Host AM Davies welcomes artist and sex worker, Stephanie “Monty” Montgomery, to discuss the billboard she hand-painted after surviving workplace assault and being failed by club management and police. Monty traces how rage transformed her art from carefully marketable work into a weapon for public accountability, guided by the mantra “vengeance for me, justice for them.” Their conversation moves through childhood grief, forced positivity, Los Angeles grime, Texas conservatism, and the exhausting work of unlearning systems built on patriarchy and control. Monty also shares how her story became the animated short Monster Slayer, which has screened at 18 festivals and connected with survivors through their shared experiences of violence. She explains why sex work never makes someone responsible for assault and previews her companion art book, created to document the film’s illustrations and creative process.
*This transcript was auto-generated and may contain minor errors.* *This transcript was auto-generated and may contain minor errors.* Begin transcript after opening credits.
Monty
There are people that are going to say, well, she was asking for it by being in this industry, which is… incorrect, first of But everybody at the festivals that have approached me approached me on the commonality of of experiencing violence. And I think if they’re approaching me that way, then the film is doing its job.
AMD
Hi everyone, my name is AM Davies and I’m going to be your host today on Yas Podcast. Thank you so much for being with us as always. And before we get into today’s episode, I wanted to remind you that Yas Podcast is produced by YasWork, a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing public perception through media. If you love our podcast, please consider donating. Donations like yours help keep our projects going. Head to YasWork.org. Thank you so much for listening to our opening. We are here today with a very special guest. All of our guests are special, but this one’s been a long time coming. It’s my pleasure and honor to welcome Monty to Yas Podcast. Hi, Monty, how are you?
Monty
Hi, hi everybody. It is such an honor to be here. Thank you for reaching out. I am so excited to chat.
AMD
my gosh, I’m beyond excited that you’re here. Before we get into all the meat of the things, we do ask our guests the same two questions up top. One, what are your pronouns? Let’s start there.
Monty
She Her.
AMD
Perfect. And do you identify as a sex worker?
Monty
Yes, I do.
AMD
Lovely, thanks for sharing. Yeah, so like, okay, this is so exciting, I feel like, for both of us, which is really cool. because we’ve both like kind of been seeing each other, but we never, like I never thought to reach out to you and watching like your work and your journey, because I was always like, she has so much going on. Like, you know what I mean? Like you had so much going on that I didn’t want to insert myself into your life just because I admired you so. Do you know what I’m saying? So that’s where I, that’s where my mentality was.
Monty
I feel that. I’m maybe not the same, but similar. I normally don’t reach out to people that I admire. Like I would never even think to reach out to you. Cause I’m just, behind my art pad. I’m drawing. This is,
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
it’s like just me looking out like.
AMD
Yeah. Yeah.
Monty
So yeah, I’m really grateful that you reached out.
AMD
Yeah, thank you, me too. So, you know, you’re here today, A, because you are a sex worker who has a story to tell, and that’s we love to honor that and feature that here. But also because like I, you know, feel really personal to your story for a few reasons, which we’ll get into this episode today. And one of which I must say that like while delving into your story to prepare for this conversation. There was just, it was just all so familiar to me. It was the strangest thing. It was like, it was like I had heard it all before and I knew that I hadn’t and I can’t explain it any other than it just, it just all feels so familiar to me and not, and it is what it is. It’s not a good or bad thing. It just, that’s all I can really say. I can’t figure out anything else about it yet. Does that make any sense to you at all?
Monty
Absolutely. My story seems to resonate with people and then when I hear them tell me their stories, we just keep running into the same things. We experience really similar things. Like
AMD
Yeah. Yeah.
Monty
if you’re, god it doesn’t even matter, like if you’re a dancer specifically, if you’re a like just broad sex worker, if you’re a woman.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
This story is really our story.
