Trains, Texts and Tits: Sex Work, Technology and Movement

Please join us for this 4-part class which will be held on May 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. The modules will be lunchtime events that run 12 p.m. through 2 p.m. EST.

If necessity is the mother of invention, that mama was clearly a hustler. Whether trains, texts or tits on film, sex workers have been some of the greatest innovators on the possibilities of harnessing technology and making news spaces desirable. While it seems like Congress has ramped up criminalization of sex workers who use technology over the last few years, sex workers crafting new spaces and then being legislated out of them is a story as long as American history. In this four part course, Hacking//Hustling is bringing you the history of sex work and tech in the US from the 1800s to today. We’ll explore how sex workers made the west liveable, the web accessible, and the criminalization and online censorship that followed with readings, videos and experts from the sex worker community.

May 7th:  Trains, Newspapers and the Birth of the Modern American Sex Trade

May 14th: Magazines, Backpages & Obscenity

May 21st: Digital Stimulation: Sex Invents the Internet

May 28th: FOSTA, 230 and Digital Gentrification

Speakers include: Gretchen Soderlund, May Jeong, femi babylon, Stephanie Kaylor, Melissa Gira Grant, Gabriella Kate D’Adamo, Danielle Blunt, more TK