The "H" Word

It would seem that no one enjoys being called a “hooker,” whether you are a sex worker or not.

When looking at the ways in which the media in the United States continues to use the term, it’s not difficult to ascertain why sex workers still have an impossible time being visible and out in this country.

It’s also easy to see how shaming sex workers, or even shaming someone for purportedly being a sex worker, is easy to do in a society in which calling someone a “hooker” is defamatory enough to bespeak the second class status of sex workers in general.

Tags: sex work hooker rhrealitycheck Reproductive Health Reality Check New York Jessica Pilot sex workers rights prostitution Melissa Petro sex worker New York Post whorephobia prejudice discrimination