Faces of Prostitution

Available for over a year

Australian sex workers are taking selfies and putting them up on Twitter to challenge the stereotype that all prostitutes are victims. Last week an article was published in a popular online Australian women’s magazine to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the prostitute-meets-prince-charming film Pretty Woman. Sex worker Tilly Lawless decided to post a picture of herself on her Instagram under the hashtag #facesofprostitution to object to the article, which she claimed generalised sex workers and depicted all prostitution as harmful. And, then began a mass movement of sex workers posting images showing their faces to the world. We speak to Tilly Lawless and Laila Mickelwait, the author of the original blog that so many Australian sex workers objected to on social media. In Mexico, a high school video showing privileged students boasting about their lifestyles has provoked anger on social media. This is the latest manifestation of the 'Mirrey' ('My King') phenomenon – which started with a tumblr page showing young men photographed with shirts open and in nonchalant poses, the sons of the rich and powerful. But what do the real 'Mirreyes' make of the criticism? Mukul Devichand meets a real life Mirrey to find out.