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Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work
By Jaremko Rebecca Bromwich
413 pages
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Description
Exploring the shared intersections of mothering, motherhood and sex work, Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work weaves together a range of voices from academic and sex-worker communities around the world. It features interdisciplinary contributions, scholarly essays, academic research, artwork, poetry, photography and experiential narratives.
Notable among these are two modern masterpieces from literary leg- ends: “Voices,” a short story by Alice Munro and excerpts from Maya Angelou’s autobiography Gather Together in my Name. In the spirit of the adage “nothing about us without us,” Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work brings together unique and controversial viewpoints defying con- ventional wisdom to provide fresh insights into sex workers and their rights. Beginning with the political, legal and social context of sexuality and gender in Canada, the book’s focus widens to explore issues affect- ing sex workers worldwide.
Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work Paperback – July 1, 2015
by Jaremko Rebecca Bromwich (Author)
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Exploring the shared intersections of mothering, motherhood and sex work, Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work weaves together a range of voices from academic and sex-worker communities around the world. It features interdisciplinary contributions, scholarly essays, academic research, artwork, poetry, photography and experiential narratives. Notable among these are two modern masterpieces from literary leg- ends: “Voices,” a short story by Alice Munro and excerpts from Maya Angelou’s autobiography Gather Together in my Name. In the spirit of the adage “nothing about us without us,” Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work brings together unique and controversial viewpoints defying con- ventional wisdom to provide fresh insights into sex workers and their rights. Beginning with the political, legal and social context of sexuality and gender in Canada, the book’s focus widens to explore issues affect- ing sex workers worldwide.
294 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work is a much-needed intervention that illuminates the intersectional challenges facing mothers involved in sex work, and their children, extended families and communities. Taking a transdisciplinary approach, the creative-critical anthology engages with the resistance, resilience, joy and humour that sex-working mothers demonstrate in the face of stigma, oppression and sex work-phobic maternal discourses. --Ummni Khan, Associate Professor, Carleton University
This path-breaking anthology challenges readers and scholars to rethink their notions of mother work and sex work. Sex work is more than sex, and mothering is much more than an occupational hazard of sex work. Whether they have borne children or not, the contributors reveal the many ways that women on society s margins are governed through shame, stigma, economic precarity, welfare discipline, and carceral regimes. Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work draws out, in multidisciplinary fashion, the consanguinities of gendered labor under racialized patriachy and neoliberal capitalism. This is required reading that demands attention. --Melinda (Mindy) Chateauvert, Author of Sex Workers Unite! A History of the Movement from Stonewall to Slutwalk
This book will undoubtedly be a great resource for current and former sex workers who need to see themselves represented somewhere in the culture they live in, as well as for sensitive outsiders who would like to gain more reliable information about sex work than any mainstream television documentary or magazine article is likely to provide. A short review can not do justice to this book. you will simply have to read it yourself. --Jean Hillabold, Instructor, Department of English, University of Regina
About the Author
Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich is a Ph.D. student (ABD) at Carleton University in the Faculty of Law and Legal Studies. She has a B.A. (Hon.) in social/ cultural anthropology from the University of Calgary, an LL.B. and an LL.M. from Queen’s and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies from the University of Cincinnati. Her Ph.D. research has theoretical foundations in feminist discourse analysis. Called to the Bar of Ontario in 2003, Rebecca has previously researched and published in a variety of areas, including feminist research about motherhood, youth criminal justice law, law practice management and equality issues relating to women and members of other historically marginalized groups in the legal profession. She is a PartTime Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and a staff lawyer, legislation and law reform with the Canadian Bar Association and has four amazing children. Monique Marie DeJong is a senior author, book editor, creative writer, and marketing and branding consultant who owns a business collaborating with seasoned visionary entrepreneurs on books and ethical, authentic marketing. For over a decade, she has interviewed and captured the voices of thought leaders, migrant workers and farmers, architects, scientists, artists, filmmakers, non-profit founders, and more. During her time in Washington, D.C., Monique was the writer to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and also reported on children’s rights. She began her career as the associate editor for NBC’s Today show travel editor in Los Angeles, California. Her work has appeared in a wide variety of international print, radio, TV, and digital media as well as New York Times bestselling books. She received a BA in English at Santa Clara University and attended both Stanford University’s Creative Writing Institute and UC Berkeley Extension’s Professional Sequence in Editing program.
Customer Reviews: 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
Top reviews from the United States
Vivien
5.0 out of 5 stars This is an engaging read that I highly recommend! The editors and contributors to this book have ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2015
This is an engaging read that I highly recommend! The editors and contributors to this book have done a remarkable job of creating an intelligent and nuanced exploration of the intersection of mothers and sex work. Mothers, Mothering, and Sex Work addresses the complexity and intersectionality of sensitive and painful issues, ranging from definitions and distinctions between “sex work,” “sex trafficking,” and “prostitution,” to a discussion of socio-economic influences, colonization, and globalization. Additionally, inclusion of pieces from those whose lives have been directly impacted by sex work humanizes the struggles within this contested terrain and elicits compassion from the reader. The contributors challenge themselves and the reader by moving the discussion beyond the binary of pro/anti sex work into a more dynamic understanding of the multifaceted factors involved at both the individual and societal level. Although this book centers its discussion on sex work within Canada and the accompanying legal issues, it does also reference global perspectives and challenges. Mothers, Mothering, and Sex Work’s brilliant analysis is complemented by its interdisciplinary approach to the subject, showcasing poetry, photography, artwork, creative writing, and academic papers. This is a dynamic exploration of sex work and mothering and an important contribution to existing scholarship.
