I expected sensational-yet-educational stories about the history of sex work when I attended Kaytlin Bailey's Whore's Eye View show on Friday night at Souths in Merewether for Newcastle Fringe Festival's opening weekend.
I was not disappointed, and I was also surprised, pleased and maybe even proud when I learned during her standup comedy routine that NSW was the first place in Australia (and the world) to decriminalise sex work.
Bailey's show covers a range of people in history and their connections to sex work. We learned about Ishtar, Tlazolteotl, Mary Magdalene, Hammurabi, Victoria C Woodhull and so many more. But we go micro too; I learned about the sex life and reproductive habits of cockroaches.
Part of Bailey's childhood was spent in southern USA (like myself). I felt my head nod in understanding as she described growing up under George W Bush's Abstinence Only Education policies. Like Bailey, I, too, have memories of being taught one thing in school while in my spare time scouring every page of Cosmopolitan magazines, looking for sex tricks that would "make him go wild" or something like that. Whore's Eye View has plenty of fascinating accounts and advocacy on behalf of sex workers, but the show is at its best and most intimate when Bailey tells stories of her life.
Less expected in the show was Bailey's commentary on the military and also her frank-but-moving recollections about her father and the relationship she had with him. I'll try not to give it all away, but it really does make you think. Yes, it's a show about sex work and the rights of sex workers, but also it's so much more than this.
Afterwards my friends and I talked for over an hour after; we all had so many thoughts.