AMD
Yeah, totally, and that’s perhaps why it felt, partly why it felt familiar. And this is a good point, I think, to mention to our audience that this is a warning that we will be talking about SA in this episode. Not necessarily in detail, but language around that will come up. And so we just want our audience to be prepared for that. So the main reason, I mean, you made this billboard, right? That is like your champion triumphant pivotal moment in your life, which is how I found out about you, about this billboard. Can you share with our audience who may not know your story a little bit about this billboard and what it means?
Monty
Sure. I’m an artist first and I’ve been dancing for quite some time, for several years, trying to get that off the ground. during one sprint, I was dedicated to saving up money for car, booth panels, like festival fees so that I could go and sell my work. at fairs and festivals. And while I was dedicated towards that goal and working, I was assaulted at my place of work and it halted all of that. I brought that up to management and to the police and nobody did anything. So I painted a billboard about it. I
AMD
Yeah. Yeah.
Monty
hand painted a 14 foot by 48 foot billboard.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
Calling them all out.
AMD
Yeah, yeah. The billboard, I got to see, I’m so lucky that I got to see it in person and experience like the magnificence of your art as close as I could physically get to it, you know, because it was so high up there. I remember very clearly standing there at the street thinking about you. I didn’t even know you. I hated that building too. So thank you for that billboard. And I’m sorry that you had to make it.
Monty
Yeah. Thank you for those kind words. That seems to be. like a common reaction to it. I talk about this a little bit in the article and in other projects, but someone stopped. It was a woman driving and a man in the passenger seat. And they stopped as the billboard unfurled and They stopped me and the woman behind the wheel was crying and the man leaned out of the window and he said, I just want to let you know that what you did here is going to mean a lot to people that this has happened to. And that’s what made me feel like… Like I did good, like what I did mattered, yeah.
AMD
Yeah, yeah, because it’s such a huge undertaking and like it probably consumed your life creating that for, you know, at least a couple of months and and just like just the creation of the billboard itself, you know, and like, yeah, and I, I when I remember seeing it thinking like, I can’t believe they even thought to do like I would have never even thought to do it. And the placement of the billboard was so beautiful and perfect. was like practically on top of the strip club itself where the thing happened. And it just was so genius, you know? And I could see like, I don’t know, for me, I do a lot of things and I’m like, is this the right thing? I, you know, is this gonna turn out okay? So was any of that like happening for you?
Monty
Yeah, so my work up until that point was very scrubbed clean. was… I assisted a few artists and they all did work that was appropriate for festivals and fairs. they were selling to families and things like that. So a lot of the things I was painting were very sweet, loving, you know? And after I was assaulted at the club… I felt like… The goal that I had to go to fairs and festivals was done. And I tried so long and hard to make it as an artist. And I had just been stopped in my tracks. So I was like, okay, you know what? That’s not working. This isn’t gonna work for me. These assholes think that they can get away with what they’re doing. And if my art isn’t for my survival, it’s for this. If I can be loud with it and call these motherfuckers out, I will. So my initial
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
idea was to paint the fuck out of that building.
AMD
Yeah. Yeah.
Monty
And I was sure that that was going to be the end of my art career. I mean, I can tell you how it just snowballed from there because the initial idea was to paint the building so that when people pulled in, they would have to see.
AMD
Mmm.
Monty
The initial concept was for me to paint just all of us women and there’d be a speech bubble or something that said, excuse me. I’m gonna use the R word. I
AMD
Okay.
Monty
know that’s like, jarring to hear, but yeah, was gonna paint We Were Raped Here because
AMD
huh. Mm-hmm.
Monty
I found out that I was not the only one, of course. Yeah.
AMD
Right. Right. I know a lot about that place. I never worked
Monty
I wish I had known more.
AMD
My partner for a long time worked there. So I heard a lot of stories. He left before you got there, I think. Or before the thing happened.
Monty
You said… Did I hear you say that he was a bouncer?
AMD
He was.
Monty
Do you know? I don’t know if I’ll remember him, but what was his name?
AMD
Ian. Yeah, I won’t dox him and put his last name on the internet, but he is tall, really good looking. Six-six.
Monty
Okay, that’s fine. Mm-hmm. Hey! Uh-huh.
