http://abcnews.go.com/Bus...?id=734002

'Whore College' Offers Hands-On Training

San Francisco Sex Workers Learn to Polish Skills With Hands-On Training at 'Whore College'
By LISA LEFF
The Associated Press

May. 6, 2005 - The 25 students in jeans and T-shirts could have been in any career that requires hustle. The classes, covering topics such as effective marketing, stress reduction and legal issues, could have been part of any professional development seminar.

But this was "Whore College," and any illusion it was just another corporate how-to for young go-getters abruptly ended at the sex toy display and was stripped away for good during a graphic demonstration that put a whole new twist on the concept of hands-on training.

"We are still illegal," instructor Kimberlee Cline said before her 20-minute demonstration. "If we want to be treated as business professionals, we need to act ethically within the industry."

Presented in conjunction with the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival, the class Wednesday at an erotic art gallery was billed as away for working girls and guys to polish their skills in a supportive atmosphere.

It was the first time the biennial festival, begun in 1999 to showcase films about and by sex workers, included a session devoted to how to maintain a satisfying career.

Although famously permissive San Francisco has long been a hotbed for prostitutes' rights activism, the school reflects the movement's maturation away from a focus on decriminalization toward a broader agenda that includes occupational health and safety and community-building, said organizer Carol Leigh.

Other cities, including Tucson, Ariz., Portland, Ore., Montreal and Taipei, Taiwan, have similar events, said Leigh, a veteran activist who takes credit for coining the term "sex worker" as an anti-euphemism.

By light of day, the women and men of the night swapped tips, argued over personal grooming choices and heard from others considered experts in their field. Many of the attendees said they were motivated as much by the networking opportunity and doing what they could to normalize the world's oldest profession as furthering their education. During Cline's workshop, for example, some in the audience skimmed magazines and chatted despite the carnal knowledge unfolding in front of them.

Participants who stuck it out for the whole day received diplomas certifying them as G.S.W's graduates in sex work.

Several students went to lengths to explain that they see themselves as inheritors of a proud tradition specialists with a choice instead of exploited victims. Sporting nary a stiletto heel among them, their expressed reasons for turning to sex work an umbrella term that encompasses everything from exotic dancing and acting in pornographic films to turning tricks were as varied as their hair colors and body types.

"My own personal experience has been negative and positive, as with any job," said Kymberly Cutter, 36, a mother of two from Tucson who returned to prostitution two years ago to boost her income and regards it as part of a journey in "personal self-discovery." Her children, ages 7 and 9, know what she does for a living, she said.

The more shadowy aspects of the profession were covered in the curriculum. Lawyer Erin Crane explained that accepting money for a specific sex act could land someone in jail, but she repeated several times she couldn't advise anyone on how to break the law.

Students practiced using assertive screaming for self-defense and they were told how to assess dangerous situations, and how to break free from an assailant's grasp.

Erin O'Bryn, 36, who has appeared on adult television networks, worked in massage parlors, owned an escort referral service and last year ran for Congress in Hawaii, said wearing a power suit and good heels dissuades clients from thinking they can take advantage of her.

"Sex work is work. Prostitution is work," Leigh said. "The most important thing is that we are diverse. Some are on the streets and in a very desperate situation. Others are in a working-class situation and maybe bored in their jobs. And others see sex work as their calling."

I graduated from that place

u sick sick fuck.


you're not my friend anymore!

SammiJ said:

u likey likey.

thevoid said:

i can't believe YOU would agree with dook of all people!

SammiJ said:

I don't.

I have never looked at you as a sexual object.
I guess laws in California are more liberal than Florida ?

thevoid said:

ok i take the brick back
dook however...
needs 2 be castrated!!!!!
oh wait....he already has vagina right?
maybe he's just jealous that mine's prettier

SammiJ said:

Mine looks like Hamburger Helper....

ReturnOfDOOK said:

oh


my


god

You are such a dirty baker.

ReturnOfDOOK said:

that's nothing 2 be proud of dear...maybe u got the clap

thevoid said:

SammiJ said:

I heard you got an A+ on your demonstration of the "chili dog". Congrats!

ReturnOfDOOK said:

i didn't get an A+ in that
but if u ask bobgeorge909 he'll tell u what i excell in


TURD!

SammiJ said:

Hi sammi

SammiJ said:

Would please stop throwing that bobgeorge909 stuff in our face?

The fact is, dook and I are willing to be the "other woman" if ya know what I mean

thevoid said:

hi luv!
see how dook treats me when you're not around???


ab...i'm not in2 open relationships i'm sorry!
i flirted with u and u ignored me courtship!

so u snooze u lose!

as 4 dook...i don't think i'll be able 2 ever 4give him

SammiJ said:

U flirted with me? Calling me stupid, wimpy, and a girlyman is flirting?
THAT's HAWT!!!!

thevoid said:

if it was THAT HAWT u shoulda said sumfin!
we wouldn't last anyways...you're 2 whoreish

SammiJ said:

WHAT???? WHAT????? WHAT????
I'm not some type of prostitute!
I'm fierce.

thevoid said:

yes a fierce diva whore slut.

SammiJ said:

Is that a pick up line in canada.

thevoid said:

sadly no.

SammiJ said:

hosehead

luv4u said:

ReturnOfDOOK said:

Y'all are sick fucks....Do U have nothing better to than to harrass some girl on the internet. U can't even harrass her in real life. Pathetic really. Life shouldn't be lived bitterly. It only makes things worse peopole. And the fact that U stick your dicks in the stink doesn't qualify U as women. Theres a place and time to bring up the "chili dog," sadly U missing enough brain cells that U don't know when and where that is. And by doing stuff like this, U seem to be defeating your own purpose. Go harrass the real whores(but don't include your mothers on this one) who might take a liking to your "advances" and leave my Sammi alone.

BobGeorge909 said:

damn!
that's my baby!

wow this is like a soap opera now hahaha

BobGeorge909 said:

Agreed.
Implying she was a whore is way too much.
I would never have gone there, and shouldn't have joined in.
SammiJ, I'm sorry if you took offense.

As for flirting with SammiJ--what's it to you? As for the "mother statement"..erm..Life shouldn't be lived bitterly should it?

SammiJ said:

Dayum!!! Well put bob

thevoid said:

i didn't dont worry, i understand your humour, dook i'm still getting used 2, damn this whole thing was RANDOM!!!!

you're lucky i'm such a good sport
it's all good