Sponsors of the event

About the Event

This was a special screening of For the Love of Strippers,  a documentary about the labor rights of strippers, featuring two strippers from Los Angeles who are actively building Strippers United, a labor organization for strippers. All while navigating life and the pandemic. Featuring NatsHoney & Selena, who were creative consultants on this film as people with sex trade experience.  For the Love of Strippers was produced by Guy Pictures and Culture House.

The film was followed by a live panel discussion, “Ethical Media, With or Without Us”, that explored what it truly means to represent sex workers ethically in film and media.

This conversation brought together sex workers, creatives, and industry voices to unpack how narratives about sex work are shaped—and too often distorted—by those outside the community. Together, we examined the difference between storytelling that is collaborative and accountable versus storytelling that is extractive and harmful.

Through the lens of the film, panelists explored:

• What it means to create narratives about sex work with integrity

• The impact of common media tropes and misrepresentation

• Why it is essential for sex workers to be involved in telling their own stories

• How audiences can engage with media more critically

• The role of personal bias in shaping how we interpret sex work on screen

Audience members were invited to reflect, respond, and engage—considering questions like:

Who created this story? Whose voice is centered? Who benefits from it being told?

W also introduced frameworks developed by sex workers to help assess portrayals of sex workers in media, offering practical tools for analyzing representation beyond surface-level narratives.

What You'll Walk Away With

From watching the recording of the panel:

• Tools for critically engaging with media about sex workers

• A deeper understanding of ethical storytelling practices

• Insight into how stigma and bias influence perception

• A clearer vision of what authentic, community-led representation can look like

Looking Ahead

This conversation was just the beginning. Due to time constraints, this panel offered a condensed introduction to a larger, upcoming program that will dive deeper into ethical media representation.

Future programming may include:

• An expanded panel or roundtable

• Collaborations with aligned media organizations

• Deeper conversations on storytelling, ethics, and power

• A Sex Worker Media Club

Stay tuned—this is the start of a much bigger dialogue.

Impact Report