They Who Never Sleep...

"Eww...Night Woman makes you sound like a prostitute. I don't like it. Change the name". This was my mother's response as she scrolled through my introductory blog. Although I was amused at her comical reaction, a ray of light struggled its way through my subconscious and illuminated a dark corner of my mind - and there it was. I hath found my first blog topic!

First of all, if you are going to call them prostitutes you might as well stick a pointy thorn in their ears (no pun intended). This word has come to mean a "sell out" or "one with no morals", and does not describe what these people actually do for a living. Pull out your magic wand and stroke that word off your mind (okay fine maybe a little pun intended). The politically and morally correct terminology is "Sex Workers". It places sex work clearly as work. It doesn’t make any judgement. It includes all of our community and most importantly, it shows respect.

If I have caused grave distress to you already, then first of all CALM DOWN mmkay? Just relax. Take a moment to compose yourself and then read on, because in all honesty I am writing this to see you squirm.

So, why do sex workers upset so many people? Why is there so much stress associated with a sexually and/or financially independent or liberated person? A whore, a slut, a prostitute, a tramp - we have come up with so many ways to derogate certain groups of people. Why hasn't anyone stopped and asked "WHY SO MEAN?". Let's be honest...a lot of us have been called a whore or a slut and it had absolutely nothing to do with sex or money. I have comically been called a slut many times by a dear friend, and I am as guilty as a nun squatting in a cucumber field for being offended by it...why? It's the society DUH! Blame it all on the society while you can. Really though - it's you, me, our parents, our friends, our teachers. We have all taught each other our perspectives on what is good, and what is bad. We have been taught being a slut is bad...we, however, haven't been taught, that being derogatory itself is bad.

Fun fact: Most sex workers are in the business just for the money! They actually don't enjoy being sexually tangled in a web of many spiders. WHO would have known? Did you also know that most of these workers are victims of sexual or physical violence? Not to mention the millions of women and children being forced into this profession every year.

I haven't met a sex worker yet, however I did meet a male stripper...not any ordinary stripper either. This little lad was striving to be a doctor. This guy proudly paraded his stripper stories. "I was in a huge ball cage surrounded by balls everywhere - IFFF ya know what I mean" It made ALL of us around him uncomfortable...but he still stood tall, with his chest up, and a smile on his face. It was HIS identity...it was who HE was. It was HIS choice. He was proud. So...why haven't we stopped and asked ourselves "Why do we care so much?!". Respect...will be a recurring notion in my blogs. Respect is as important as life gets. If you respect, you will love. If you love, you will smile. If you smile, you will be happy. And if you are happy, you can surely go ahead and clap your hands.

I am not writing this to change your perspectives...I am doing this for those who are afraid to smile in front of people in fear of being ashamed. For those, whose own reflections have become strangers. I am doing this for those...who should smile and be proud of themselves. Whoever they choose to define themselves as. More importantly, I am writing this to tell them that no matter what, there is one person who will for sure always respect them......The Night Woman.