Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights by Molly Smith, Juno Mac

17 reviews

happy_birthday's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Clearly written, convincingly argued, unfailingly persuasive. Probably as good as it gets in radical literature; the sort of book that sticks with you for years and years. Also a really good first book to read if you don't really know anything about sex work, political radicalism or the politics of liberation in general. This book covers not just sex work, but the closely related topics of policing, borders, work and many other things that make it an astoundingly effective primer if you're at all interested in leftist political ideas.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Trafficking, Homophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Rape, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Racism, Deportation, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Hate crime

beansandrice's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book has become the foundation for my feminist politics, my queer politics, my labor politics, my immigration politics, and so much more. Revolting Prostitutes swings hard with both theory and grounded real-life analysis, and may be one of the most profound political texts written in this generation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Deportation, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, Ableism, Biphobia, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

This book is a thousand things, but at its foundations it's a book about the terrible things that happen to sex workers. It treats all graphic content with the respect and dignity it deserves, and discusses this heavy reality as a way to build to a more liberatory politics. That said, it's still a heavy read.

hippiequeen's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

4.5

Extremely interesting yet I found it very slow-paced and mostly repetitive. Took me 6 months to read it (I would pick it up here and then), but I would recommend it to someone who was interested in the subject. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, Violence, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

kirstenf's review

informative medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content, Transphobia, Murder, Police brutality, Classism, Racism, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Addiction, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Domestic abuse

sedgewren's review

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

A clear and sharp analysis of the failings of the regulations around the world that exacerbate the difficulties and dangers of sex workers' daily lives. Sex work is work, and most sex workers do sex work for the same reasons most people work: for an income to survive.

This book clarified my views and helped me think through my intersectional feminist politics and applying it to the controversial topic of sex work — the combination of thorough research and compelling anecdotes provided a compelling argument for decriminalisation of sex work (this leading to sex work being regulated just like the rest of the labour market). We should be centering the experiences of sex workers when talking about regulating sex work, and criminalisation does not lead to abolition.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to any feminists who are unsure what to think about prostitution, and also to any policymakers who want to help alleviate the suffering and difficulties of the most marginalised in our society.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death, Drug abuse, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexual assault, and Racism

savannahjlane's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Rape

tuesday_evening's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Sexism, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Deportation

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Abortion, and Gaslighting

rachbake's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking and Rape

alexcribbs's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

I wanted to read this book because I felt like it was a topic I knew very little about and one I should have an (informed) opinion on. Holy smokes, this book did the trick. 

Arguments introduced would elicit a knee-jerk reaction from me, only to be so thoroughly explained and supported, I continually, consciously changed my views I didn’t even realize I had. 

What an important read. So grateful to have read it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

n_t_sh_'s review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

As a piece of non fiction, this is a spectacular piece of research and a tribute to the struggle of sex workers' to be acknowledged as worker's and not as social reprobates.
An emotionally challenging read. Not just because of the awful treatment towards sex workers' but also the vitriol from others (mostly not sex workers') who feel their opinion is more important than asking the demographic being addressed, in this case sex workers', what they feel they need.
I did also find the different political terminology a challenge but very well explained by the authors.
There are some ideas in here that I find a bit frustrating, because they seem too big to achieve but that is not the fault of the authors', but the fault of the law and society at large.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Rape