AMD
Tall. Beefy. That was my type for a mile.
Monty
I’m trying to remember. Okay. I’m trying to remember it because like I worked there for a short period of time when I first got to LA in like 2013 and then I Then I
AMD
Mm. Yeah, he was, he was there.
Monty
stopped. Okay, I I I probably definitely ran into him and then I came Yeah
AMD
Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. He was, he had a whole thing too. He left and came back also. So it could have been, you could have missed each other because you left and came back and everyone left and came back, you know? That’s how the point, the point is like he was friends with that dude and it bugs the shit out of me when I put it all together. Bugs me.
Monty
Oof. my god, I’m sorry.
AMD
Yeah, I put it all together in the last few days and I was like, gross, very,
Monty
yeah.
AMD
yeah. And then like, meanwhile, I just like have visions of like, you know, cradling you and us and anyone who’s been through it and like, I don’t know, just it was like, it was like I was right there that I know that sounds so selfish of me to even think about myself, but it was like I was right there and I was
Monty
No, it should, right?
AMD
so close to you, you know, and like, And I knew I heard the stories and I wanted to, I also wanted to tear that building down, which
Monty
Yeah.
AMD
is why when I saw the billboard, it was so like, I was so moved by it because I knew the things I heard the things, you know, and I didn’t hear your story. And I didn’t hear stories like that. Probably on purpose.
Monty
Yeah, absolutely. Cause why would like, they’re not going to talk about it. Yeah.
AMD
Not that. It was different. I heard more about customers. Anyway, it’s been really interesting connecting with you this way after sort of like observing you from a distance. And it’s been so nice reading about you and learning about like who you are outside of this story. And I just don’t want that to get lost in this episode. I read the article, let me get the name right of the publication, the Cali Sunday Magazine article that you’re in.
Monty
Yeah.
AMD
which was very thorough.
Monty
my god, Cathy Dobie, the writer
AMD
Okay.
Monty
of that article, she is brilliant, she is genius, and she’s so raw and real. Yeah,
AMD
Okay.
Monty
she got the full story and she told it like it was. And I really am so grateful for her. Yeah, for that.
AMD
Yeah, yeah, because I saw the movie, which was great. And then I got some background on you, where you’re from, where you’ve gone. And then I read that article and it was so interesting that you were saying I was paint, you know, drawing and creating really clean, sweet stuff. When I believe as a child, you were drawing zombies and stuff like that.
Monty
my god, Well, yeah, I mean, okay, so in that article, it does talk about, I guess I’ll share with the audience here.
AMD
sure.
Monty
When I was a kid, I was, yeah, was an angry kid. So I was drawing a lot of death. I was really, I was really diving into the topic of death, suicide, murder, just like really egregiously. Because I was an angry kid and using, I don’t know, exaggerated forms to express myself in the only way that I knew how. Because I grew up in a military town, we were not gonna talk about our feelings. In Texas, central Texas, no. So, I mean, so anger is a secondary emotion. A lot of us feel angry after feeling hurt. or betrayed or something along those lines. So I lost my dad when I was really young and I wasn’t given the tools to explore that emotion. So when I became a preteen and a teenager, I was just going all in with the anger that had built up. And that art was snatched up by a teacher and I was given the choice to either go to juvie or go to a psych ward. And I went to a psych ward.
AMD
like go to juvie for a wha- what’d do? Draw?
Monty
Well, okay, this is after Columbine.
AMD
Okay.
Monty
And I think they found like… like a manifesto, you know what I’m saying? Where they’re like writing down who all they wanna murder and
AMD
Okay.
Monty
then they follow through. So yeah, I don’t know. As an
AMD
Hmm.
Monty
adult, I look back and I’m like, wow, they handled that so poorly.
AMD
So really.
Monty
But I see where they were going with it. It’s extremely uneducated and it is sad to see that people in charge of children’s lives aren’t better trained for things like this.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
But yeah, they saw me journaling and drawing and writing stories about these exaggerated fantastical ideas of murder and suicide. So they were like, send her to the psych ward.
