(11-06-2015, 05:30 AM)tortles Wrote: Everyone I have met in this line of work refers to themselves as "sex workers". I've never heard someone say they were a "prostitute." And these are people who have sex with others for payment.
The question was whether or not the term "prostitute" was a slur. I don't think anyone here took (or takes) issue with the idea that if someone says, "I want to be referred to as this," we should refer to them as what they asked for if possible.
What I take issue with is one person telling me that all people that fall under a certain type of occupation consider a word that has heretofore been used as a legal definition (it's literally enshrined in the legal codes here, I have links!) a slur, and that I'm a bad person if I use it.
Then I get links to a website as proof, only on the website they use that very slur like it ain't no thang. But the existence of this site is proof that the person claiming this word is a slur is correct...even though it's used over and over and over again, and never indicated to be a slur on that site.
I'm just really done. I've hit my limit of tumblr for the day. Bedtime now.