Exploring sex work through object biographies, Objects of Desire provides an alternate narrative of sex work to the binary ‘exploitation versus empowerment’ discourse that dominates popular discourse around sex work.
Exploring sex work through object biographies, Objects of Desire provides an alternate narrative of sex work to the binary ‘exploitation versus empowerment’ discourse that dominates popular discourse around sex work.
Explorando el trabajo sexual a través de las biografías de los objetos, Objects of Desire ofrece una narrativa del trabajo sexual alterna a la idea binaria de “explotación versus empoderamiento” que domina el discurso popular sobre el trabajo sexual.
Objects of Desire (OoD) is a collaborative project led by sex workers and artists. We aim to preserve sex workers’ stories through archiving and exhibiting the artefacts of sex workers. We invite current and former sex workers to submit photographs, objects (if possible) and narratives. Objects might include gifts received from clients, good luck charms or sex work activism memorabilia.
Objects of Desire (OoD) is a collaborative project led by sex workers and artists. We aim to preserve sex workers’ stories through archiving and exhibiting the artefacts of sex workers. We invite current and former sex workers to submit photographs, objects (if possible) and narratives. Objects might include gifts received from clients, good luck charms or sex work activism memorabilia.
Objects of Desire (OOD) es un proyecto colaborativo dirigido por trabajadoras/es sexuales y artistas. Nuestro objetivo es preservar las historias de las trabajadoras/es sexuales mediante el archivo y la exhibición de sus las cosas. Invitamos a las personas que ejerzan o hayan ejercido el trabajo sexual a enviar fotografías, objetos (si es posible) y narraciones. Los objetos pueden incluir regalos recibidos de clientes, amuletos de buena suerte, o recuerdos relacionados con el activismo en el trabajo sexual.
Through focusing on the connections between personal narratives and material objects, OoD purposefully shifts the conversation on sex work from one that focuses on the objectification of people to an examination of the social relations seen through the lens of physical things. It examines how objects both reflect and shape the everyday relations sex workers have with their clients, lovers, families and others.
Through focusing on the connections between personal narratives and material objects, OoD purposefully shifts the conversation on sex work from one that focuses on the objectification of people to an examination of the social relations seen through the lens of physical things. It examines how objects both reflect and shape the everyday relations sex workers have with their clients, lovers, families and others.
Al centrarse en las conexiones entre las narrativas personales y los objetos materiales, OOD cambia deliberadamente el discurso sobre el trabajo sexual, pasando de aquél se centra en la objetivación de las personas, a un análisis de las relaciones sociales vistas a través de la lente de las cosas materiales. Examina cómo los objetos reflejan y dan forma a las relaciones cotidianas que las personas que ejercen el trabajo sexual tienen con sus clientes, amantes, familias y otras.
The project aims to challenge the one-dimensional stereotypes that dominate popular discourse on sex work. While sex worker organisations worldwide continue to fight for decriminalisation as the best method to secure sex workers’ rights and better working conditions, debates surrounding legislation still repeatedly exclude sex workers’ voices.
The project aims to challenge the one-dimensional stereotypes that dominate popular discourse on sex work. While sex worker organisations worldwide continue to fight for decriminalisation as the best method to secure sex workers’ rights and better working conditions, debates surrounding legislation still repeatedly exclude sex workers’ voices.
El proyecto tiene como objetivo desafiar los estereotipos unidimensionales que dominan el discurso popular sobre el trabajo sexual. Si bien las organizaciones de trabajadoras sexuales en todo el mundo continúan luchando por la despenalización como el mejor método para garantizar los derechos de las trabajadoras sexuales y mejores condiciones de trabajo, los debates en torno a la legislación aún excluyen repetidamente las voces de las protagonistas.
Objects of Desire takes the practice and everyday experience of sex work as a way of disrupting binaries that categorise sex workers as either too privileged or too victimised to exercise their own agency. Through foregrounding sex workers’ voices and stories and creating a living record of their artefacts, OoD challenges the pervasive social stigma that attempts to silence sex workers. It is not merely an attempt to ‘humanize’ sex workers through providing outsiders with a glimpse into their lives. Rather, sex workers’ stories about materiality and exchange challenge the wider public to reflect upon the dynamics of gendered labor, complex hierarchies of power and care under capitalism, as well as the interplay of the emotional and the material in all relationships.
Objects of Desire takes the practice and everyday experience of sex work as a way of disrupting binaries that categorise sex workers as either too privileged or too victimised to exercise their own agency. Through foregrounding sex workers’ voices and stories and creating a living record of their artefacts, OoD challenges the pervasive social stigma that attempts to silence sex workers. It is not merely an attempt to ‘humanize’ sex workers through providing outsiders with a glimpse into their lives. Rather, sex workers’ stories about materiality and exchange challenge the wider public to reflect upon the dynamics of gendered labor, complex hierarchies of power and care under capitalism, as well as the interplay of the emotional and the material in all relationships.
Objects of Desire toma la práctica y la experiencia cotidiana del trabajo sexual como una forma de frenar los binarismos que clasifican a las trabajadoras sexuales, o como demasiado privilegiadas, o como demasiado victimizadas para poder ejecutar su propia voluntad. Al poner en primer plano las voces e historias de las trabajadoras sexuales y crear un registro vivo de sus objetos, OOD desafía el estigma social generalizado que intenta silenciarlas. No se trata simplemente de un intento de “humanizar” a las trabajadoras sexuales proporcionando a las personas ajenas un vistazo de sus vidas. Más bien, sus historias sobre lo material y su intercambio, desafían al público en general a reflexionar sobre la dinámica del trabajo basado en el género, las jerarquías complejas del poder y del cuidado en el capitalismo, así como la interacción de lo emocional y lo material en todas las relaciones.