AMD
Wild.
Monty
Yeah, but yeah, as you can imagine, after something like that, I was not encouraged to draw anything that would shock anybody after that.
AMD
Right, that makes a lot of sense. But did you in your private time? how do you, I mean, cause it was an expression of what you wanted. Did you hide that or did you just not do it for a while?
Monty
That’s such a juicy question. I really didn’t. I learned how to be… overly positive, smile all the time, and it was extremely sarcastic at first. And then I kind of got comfortable in that gritting my teeth and smiling and never telling anybody how I felt. And over the years, like, I mean, any amount of pressure is gonna break that, and it did. I think I was like in the middle of school and… at the Art Institute of Dallas, and my boyfriend at the time left for basic training. And I didn’t have words for any of this at the time, but it triggered me because, you know, I lost my dad in the military, active duty. losing my emotional support, who was my boyfriend, in the middle of a lot of pressure, which is school, I broke down. And amongst all that, My best friend Christine Boomhauer went to LA after she finished her fashion design degree and took me with her. Yeah.
AMD
Yeah, Yeah, LA is, I lived there for 22 years. You were there for about six years probably, based on the timeline that I’ve learned. Yeah,
Monty
Yeah.
AMD
do you miss LA at all?
Monty
I do actually, and this is a fully informed opinion about LA because LA is sold as this like really sunny place that’s chill and everyone’s hot and there’s movie stars or whatever. It was not that, okay? It was not that. It is so grimy. It is so fucking grimy.
AMD
Yeah. Yeah, it really is.
Monty
But I loved that too and…
AMD
Mm-hmm.
Monty
I really love the diversity of people.
AMD
Mm-hmm.
Monty
And there’s just like a small community for every single type of person that you can think of. So beneath the glamour and then beneath the grime, there’s all these really cool people that you can get in touch with. And I did. And I really miss that. I also miss… As you can imagine from my story, like being in a city where I could be as weird or gross or whatever as I want it to be and nobody would look twice is so refreshing. It was very comforting to
AMD
Seriously like that.
Monty
me. Yeah.
AMD
It is so weird. It’s such a weird place. Like so many times
Monty
Yes, weird.
AMD
would be driving down the because I lived in Hollywood for the majority of the time and I would just be driving down the street and be like, oh, there’s Donald Duck just full on like at 1 a.m. like in a Donald Duck costume walking down the street. it’s, yeah, yeah. And it’s
Monty
Yeah, remember Fat Spider-Man?
AMD
not even like, it’s not even like, It’s like, there, you know, I’ve seen it before. I’ve seen it a bunch of times. Just like a full on costume person in the middle of the night walking down the street and it’s totally normal. Weird.
Monty
Yep. Really, really appreciate that.
AMD
Yeah, yeah, I miss it too. I miss the weather and the food. It was great
Monty
weather.
AMD
food. And I know this is dumb, but I miss the driving. I like driving around in the sun with the windows down.
Monty
You know what? That’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone say that, and that is so true.
AMD
It’s so fun and you could do it like the majority of the time there. So yeah.
Monty
Yeah, that’s so funny. That’s everybody’s most hated activity in LA is the traffic. Everyone hates the traffic.
AMD
I didn’t know. Yeah. I mean, if I had somewhere to go and there was traffic, I’m sure I was bitching about it. But in general, like I just look back and I don’t know, driving there is so fun. It’s like it’s like a race car course. Like everyone drives like a maniac. It’s so fun. I fit in.
Monty
I love it. I do miss all that. And you know, I’m from Texas and I’m living in Texas again. It’s so flat. Driving is not fun here. There’s nothing to look at.
AMD
Yeah, totally. Yeah, yeah. Are you happy that you’ve settled back where you’re like rooted from? Like, how does that feel to you?
Monty
I think because I grew up here and I know what kind of like conservative, I can cuss, right? I know what conservative fuck shit people are on here. So
AMD
Yes!
