Abstract

MOTTERLE, Livia. We Are Beautiful, We Are Smart, We Are Feminist Whores: Embodying Dissenting Practices with the Putas Indignadas of Barcelona. Debate fem. [online]. 2020, vol.60, pp.154-177.  Epub Nov 27, 2020. ISSN 2594-066X.  https://doi.org/10.22201/cieg.2594066xe.2020.60.07.

The main purpose of this text is to analyze the complexity of sex work based on the practices of agency, protest and empowerment of sex workers in Barcelona, in response to the institutional violence that makes it difficult and sometimes even prevents them from engaging in their profession. From my pro-rights, feminist position, resulting from a lengthy collaboration with the Putas Indignadas collective in El Raval in Barcelona, I attempt to deconstruct certain issues concerning sex work and establish a resonance between bodies, streets, feminisms and protest. On the other hand, emphasizing one of the burning issues in current feminism, I want to show, on the basis of my field work and from an ethnographic point of view, the inconsistency of certain types of abolitionist discourse, as well as the importance of placing the voices and embodied experiences of those who engage in sex work at the center of this debate.

Keywords : Sex work; Body; Feminist ethnography; Agency; Social movements.