Avant-garde pop artist FKA twigs has spoken out about her lived experience in a gentleman’s club in an Instagram post supporting sex workers.
In partnership with SWARM, Lysistrata, and East London Strippers Collective, the singer has launched a GoFundMe to raise money for sex workers who are facing financial difficulties caused by COVID-19, as well as acknowledging the cultural legacy of pole dancing.
British alternative pop artist FKA twigs has come out in support of sex workers with the launch of a pandemic GoFundMe campaign.
Known to showcase her pole work throughout her music, FKA twigs has opened up about her past and how sex work has influenced her art:
“i was 19 when i learnt my first pole move, i learnt a back hook spin from a stripper when i was working as a hostess in a gentleman’s club,” the singer wrote.
“for those of you who don’t know, hostessing is when one person pays another person for their time, anything from a conversation over dinner to sex work, and the club gets a cut of the fee. my lived experience as a very young woman in these environments has not only informed the strong and formidable woman that i am today, but also a lot of my work as a music and visual artist – sometimes even subconsciously.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDeOXBzpCoV/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Her post was met with support from fans:
Meanwhile, FKA twigs has launched initiative to support sex workers during COVID-19 and donated over £10,000. pic.twitter.com/m4NQu7M3FJ
— FKA TWIGS UPDATES (@twigsupdates) August 4, 2020
if fka twigs can love + support sex workers materially at the risk of losing some of her fan base then what’s your fucking excuse
— Virginia Woolf OnlyFans (@saintknives) August 4, 2020
Although there were some who were not so approving, calling out the singer’s history of appropriating a dance form that has been culturally linked to marginalised sex workers. One user described: “it is not that hard. Let’s hold people pretending to be sex workers as accountable as we hold rappers pretending to be gangsters.”
Whatever your opinion, FKA twigs has launched a GoFundMe that will support struggling sex workers who have faced a loss of income amidst the pandemic. Kicking funds off with her own donation of £10,000, twigs has also announced that she will be allowing the aforementioned organisations to take over her social media channels this week.
In other news, yesterday the singer was featured in a new music video with rapper 645AR, where she can be seen playing the role of a cam model. Check it out below.