Monty
in Dallas, people can be shiny and happy and smiley, but like they’ll just use these little, they have like little mannerisms and words and I’m like, I know what kind of person you are and I don’t fuck with it. There’s a lot of that.
AMD
Yeah, Texas is challenging. It’s so funny that you were saying at the top of about Texas because when we, my partner and I were there a couple years ago, we were like, everyone is so nice. I love the side eye that you just gave because at the time I was like, my God, everyone’s so nice here. And now I’m like talking to you and I’m thinking about how, what I know of Texas in general and the conservative, thing that you the word that you use and I’m like, is that like real or like, that just how it is there? Like it’s like nice, nice on the surface.
Monty
man, I’m, anytime I, the reason I’m pausing before I speak critically of Texas is because Texans can be, it’s like mini-nationalism for Texas. People are so about their Texas.
AMD
Okay. Okay.
Monty
And. It’s cool, but I did grow up here. I think I have an authority to say, like, the niceness. It’s surface. Like when your politics are evil and you’re
AMD
Mmm.
Monty
nice on the outside, that’s not nice. It’s nice
AMD
Good for me.
Monty
maybe, it’s not kind.
AMD
Sure, which is totally different. Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.
Monty
Yeah.
AMD
So in there was something that you said in in our correspondence to each other leading up to this conversation you wrote, I like to believe that we’re in the midst of conservativism’s terrifying death rattle. It was such an interesting sentence to read. I don’t think I read Deathrattle daily, but I
Monty
Mm.
AMD
would like to know more about what you mean. I mean, you have other sentences here, but I think you can expand. I’d like to hear in your speaking words, like, what did you mean with that sentence? That was powerful.
Monty
It’s something I hope for. I really hope this is a death rattle because it is loud and terrifying. Take, I mean, we are fighting for… equity and we’ve been fighting for it for a long time. God, we are under a death grip of colonialism and patriarchy and capitalism where only certain people are on top and the rest of us are doing our best. And we’re doing our best in community together. And take maybe, there’s so many movements to choose from, but I think the hashtag MeToo movement is apt for this conversation. The MeToo movement, how powerful to be so open about the grimy underbelly of what it is to be a woman and, or, anybody who’s like, who’s just like a lower perceived value under the patriarchy. You know what I mean? Not
AMD
Sure. Sure. Yeah.
Monty
a straight cis man, white man, you know?
AMD
Anybody but that,
Monty
Yeah. It’s such a powerful movement, being loud, open about it, calling them out. And then what happened in the aftermath, like we would hope that what happened afterwards would be like, We hold rapists accountable. We change the industry. It’s easier to prosecute rapists. That’s not what happened. What happened was like a huge retaliation. I feel like we saw an uprising of conservatism and of incels. and a lot of people just like screaming in the opposite direction. It just reminds me of like a video game or a movie or something when you’re trying to defeat… If you’re in a boss battle, there’s gotta be at least three phases. Come on. And they come back scarier every time.
AMD
Right.
Monty
It just feels like that’s what’s happening. It’s a retaliation. you were beat once. You’re trying to come back scarier and bigger. And it is. They are scary and big. But that just means… You have to die. So that’s what I hope for.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
Like, I really hope that how terrifying this phase is is, God, a final phase of sorts. I know that’s a big, that’s a lot of hope. Get it.
AMD
I would like to think that we’re in the final phase too, but wouldn’t that just be too easy? That’s like when you’re watching the movie
Monty
I know.
AMD
and you’re like, they can’t get away that easy. And then something else horrible happens. Like, that’s kind of where I think we are. Like there’s more. There’s more.
Monty
fuck yeah there’s so- there’s more but like regardless of what phase we’re in we can’t back down we cannot do that
AMD
I know I’m not the only one that feels it, but like, like I still feel like we’re not talking about it enough. in like our social circles like what the fuck is going on literally what the fuck is going on you know and like a few months ago it was several months ago i found myself sitting at a table with friends and we were all just like partying and having a good time and at one point i just said it i was like so at what point are we going to talk about this fucked shit that’s happening in the world and i just started crying in front of everybody because i’m like how are we just sitting here partying pretending like everything’s fine and it’s clearly fucking not fine you know and so i’d like to think that I think that you are right to some degree about the death rattle and the phase of the death of conservatism coming. And I think that’s because like it feels stronger, conservative feels stronger right now because they’re terrified of losing their grip and their control, right? Yeah.
