AnonymousVenetian | Anonimo Veneziano

Nigth thoughts of an activist hooker!

A portrait of a slim,naked girl with young,battle-scarred breast.If childbirth is a battle,that's what her body has endured.It seems wrong for a prostitute to be deprived of her mystery and her visual armor.In this profession,the prettier you look,the less vulnerable you feel.Some of the most experienced prostitutes can look,with their clothes off,like fresh beginers.The unspoiled appearance counts for a lot,and where sexual experience doesn't always show,motherhood often tells.

A sign in a italian language I don't understand,posted at the entranceway of a Venetian brothel.When Gina traslates the italian handwriting for me,I am deply embarrassed.The girls who work there are priced by ethnic group,with Latinamerican and Malaysian sex workers listed lowest.For days,when I think about that list,I feel ashamed and rebuked.I have worker in the New York sex industry for most of my adult life--I entered prostitution at fourteen--and I did not always work in glamorous surroundings.But I was never subjected to such a blunt,reductive pricing system;in my job,ethnic issues were usually handled with a combination of imagination and guile.My "exoticism" was an asset,a convenient enigma.I am disturbed by the unromantic message in that brothel sign,a very candid expression of Italian's racism.So much for the mysteries of Venice.