Working Girl

Working Girl explores the worlds of sex and art, asking what happens when both become subordinate to the marketplace. In this searching and provocative inquiry, Sophia Giovannitti describes her own experience as a sex worker and artist trying to make a living and a life. Casting a cool eye on the contemporary art scene and a precarious work environment, she argues that we can find new ways to live and spaces - however small - of freedom.

Working Girl explores the worlds of sex and art, asking what happens when both become subordinate to the marketplace. In this searching and provocative inquiry, Sophia Giovannitti describes her own experience as a sex worker and artist trying to make a living and a life. Casting a cool eye on the contemporary art scene and a precarious work environment, she argues that we can find new ways to live and spaces - however small - of freedom.

Sex and art, we're told, are sacred, two spheres that ought to be kept separate from the ravages of the marketplace. Yet both prop up two incredibly lucrative industries, built on the commodification of creativity and desire, authenticity and intimacy. Our reaction to this should not be moral or political outrage, nor legal regulation or denial, but rather-as Sophia Giovannitti argues here-acceptance, through which we can find a more autonomous way to live. In this searching and provocative work, drawing on cultural and political theory, the contemporary art world, and the author's own experience as a sex worker and artist trying to make a living, Giovannitti argues that if we delve into our anxieties around art and sex, we can instead find new ways to live and spaces, however small, of freedom. When there is nothing left to protect, she argues, everything is possible.

Sex and art, we're told, are sacred, two spheres that ought to be kept separate from the ravages of the marketplace. Yet both prop up two incredibly lucrative industries, built on the commodification of creativity and desire, authenticity and intimacy. Our reaction to this should not be moral or political outrage, nor legal regulation or denial, but rather-as Sophia Giovannitti argues here-acceptance, through which we can find a more autonomous way to live. In this searching and provocative work, drawing on cultural and political theory, the contemporary art world, and the author's own experience as a sex worker and artist trying to make a living, Giovannitti argues that if we delve into our anxieties around art and sex, we can instead find new ways to live and spaces, however small, of freedom. When there is nothing left to protect, she argues, everything is possible.