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Elizabeth Cunningham
5.0 out of 5 stars Complexity and Compassion
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2015
This timely anthology addresses an important subject that many would skirt or ignore. The editors provide a thoughtful and thorough framework for contributions that range from first person accounts of sex work and mothering, scholarly and sociological analyses, to fiction, poetry, and art. They bring to light the lack of coherent or effective government policy regarding sex work, sex workers and their children in Canada, the United States of America and many other countries. I especially appreciate the editors' willingness to wrestle with the conundrum that for some sex work is a chosen vocation while others are victims of human trafficking and appalling social conditions. A brave, clear-sighted, compassionate work that calls officials and private citizens to reflection and responsible action.
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Vicki L. Harvey
5.0 out of 5 stars ... history of sex work and still being a very good Mother and person
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2015
Monique and Rebecca have taken a subject that has been on a hit list for many years and opened eyes to all of the aspects and history of sex work and still being a very good Mother and person. You will be amazed and fascinated by each and every interview. I highly recommend this book as a long overdo awakening!
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SarahJay
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend this book
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2015
Whilst I was expecting to be challenged by this book I wasn't expecting to be quite so moved by it. It is a very well researched and written book, the amount of effort and clear minded consideration given to this topic is obvious, but there is also a real heart and soul here. The authors are clearly passionate and caring about the well being of women, they manage to present such a difficult and taboo subject in a balanced and respectful way. Highly recommend this book.
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Review Essay: Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work
Laura Winters is a committed community worker in St. John’s NL, currently working in housing. Her past experience includes work with SHOP, a sex workers’ community outreach organization. She is in the final stages of her dissertation which examines both agency and cultural understandings of stigma from the unique stance of Newfoundland sex workers’, for completion of PhD requirements in Sociology at UNB Fredericton.
Book Under Review
DeJong, Monique Marie and Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich. Mothers, Mothering and Sex Work. Bradford:
Demeter Press. 2015. 200 pp.
Sex work and mothering are identities that, in the spaces where they intersect, challenge stereotypical notions of what it means to be either. Patriarchal understandings of sex work and motherhood force the experiences of women into tight spaces, within limited discourses; this book challenges those stereotypes, opening up the process of meaning making to prioritize the voices of lived experience.
This book is a multimedia collection of both academic and non-academic pieces on sex work and mothering that examines and challenges mechanisms of social control around both. What it means to be a sex worker, a mother, and more importantly, what it means to embody both identities at once, is defined by women within the context of their own lives; that in and of itself is an inherently political endeavour.
The greatest strength of this book is the inclusion of pieces by women with sex working experience, and the presentation of their stories and multimedia work within a highly politicized context. Too often researchers and academics speak over and for people who do sex work; when their voices are heard, the stories are often taken out of context, depoliticized as a result, and presented in support of some ultimate truth about sex work. That process, at worst, results in furthering a highly stigmatized discourse around sex work, and at best presents accounts of sex work for no other purpose than the explicit voyeurism of the reader. In contrast, this collection highlights the politicality inherent in women’s tellings of their own experiences, and situates these personal accounts as critical analysis of the socio-political context in which sex work happens, including sex work laws, “social policy, child protection, regulatory frameworks, structures of power in a variety of social regimes, and discursive structures” (p. 12). The editors of this book understand that there is no one truth or shared experience in sex work (or mothering), and have chosen pieces from women with a wide variety of lived experiences to demonstrate that. The diversity of contributors means that space is opened
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to explore the intersections of not only mothering and sex work, but also of race, class, age, migratory status, sexuality, and drug use, among other themes.
These chapters are presented within the context of an introduction in which the editors aim to outline the current legislative context of sex work in Canada. My only criticism of this book is of the introduction, where a confusion of terms leads me to believe that the editors are not entrenched in, or even familiar with, the world of sex work activism or academic work in Canada. On page 8, the authors state: “In recent decades considerable debate has raged between “abolitionists”… and other scholars and activists who would like to see sex work legalized,” and on page 13, they then go on to use the words decriminalization and legalization interchangeably. In sex work activism, legalization and decriminalization are not interchangeable terms, and denote two very different legal circumstances around sex work. A full discussion of the differences is beyond the scope of this review, but It is decriminalization, not legalization, that is fought for by sex workers and allied groups who wish to increase the human rights and safety of sex workers. The introduction would have been strengthened by a better unpacking of the terms criminalization, decriminalization and legalization, as well as a discussion of the important differences between them.
As a woman who runs a human rights based sex worker outreach program in Newfoundland, as well as a member of the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform and academic who has researched with people who do sex work in NL, I believe that this book is an excellent addition to the field. This collection as a whole broadens understandings by presenting a myriad of lived experiences and meanings related to sex work. It is well suited for both graduate and undergraduate courses on relevant topics, and is also an excellent read for anyone looking to gain insight into what it means to inhabit two seemingly conflicting, and highly stigmatized identities.
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