Monty
That part, yes, they are obviously terrified.
AMD
yeah, it, and that’s why I think even like, that like the rise of incels and or the rise of misogyny is the same. They’re like, we have to try harder to hate women because they’re they’re on to us and they’re they’re pushing back and they’re winning.
Monty
Yeah, we are on to your ass. We are on to your ass. Yeah. And I love that for us. And
AMD
Yeah. Yeah.
Monty
like, is… We are sitting here and we’re encouraging that in each other. Battle is still so exhausting. So like,
AMD
Mm-hmm.
Monty
I’m glad that we’re partying with our friends too. And yeah, we party and we enjoy our friends. and the people close to us so that we can keep fighting.
AMD
Yeah, well, if there’s no joy, right, we need joy as like for me as almost like it’s like fuel, you know, if I don’t have joy, then I’m just gonna slowly rust and stop. You know, like, right,
Monty
Yeah, what are we fighting for,
AMD
right. Yeah. And joy is a form of resistance and finding those moments. Like I told my partner, was like, after this podcast, I’m going to read the Wizard of Oz book. because I just want to do something for me.
Monty
Isn’t Wizard of Oz about fighting a fascist regime?
AMD
100 % that’s why. Yeah. Yeah.
Monty
You know what? Yes.
AMD
Yeah. So I like the Wizard of Oz story because that’s 100 % what it is even for even the main movie. It’s all about, know, Oz, it’s all about fascism. And then, you know, I’m into Wicked, which kind of turns the story on its head. And then the actual original book gets more into about how they enslaved the animals and things like that. And so it actually gives a more insight to the story of Wizard of Oz, like you said, how It’s definitely a story about fighting against fascism and, you know, I don’t know what the end is going to be like, because I don’t know if it’s different from the movie or not. So I’m not going to speculate. But yeah, I just I don’t know. I think I like that that story because I find it interesting that they sold us that story as like, isn’t this fun and cute? And really the underlying messages we’re trying to control you. And so I find I find stories like that. really interesting finding like the secret propaganda within it. which has been fed to us since birth, right?
Monty
It takes a lot of unlearning. It takes
AMD
Mm-hmm.
Monty
a lot of aggressive unlearning.
AMD
Yeah, that’s also a daily practice.
Monty
Lately practice for sure.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
Yeah, yeah. like my mother is Panamanian, but
AMD
Mm-hmm.
Monty
my father’s white, I’m half white. And I can see very clearly as like as a light-skinned person in my family, how differently I’m treated.
AMD
Hmm.
Monty
And that just kind of like kicked off learning how… I’m treated in comparison to other people and why. And that’s just like a really great thread to pull on if you want to learn the systems of who gets to win and who doesn’t in our systems.
AMD
Yeah, yeah, it’s It’s very, it’s all like when I think about it, I just get really confused at this like mass, like this mass thinking of, you know, when it comes to things like racism and homophobia and when I think of those things and I just, I don’t even understand how we even got to that point. You know, it’s just so confusing to me that we just hate each other for being different. I get genuinely confused and I’ve You you mentioned feeling like shy and different as a child, like very similarly, and like, what are we doing? Like massively confused by the choices that we’ve made as a society. It’s just baffling to me. And then to know that you’ve, that I’ve fallen victim to it, to myself and like, you know, practice the things that I was conditioned to practice. And it’s just, it’s It feels really good to grow out of that, but it does take like every day to think about it and to think about other people and think outside of yourself. And I think that’s really beautiful that you are, you you recognize what’s happening in your own family, you know, and that you probably hold their history with care because you see that, you know, and treat and you go to them with kindness, I’m assuming, and like hold them a special way because you love them and they’re your family, you know.
