Melissa Petro

Melissa Petro

Bio

Melissa Petro is a former sex worker and "hooker teacher" who has written about the industry for HuffingtonPost, Salon, and others. She is also the founder of Becoming Writers, which provides free and low cost memoir-writing workshops and mentoring to writers of all backgrounds and experiences. More info at http://becomingwriters.wordpress.com. 

Melissa Petro Articles

Let's Not Be Friends: On Female Friendship

Sure, "friends forever" sounds nice. In theory. But sometimes it's better that two people just not be friends.

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You know you're a newlywed if... (Image credit: Thinkstock)

6 Ways You Know You're A Newlywed

If you missed my weekly column this summer all about getting engaged and planning a wedding, here’s the highlight reel: after doing

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If you have your wedding at a restaurant, the food is the star. Image: Thinkstock.

Becoming Bride: 5 Ways To Simplify The Wedding Planning Process

Engagements being the universally stressful occasions that they are, what this has meant is that I’m constantly pushing my fiancé to make wedding-related decisions, and he is constantly having to ask me (nicely and less-nicely) to give it a rest. It all came to a head this past weekend.

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Image: CC Robert Allen Photography via Unsplash

Becoming Bride: My Wedding Is Next Week

Arran and I joke that no one wants to go to a wedding, not really— and maybe that’s true, but (perhaps naively) we had thought of the day as a gift to everyone involved, including ourselves.

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Activism or SLACtivism

Slacktivism: When Your Activism Isn't Really Activism

"I let your “Je Suis Charlie” avatar slide, but trust me: I unfriend people who can’t tolerate a complicated view of women’s participation in the sex trades and who don’t let “victims” speak for themselves. So it’s like Zuckerberg is purposely trolling the way all those ads for Punjammies are constantly appearing in my Facebook timeline, claiming my purchase of their culturally appropriating pajama pants will help some sad, far-off Indian women forge a new life. Without evidence, let’s just assume your PUNJAMMIES™ purchase is an investment in some ugly pajamas."

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May Is Masturbation Month And I'm The 2%

You may have heard the old joke that 98% of people masturbate, and the other two percent are lying.

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“It’s your day!” —  Britni De La Cretaz, on her day. Image: Justine Johnson Photography

Becoming Bride: The Best Advice From Real-Life Brides

Everyone I talk to agrees: Apparently, wedding planning is the most awful thing ever! Seriously, I did not know that when I first got engaged. This got me thinking... What else don’t I know?

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Seeing as I didn’t have any firm idea of what I wanted the dress to look like, I figured it’d be easier. Ha! Image: Scott Webb/Unsplash.

Becoming Bride: The Dress

A week or so ago I started shopping for a wedding dress, and guess what? Shopping for a wedding dress sucks!

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Abstinence-Based Sex Ed Doesn’t Work: Duh

Teaching sex ed the right way doesn’t have to be weird or hard.

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newborn baby (image credit: thinkstock)

I'm Scared To Have A Baby

After gaining as much as forty pounds and pushing a cantaloupe out my vagina, I wondered: will my body ever be the same?

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