Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Strippers and feminist group in war of words
A STRIPPER has called the chair of the Bristol Women’s Commission a “misogynist”, accusing her of only protecting women they deem morally acceptable.
It is the latest twist in an increasingly heated row about a bid to close down two strip clubs in the city.
The Bristol Women’s Commission (BWC) has said to claim it is misogynist contradicts everything they stand for, as its aim is to identify and address gender inequality and the forces that fuel it.
Margot, from the Bristol Sex Workers Collective, had been working at Urban Tiger for about a year before the pandemic started.
The club is one of two sexual entertainment venues (SEVs) that would face closure if Bristol City Council’s licensing committee goes ahead with a proposal to withdraw licences for the city centre SEVs.
So far, no decision has been made on the new draft policy on SEVs, which is due to go to public consultation this summer.
Margot has been engaged in a war of words with the BWC and its chair Penny Gane.
She wrote on Twitter: “No, Penny, my main concern isn’t losing money.
“My main concern is potentially getting assaulted at the private parties I will have to work at because you contributed to shut down the regulated SEV I used to work at.
“How dare you [Penny] and the Bristol Women’s Commission call yourselves feminists? Closing down safe workplaces for women is an act of violence in itself.
“You only want to protect and defend the women you deem morally acceptable. Blaming sex workers for men’s violence is the one of the most patriarchal ideas you could promote. You are not a radical neither a progressive.
“You are a misogynist.”
The sex worker’s comments come after the chair of the BWC submitted a statement to Bristol City Council earlier this week.
In this statement, chair Penny Gane urged councillors to support the ban and said SEVs profit from and contribute to gender inequality.
Speaking to our sister website BristolLive, Margot said she called the commission misogynist because she thinks they refuse to hold men accountable for their actions and behaviour and, instead, blame sex workers for men’s behaviour and violence.
She added their main concern is that, if the closure goes ahead, the industry will be pushed underground and women could be pushed towards more dangerous forms of sex work.
With clubs having been closed for more than a year, that has already been happening, Margot said, and she has been asked to go to private parties while some of her friends are turning to other forms of sex work which are more dangerous.
Fellow stripper Chloe added: “Using a workforce made up of predominantly working-class women as collateral for your own personal moral crusade will never be akin to equality.
“Naked women making you uncomfortable isn’t a reason to make them unemployed.”
In a statement, the Bristol Women’s Commission said: “To claim that Bristol Women’s Commission, which exists to achieve gender equality, is misogynist contradicts all that we stand for.
“BWC is made up of representatives from key agencies with the aim of identifying and addressing gender inequality and the forces that fuel it including misogyny.
“We do not believe that sex workers are responsible for male violence. We do believe that in licensing SEVs Bristol City Council is contributing to the normalisation of sexual objectification of women, which does lead to male violence.
“We are aware of the untruths being spread by the sex industry and our members and volunteers have been subjected to very underhand personal attacks in recent months.
“Despite this, we agreed to meet with Bristol Sex Workers Collective the only direct contact we’ve had from anyone from the pro-SEV lobby - for a 1-2-1 to listen to their views and share more of the reasoning behind our position.
“This meeting was hijacked by a group, which included the same two women attacking us on Twitter, our words were twisted and used to try and discredit us further in the press.”