McWhore is an anonymous woman who has worked in the sex industry in Scotland

high-profile sex blogger, after an "erotic masseuse" known only as Slutty McWhore started writing a column for The Skinny magazine, a youth street paper that has set itself on a collision course with anti-prostitution groups after the announcement that it would be dedicating an entire issue to sex workers.McWhore is an anonymous woman who has worked in the sex industry in Scotland and America,Women's groups are already lining up to attack the column, which they accuse of "normalising" the sex trade and bolstering the arguments for its legalisation.The Skinny's new columnist, a women in her early-30s who is currently living in America, said: "The Skinny blog is a place for me to educate, or at least inform, people about the nature of the job and bust some of the myths and stereotypes about sex workers.
"I want it to reflect my experience of ambivalence about the industry. I don't like sex-worker bloggers who describe sex work as empowering', but I also hate the radical feminists who think that women like me are poor, f******-up victims. It's such a grey area, and this is what I want my blog to reflect."She added: "Sex work - or writing about it, at least - has totally boosted my confidence and self-esteem as a woman."The Skinny's next issue will be dedicated to promulgating its liberal stance on prostitution, promoted by a section of its paper that used to be called LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Transexual and Bisexual) but is now called Deviance - a move that was controversial in itself.Rupert Thomson, its editor, said the magazine was dedicated to creating a "social effect". He said: "It's important to support sex workers because they are routinely denied a voice and others consistently insist on speaking for them. It's a typical irony that those who think they know what's best for sex workers tend to advocate laws that are damaging to them. We want to initiate conversation."The sex industry splits opinion drastically, which reflects the fact there's a lot at stake and there are no easy answers, and we thought the supporting voice needed a greater airing. We want to promote a positive sexual attitude all round."Its stance directly contradicts the current orthodoxy, which hinges on the assumption that prostitution is a form of violence against women, instead favouring an approach that considers the relaxation of current laws.Thomson continued: "They say it's the oldest profession, and you've got to think at least some of those transactions weren't abusive."Jan Macleod, from Glasgow Women's Support, worried that the blog would perpetrate the "male fantasy of the happy hooker", a woman who enters sex work voluntarily and enjoys her work.Research conducted by her group - passionate advocates of strong laws on prostitution, including those passed last year that criminalise the men that buy sex - indicates women in the sex industry only report positive experiences 9% of the time, most of which correspond with the handing over of money.She said: "I don't get the argument that suggests because prostitution worked out for one woman, it should be legalised. The opposite is true. The fact that a very small number of women come out of it with money and a decent level of life in no way makes up for the fact the life expectancy of most sex workers is severely shortened by their work."However, there is a clamour in parts of Scotland for a more liberal stance on sex work. George Lewis, co-chair of ScotPep (Scottish Prostitutes Education Project), a group set up to promote "health and dignity in prostitution", said: "Any informed debate is healthy. In the case of The Skinny, where its readers may be the policy-makers of the future, it is particularly important.""The next battle will be on the issue of criminalising the purchase of sex," he added.