Introducing Stories of a Black Call Girl
I met Shelly Ann Black, through a Skye Blue, at the Playground Conference last fall. She spoke on one of the panels I couldn’t make it to, and I was sorry to miss it. When I found out she also is an active blogger, I was intrigued. Upon reading her work, I hooked.
Not only does Shelly Ann write about her sex work, she also writes about her Bipolar II. As am also Bipolar II, it is nice to find a blog that combines two of my interests.
Why did you start your blog?
I started Stories of a Black Call Girl because I didn’t many blogs from a black female who is in the sex industry and I got tired of reading blogs from a white privileged female perspective. I want to share my own experience without having someone tell me what it should be.
You note that you use your blog for therapy. How is that working for you?
It has helped a lot, greatly. When I write I get to share my own experience and be my own expert in my own life. Blogging doesn’t replace therapy but it does help me process things that are going on in my life and reflect on them in a very open way.
Do you read other escorts’ blogs?
I am constantly looking for escort blogs to read. I find myself going back to blogs listed in my blogroll.
What do you hope people will take away from your blog and writing?
I am not really sure. It’s not really my focus when I write in my blog. The feedback I get from my blog actually sometimes intimidates me. There are days I check my blog viewer stats and I am shocked by how many people are finding my blog and spending time reading it. I mostly focus on what I get out of it—sharing my experience and healing myself. There is a lot of stigma with just being open about being a sex worker so maybe I guess I hope people understand that I am just like everyone else.
You’ve been writing about your own bipolar diagnosis. Which do you find harder to write about: bipolar or sex work?
I find them both equally difficult to write about, because I am writing about 2 major things that are always stigmatized and shown in bad light. Since I am newly diagnosed with bipolar, it has been a challenge to sort out my feelings about it and how it has affected me.
Do the two influence each other in anyway?
I don’t think they influence each other at all, Being bipolar has it’s own challenges and it wouldn’t matter if I was working in a bank or a sex worker, I would have to navigate my bipolar symptoms on a daily basis. It just something I have to learn to deal with no matter which job I choose and whatever stresses arise in my life.
Besides potential therapy, what else do you hope to gain from your blog?
My blog gives me an outlet to be an expert in my own life and validate my experience for being a sex worker and a person with a mental illness.
What can we expect to see on Stories of a Black Call Girl in the future?
Well, they can expect to see me be frank about what it means for me to be a sex worker and what challenges I face and also any other things about me I want to share.
