I might sound a bit jumpy, but I’d be a lot happier if there was some kind of disclaimer stating that all “letters” remained the property of their authors and would not be used elsewhere without specific permission.

So Breslin made some blogs where people submit content which she posts without revealing their names or links? That’s nothing new. In fact, it’s a huge area of the blogosphere right now. People like specialized, anonymous blogs containing posts from multiple authors. They like going someplace and knowing exactly what they’re getting. That’s why PostSecret has had international success and a thousand other sites take after it. I personally love them.

Say I’m a “working girl” with a blog. It’s not going to be all about my night job, sorry. Just because a working girl has a blog, doesn’t mean it will touch on the work at all. And if that’s what you want, you’ll have to do a lot more searching to find those interesting tidbits whereas, both of these sites, give you exactly what you want immediately.

Furthermore, while begging for content from other communities and sites is annoying, it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before.

If someone wants credit for their story or a link, it’s pretty obvious they won’t get it at Letters from Johns/Working Girls and they should simply stay away as I’m sure many have. However, as mentioned, there’s myriad reasons why one would want to tell just a story or remain anonymous or not have to maintain a blog and that gives submission blogs a strong presence in the online community.

Lastly, you say it would be better for Working Girls to have their own blogs or post on working girl-specific sites and I’m sure many do. These blogs are not about -them- however. They’re about the rest.

As someone who makes my living by compiling and linking and reposting to titillating material of all kinds, I don’t really see her project as “leaching” or exploitative. But I do see it as a poor choice of venue for publishing these stories, because judging by track record, the site will be gone in two years.

I have speculated privately in the past that she’s uncomfortable, or at least has complex / mixed feelings about the erotic material she blogs about; it would explain why she doesn’t consider it valuable enough to preserve after she’s published it. Her vicious snark in connection with the current brouhaha sort of tends to reinforce my no-longer-private suspicion.

Amber hit the nail on the head, kinda:

“However, I do think Letters from Working Girls serves a purpose, for people who might not yet be comfortable posting elsewhere. It might seem silly but I can relate to the feeling of wanting to slowly dip your toe into something, and being so terrified of the possible (real or imagined) repercussions.”

It isn’t so much that I’m afraid of repercussions, I just wanted to tell ONE story, and have it heard. Her project was an outlet for that. At this moment (and it could change) I don’t feel the need to write about sex work all that frequently (I tried to blog about it but it got neglected because I was rarely inspired to sit down and write about it). I wanted a one-off, where I could say something and have it heard, and there it was.

I also don’t think that the aim of Susannah’s site is the same as the aim of the sites in the sex worker community. I could be wrong, since I am a relative stranger to sites like these, but these sites seem more geared towards discussion of experiences within the community, whereas her “Letters” project is intended for readers outside. Collecting letters in one place could serve to enlighten someone to the range of (very, very different) reasons people buy or sell sex, in a way that a singular sex worker’s blog couldn’t. I kind of like that idea.

I would write more but I am sick and going to bed. I appreciate both sides of this issue though, and I’ll probably be poking around on sites like this more often now.