All posts by Melissa Petro

April 29th, 2011

A Ritual for Being Born Twice

Melissa Petro lost her job last summer after publishing an article on The Rumpus about her former life as a sex worker. …more

Posted in rumpus original, sex | 9 Comments »

June 21st, 2010

Not Safe For Work

Today, I realize the truth — that it is not sex work that society fears is dangerous, but sex workers.

I recently had the experience at my job of being warned by a colleague that other coworkers have begun Googling me. The concern is that I’m an elementary school teacher (teaching art/creative writing at a public school in the South Bronx) as well as a writer, and my writing– at least that which has been published and is therefore “Google-able”– is primarily about my experiences as a sex worker, which occurred some time prior to my becoming a teacher. …more

Posted in rumpus original, sex | 32 Comments »

About

Melissa Petro graduated from the New School in 2007, where she earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. As an undergraduate at Antioch College, she conducted ethnographic research across Europe and in the US, interviewing women involved in all aspects of the sex industry about their lives and professions. That research is published in Sex Work Matters: Power and Intimacy in the Sex Industry (Zed). She holds an M.Ed from Fordham University and worked for 3+ years as a certified public school, teaching art and creative writing at an elementary school in the South Bronx. She now writes for The Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Salon and elsewhere.

Subscribe

Subscribe to this author's blog via RSS

Other Blogs

PoetryAll Past Was Once Now   ...moreMay 25th, 2012

Last Book I LovedLydia Melby: The Last Book I Loved, The Cat’s Table   ...moreMay 24th, 2012

Book Club BlogPoetry Book Club News   ...moreMay 22nd, 2012

The Rumpus Blog

newest posts from The Rumpus