will illustrate in subsequent analysis of the interview data, digital technologies also expose sex journalists to targeted forms of harassment and abuse and reveal the paradoxical conditions of empowerment and vulnerability characterizing their online storytelling experiences (Fotopoulou, 2017, see also Middleweek 2020). The #MeToo movement was seen as a catalyst for sex reportage because it 'opened up a conversation and awareness about sex' (Interviewee 9), '…raised a lot of questions about the nuances of sexual interaction to a degree we haven't seen before' (Interviewees 6 and 11), and occasioned the 'wholesale redefining of gender, desire, sexual orientation and behaviours' (Interviewee 4).…”

‘Maybe I’m a quiet activist’: Sex work scholars and negotiations of ‘minor’ academic-activism

“…In the special issue of Sexualities celebrating its 20 th birthday, both Tiefer (2018) and Altman (2018) call for further engagement with activism within the journal’s pages. While the journal features compelling work on community activism (see, inter alia, Aroney, 2020; Middleweek, 2020; Ross and Sullivan, 2012), there are few articles exploring practices of activism and advocacy by academics in the context of their work and working lives.…”