Strippers, prostitutes and other sex workers, or at least former ones, performed at Memorial Union Wednesday.
The \Sex Workers' Art Show"" was brought to UW-Madison by Women Happily Advocating Masturbation, a recently formed student group that aims to expand sex education and dialogue on campus.
""We think it's really important to talk about how sexuality is experienced in our culture because it doesn't fit into neat little packages,"" said Tori Lallemont, a UW-Madison senior and president of WHAM. ""Issues of class, gender and sexuality are interesting and important to discuss.""
An array of performers, including eight women and one male, entertained what former stripper Gina Gold jokingly referred to as a gay conservative audience. Performances included spoken word, music and dance. Many shared their experiences as prostitutes or strippers.
""I'm some sort of hooker with a heart of gold,"" said Jason Marsten, a former prostitute, of one of his experiences that included a client who is a former television sitcom dad.
Prostitute-turned-mother and writer Leslie Bull has now been writing for 20 years about her experiences as a prostitute. She read a piece entitled, ""Prostitution is Just Life."" Bull said prostitution is a life just like any other and it is a just life at that.
The women wanted to portray a positive message about their lifestyles, according to Carol Leigh, otherwise known as ""Scarlet Harlot,"" who actually coined the term ""sex worker."" They wanted the audience to know they deserve certain rights.
""I'm an unrepentant whore. My mission is to glorify sex workers everywhere,"" Leigh said.
Leigh has been featured on television late shows and news shows across the nation since 1977, when she first began prostitution. She began prostituting after graduate study at Boston University to have experience in the lifestyle, to be able to teach and to reach everyone who has a stigma about sex work.
Leigh, along with the rest of the performers, advocates safe sex. The group even passed out stickers saying ""Prostitutes use condoms, do you?""
""I'm an activist working to change the world just like any other activist,"" said Spider, who performed a short striptease at the end of the show.
The sex workers in the show are now writers, actresses, activists, counselors, auto mechanics and even church leaders.
This is the show's fifth year, yet this is the first time it has ventured outside of Olympia, Wash., where it began.
Annie Oakley, the tour's director, said Madison is one of many stops on the group's nationwide tour. She said she wanted the group to stop in Madison because of the city's liberal history.
