Audacia Ray (born April 25, 1980) is an American

human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and culture

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, who focuses on the influences of modern technology. She is a

sex worker rights Sex workers' rights encompass a variety of aims being pursued globally by individuals and organizations that specifically involve the human, health, and labor rights of sex workers and their clients. The goals of these movements are diverse, but ...

advocate and leads media skills

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

s intended to train

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...

s to deal with interviews. Ray's company, ''Waking Vixen Productions'', which began as a personal blog in 2004, produces multi-media content in an effort to raise sexuality awareness taking advantage of

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

technologies. In 2010, Ray was named New York's Best Sex Blogger of the year by Village Voice.

Early life and education

Ray has a bachelor's degree in Cultural Studies from the

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, commonly referred to as Lang, is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School. It is located on-campus in Greenwich Village in New York City on West 11th Street off 6th Avenue. H ...

New School University The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

(2002) and a master's degree in American Studies from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(2007).

Career

After graduating from college, Ray chose to be a

and would find clients through

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums. Craig Newmark ...

. She says she retired from sex work in about 2006. Ray founded a sex worker magazine, '' $pread Magazine'', in 2004. She was an assistant curator for the

Museum of Sex The Museum of Sex, also known as MoSex, is a sex museum located at 233 Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 27th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It opened on October 5, 2002. History Founder Daniel Gluck wanted to start a museum dedicated t ...

in 2002. In 2007, she authored ''Naked on the Internet'' in order "to make people less afraid of the internet and what's going on, especially with women's sexuality", described as "a survey of what women are up to online" on the

Internet television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

show ''Geek Entertainment TV'' hosted by

Violet Blue Violet Blue is an American journalist, author, editor, advisor, and educator. Blue wrote a weekly sex column for the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' until 2010. In her podcast, Open Source Sex, she reads erotica and discusses topics such as feti ...

. Since 2008, Ray has served as the Program Officer for the Online Communications and Campaigns division of the

International Women's Health Coalition The International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1984 based in New York City. It focuses on issues relating to women and girls' human rights, health and equality and represents part of the women's movem ...

. She was interviewed on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

's Prime News regarding the sex scandal that resulted in Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was b ...

's resignation from public office as well as being sourced for an article by Elizabeth Landau on the same issue. In 2010, she appeared on

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

discussing the controversy over New York City

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

and former

Melissa Petro. In 2009, Ray was an adjunct professor of sexuality at Rutgers University in Newark,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. In 2010, Ray founded the

Red Umbrella Project The Red Umbrella Project is a New York based non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of sex workers and strives to empower them by giving them a voice. History The Red Umbrella Project was founded in 2010 by writer and activist Audac ...

(RedUP), a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

company that aims to give public voices to sex workers. It has a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

and hosts a monthly storytelling series in New York City, The Red Umbrella Diaries, where sex workers tell their personal stories. The Red Umbrella Project, which merged with Sex Work Awareness in 2011, also runs Speak Up! Workshops that train sex workers in media literacy and advocacy. In 2010, Ray was involved with the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP).

Selected works

*''Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing in on Internet Sexploration'', 2007, *''

$pread ''$pread'' was a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers and those who support their rights. The magazine's focus was: "personal experiences and political insights" and it "contain(ed) practical information like news, features, health columns, ...

: The Best of the Magazine that Illuminated the Sex Industry and Started a Media Revolution'', 2015,

References

External links

*
Waking Vixen Productions home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Audacia Living people American non-fiction writers Sex worker activists in the United States 1980 births The New School alumni Columbia University alumni Eugene Lang College alumni Rutgers University faculty People from New York City American women non-fiction writers American women academics 21st-century American women