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

Often, when the story is spoken out loud, it loses at least some — if not all — of its power.

Your Embarrassing Story Is No Big Deal 

We’ve all been in a situation where we've thought NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW THAT THIS HAPPENED TO ME.

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Your friends might know more about style than you do. So learn from them already.

Copycat - Don't Be Ashamed To 'Steal' Your Friends' Styles

The biggest fashion mistake of my lifetime may not be what I wore, but what I didn’t.

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Sex trafficking victims matter, but there are countless sex workers across the spectrum who wouldn’t describe themselves as victims of sex trafficking. They matter, too.

4 Things To Know About Human Trafficking

Want to work responsibly on the issue of sex trafficking? Here’s some of what you should know.

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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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But if you have it, and you’ve made a decision to spend it, let it go.

Becoming Bride: How Much Does A Wedding Cost? (A Lot.)

[I]t looks like our wedding will cost us more like $10,000. That is a hell of a lot of money. Still, it’s our one and only wedding. And for a wedding in Manhattan that includes most of the typical expenditures [...] that’s not too bad. Here’s what I’ve learned about how to make your big day (relatively) less expensive.

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No thanks, Facebook.

When Your Estranged Father Appears In 'People You May Know' On Facebook

My relationship with my father was never father-daughter picnics. Maybe when I was very little — or maybe this is less a memory and more of a wish — I have an image of myself as a very little girl sitting on my father’s lap, and we are both laughing. Perhaps my father enjoyed fatherhood when his children were very little, but that joy seemed to curdle into constant frustration as my brother and I grew up.

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Image via YouTube.

Why "Kiss Bang Love" Is Not For Me

On FYI’s newest, Kiss Bang Love, the show sets one man or one woman up with ten strangers who the contestant will kiss, one after another, while blindfolded. From these ten hopeful suitors, the contestant chooses five and then two, with whom they go on “intimate 24-hour dates.” The producers ask: Can blind sexual chemistry lead to love? I say, probably not!

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On Privilege: Sometimes, The Struggle Is NOT Real

"We built a luxury dream home but can only afford to have two children."

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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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Designated areas? Check. Remembering to get outside? Check. Compromises galore for anyone moving in together? Most definitely.

Dos And Don'ts Of Moving In With Your Significant Other

For any couples thinking about moving in together, I thought I’d share my Dos and Don’ts, and how my husband and I are making my small and unattractive (but inexpensive!) apartment work for our family.

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