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Challenging Society's Ideas on Sex Work

Journalist Cathy Reisenwitz joins us to discuss the legal and social impacts of sex work through the lens of her own personal experiences as a sugar baby.

Dear friends and neighbors,

Humanity is on the cusp of a major turning point. Which way we go depends on the actions of a small group of people in bringing about a planetary awakening to avert the numerous challenges we face as a species.

Today, I challenge you to examine your ideas on sex work and the place it has in our society. My guest, Cathy Reisenwitz, shares the journey from her evangelical upbringing, becoming a sex worker in our nation’s capital, to her current position as a journalist working to empower others and promote change. It takes all of us together to end the stigmatization and criminalization of women.

If you’re listening to this message, I trust it’s because you find my interviews to be a valuable catalyst for improving your own mental, physical and political health. You are one of those people fighting to bring about change. Whether it's marijuana legalization, promoting psychedelic medicines, or sex work legalization, there have to be activists who lead the way. That's why I have Cathy on the program – to give her a platform and encourage forward thinking. Take a listen to the episode or read the transcript below, and I encourage you to read further on Cathy’s publication – Sex and the State.

Mind Body Health & Politics
Are we in a war on sex? – Cathy Reisenwitz
Listen now (55 min) | Sitting down with Cathy Reisenwitz was a wonderful peek into sex work and the intellectual ideas revolving around it. Cathy’s journey from an evangelical, to a sugar baby, and now a thriving journalist is a testament to anyone working to forge their own path in life. From her personal story to politics, the impact of socioeconomic status, masculinity, a…
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Wishing you Golden Light,

Dr. Richard Louis Miller


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Further Reading:

Transcript:

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: Welcome to Mind Body Health & Politics. I'm your host, Dr. Richard Louis Miller. 

The mission of Mind Body Health & Politics is to enhance your physical and mental wellbeing, and to encourage community. I say “encourage community” because I believe that human beings are friendly, tribal animals, and when we associate and live together in groups that are small enough, where everybody knows one another by name, or at least by face, we are cooperative and collaborative. 

At the same time, we must acknowledge that a very small percentage of human beings are predators: avaricious, greedy, and power hungry. It is the job of the rest of us too, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "Be eternally vigilant, for eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Coming from Huntsville, Alabama: Author and journalist Cathy Reisenwitz

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: Today on Mind Body Health & Politics, I'm pleased to have Cathy Reisenwitz, an author and journalist, with us. Welcome to Mind Body Health & Politics, Cathy.

Cathy Reisenwitz: Hey, Richard. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: You're coming to us today from the deep south—Huntsville, Alabama. 

Cathy Reisenwitz: That's right. 

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: What can you tell us about life in Huntsville, Alabama? To me it sounds like a pretty scary place to live.

Cathy Reisenwitz: Well, I grew up in Alabama and then moved to D.C. for five years and San Francisco for four years. In some ways, it’s a lot safer than those places, and it's certainly a lot cheaper, and it's definitely nice to be near your family.

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: A lot of your work in writing has been on human sexuality. Isn't that correct?

Cathy Reisenwitz: Yeah. My newsletter is Sex and the State.

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: Tell me about your newsletter. I’d like to hear about it. 

Cathy Reisenwitz: It's a part political screed, part diary, where I'm just thinking through questions of power and what sex and politics have in common. So looking at a lot of different topics, from sex work decriminalization to free speech to criminal justice reform, and looking at the anti-pornography crusades, which I feel is the new war on sex. 

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Mind Body Health & Politics
Psychedelic Wisdom
Psychology, Medicine, and Spirituality
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Richard L. Miller