Dear Beauteous friends,
It was not an easy night for me.
Endless white, western men with young Thai ladies.
The red-light district; Bangkok.
A celebration of toxic-masculinity rewarded with subservient, sexy females doing anything you want.
Prostitution's illegal in Thailand, but considering Bangkok is consistently named the Sex-Tourism Capital of the World, there's a whole lot of compartmentalization going on over there.
Approximately 89% of tourists that go to Bangkok are men (Bishop and Robinson 1998) Not all are from the west, but it sure looked that way walking around the famous Soi Cowboy (One of the Red Light Districts)
This is a messy subject with an equally untidy past.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know “oldest profession" blah blah blah ... but Bangkok didn’t become this absolute mecca for prostitution until the Vietnam War and American G.I’s were issued R & R (Rest & Recreation).
Cheap sex was in demand.
That exchange rate though...
There's a lot to unpack about Bangkok's Red Light district.
So much.
Here's what I am able to talk about today...
Each sex-worker is an individual.
They each have a story, a dream that isn't any less important than mine.
In this video I share some of my raw, in-the-moment reactions
after I had just left a beauty salon in the heart of the red-light district.
Needless to say I was nervous to go in, but I did it anyways thanks to the encouragement of some awesome people I was with.
(You know who you are)
When not “in-character” in a club or bar, a lot of these ladies are understandably hardened and skeptical towards westerners.
I stepped into their sanctuary. Their safe-haven where they don't have to smile or be coy or quiet.
A place where things get real, sh*t gets discussed, and ladies get loud:
The Beauty Shop.
Once again, I used makeup as my ‘tool’ to connect with women; cisgender, transgender, gay or straight.
It's my way in to deepen the conversation about self-acceptance and our existence on the planet earth.
A way to really see each other.
And once again,
it worked.
Thanks so much for watching!
What's YOUR tool to connect with others?
I'd love to hear in the comments below!
Thanks to Matt Polson for his stellar photography and Virginia Repertory Theatre for their support!
Stay tuned for more tales from
In My Chair!
- Eva