Monty
Absolutely, and it does help me. It just has helped me see past some of the systems, I think.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
But yeah, I also did want to, before we get too far away, I also
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
want to hold you in crying to your friends at a party. because what the fuck
AMD
Mm.
Monty
is going on? You’re not the only person doing that, okay? Like we have a
AMD
Okay. Yay.
Monty
monthly game night here we’re having a great time playing board games and every now and then we have to stop and be like, what the fuck is going on? And what are we doing about it?
AMD
Okay. Okay.
Monty
Yeah, and I know that’s happening in a lot of my friend groups and their friend groups, so you are not alone.
AMD
Okay, that’s good to know. I don’t know if I hear it. I’ve not had this type of conversation where we’re like, yeah, we’re all crying to each other. It’s just happening in private. So I love that we’re admitting that. Because kind of like what you said, I know in the military it’s like we don’t share our feelings, but I feel like that’s a culture in so many different pockets of life. Yeah.
Monty
Oh yeah, right. That’s like, that’s a practice to shove the emotions down. Is that what you mean?
AMD
Yeah, I mean, yeah, like, you know, I’m thinking about like my own family on, you know, the more religious side, you know, that because that’s kind of like an offshoot of religion, like you don’t talk about things, you know, and that so I’ve seen that firsthand as well manifest in family, like we just don’t talk about certain things. We don’t talk about feelings for sure.
Monty
What a great way to control people. Because religion and the military are, yeah, that’s their whole MO, is to get people to stay in line so that we can uphold certain people in power. That’s why all of these, like, this hierarchy exists. So there’s a person at the top in power.
AMD
Yeah, and a part of me wonders if that’s just built into our DNA. As a collective, it’s built into our collective DNA, where there always will be a hierarchy. I just wonder shit like this, because I’m like, why are we like this? Is hierarchy a construct? Because in the animal world, they have hierarchies, so they also constructing as well.
Monty
There’s also, but there are also animal, like animals who don’t have that, they don’t have a patriarchal hierarchy, know? Like bonobo monkeys, they’re matriarchal. And you know, and I’m just like, let’s get there. I
AMD
Right, right. Yeah.
Monty
heard a story recently where, There was a tribe of monkeys where all the males were wiped out and their warring culture stopped because all the mothers had to take care of the children and everything was very chill. And then all the boy monkeys grew up to be peaceful in the same way. And then
AMD
Hmm.
Monty
if… like a monkey from a different tribe came in with all the aggression, they learned very quickly in that new society, like that doesn’t cut it here. Yeah, that doesn’t work here. And then they
AMD
working yeah
Monty
adopted the more like chill mannerisms. Now,
AMD
Hmm.
Monty
I cannot cite this story. I hope it’s not just a parable. It’s a beautiful idea. Like, I would love to try implementing it, but.
AMD
Totally. I’m interested. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t…
Monty
Yeah, I’m biting.
AMD
Yeah, so they’re able to evolve their interpersonal behaviors, basically, like how they’re treating each other. They’re even as monkeys are able to evolve, basically, is what you’re saying. So why can’t we? What’s taking so long? Seriously. Yeah.
Monty
Why can’t we? Yeah. I don’t know. Maybe we should take a page from that one story. a whole type of person. Nevermind. Let me not go in that direction. Yeah.
AMD
Not speculate on what could, yeah. Well, speaking of, you know, teaching people, because that’s basically what the monkeys did where they were teaching each other is you’ve been teaching people on this festival circuit through your film, right? And I suspect because we’re going to kind of go back to that if you don’t mind, because I do want to close with like what your art and where you are and where you are with this film. So you’re on the festival circuit. You’re showing your movie to all kinds of people who make judgments on these types of things. Like what was that like? I know there’s sex worker films and film festivals, but were you treated warmly? Were you welcomed warmly? Like what was that experience like going in as a sex worker and? expressing yourself through your art and your film.
