SEXTANT: masculinities, sexualities & decolonialities

ABSTRACT

What laws should be in place regarding selling sex, and how should we think about people who do so? Two books produced by women who have engaged in transactional sex —Rachel Moran’s Paid For (2013) and Juno Mac and Molly Smith’s Revolting Prostitutes (2018)—offer two very different responses to these most politically and emotionally charged of questions. This essay compares the two texts and argues that their divergent views and narratorial methods are representative of the polarisation of the debate around law and the sex trade. Ultimately, this article argues that Mac and Smith’s respectful tone and careful handling of data put forward in service of their belief in decriminalisation sit in stark opposition to Nordic Model proponent Moran’s more emotion-centred approach.

KEY WOrDS

sex work, prostitution, Own Voices, memoir, Nordic Model

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.