Oh boy.

All right. I can understand where your reaction comes from. And I hate to preface this with the typical my [insert relation here] was [this disadvantaged/marginalized group here] but I have advocated for sex worker rights. I do have friends who are sex workers.

The intention of the Rebecca West quote in my opinion, was not to degrade prostitutes. It was instead to state, as I see it, that it is inappropriate and insulting to both women and prostitutes to write off feminists as prostitutes and to turn the word prostitute into an insult.

I have worked with sex workers in intellectual settings. I have extreme respect for sex workers. So, please, don’t patronize me. Especially under the anonymity of the Internet.