Monty
Wonderful question. So the film has traveled to 18 different festivals at this point. I’ve only been to two. It debuted at Tribeca in New York, which
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
is really cool. So I went to that and it was received very warmly. I was approached by… I was approached by a lot of different people, but mostly women who have their own stories of assault because it is unfortunately really common. So I was approached with that commonality and I actually have not once been treated as different because I’m a sex worker. I know it’s happening. I know people are talking about it, but nobody has approached me with that. Like I hear it in comments when people, you know, comment on like the mini doc on YouTube or on Reddit, whatever. I know what people are thinking and I think the audience might have an idea. You have an idea of how people will react to like a stripper being assaulted. There are people that are going to say, well, she was asking for it by being in this industry, which is… incorrect, first of all. But everybody at the festivals that have approached me have approached me on the commonality of of experiencing violence. And I think if they’re approaching me that way, then the film is doing its job.
AMD
Okay. And did you do Q &A panels at these festivals at all, the two that you went to?
Monty
so I went to Tribeca. I did not do a Q &A panel there. And
AMD
Okay. Okay.
Monty
then I went to the Cleveland International Film Festival. I did do a Q &A there. They asked me about being an artist. and… day. told me how important it was to them to see someone. find their own justice and not back down because that’s
AMD
Okay.
Monty
what we’re being asked to do. We are being asked to be silent about things like that. So yeah,
AMD
Okay.
Monty
that’s the reception.
AMD
Okay, so they was pretty respectful and not like, okay. Yeah.
Monty
Yeah, yes, actually. Surprisingly.
AMD
Okay.
Monty
Yeah.
AMD
Did you find, has anyone come to you or mentioned to you or anyone who was involved with the movie, like anything that they learned from your story, like about sex workers or sex work in general? Like was that, was there anything like that that came about or that viewed things differently because they saw your movie?
Monty
That’s a great question. I wonder if maybe they don’t feel comfortable talking about it. You know, it’s one of those things.
AMD
Hmm. Sure. I’d love to ask Katie this question.
Monty
Katie might have, Katie the director of Monster Slayer. Yeah, by
AMD
Yeah, you’re the director.
Monty
the way, I feel like the audience might need to be caught up maybe. So after the billboard, I did a few, like I did an article, I did a mini doc, I did a radio interview, and then Katie Skip, the director, approached me to do a short animated film that told the story of the billboard. That short film has been on the festival circuit. we’re winding down the festival circuit right now and we’re looking for other ways to distribute it, maybe online or for it to be picked up. Yeah, Katie might have people approaching her about the topic of sex work
AMD
Sure.
Monty
because some people might feel uncomfortable approaching the sex worker with these questions.
AMD
I’ve noticed that when I’m working with new civilians who are just like have this newfound understanding like that, you know, they’ve learned about sex work and they see it differently that they get nervous though in conversation about that. Have you noticed that that people get like they just want to be so careful, right?
Monty
Yeah, exactly. That’s what I was like. feel like they just don’t want to talk about it because
AMD
Ugh.
Monty
yeah, they’re learning. They’re just now learning some things.
AMD
yeah
Monty
But I do, I don’t know, I’ve gotten, with like friends of friends have gotten the weird little remarks like, like, I wish you were in a safer industry kind of thing. Yeah, boo.
AMD
Hehehehehe
Monty
Sex workers are unsafe because of how you treat sex workers. Let’s have that combo first.
AMD
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
Monty
yeah, nothing I’m not used to and I’m sure nothing you’re not used to either.
AMD
Yeah, no, I’ve heard it all at this point. I know there are other comments, like I saw some negative comments too, like about you and your story and, know, it’s infuriating,
Monty
Mm-hmm.
AMD
it’s infuriating.
Monty
But also I feel like it’s really common. I don’t know. I’m just like, okay, yeah. Next,
AMD
But… Totally… Yeah.
Monty
like put them in the fucking pile, whatever. yeah. I remember
AMD
Right. Yeah.
Monty
when the billboard went up, one of the comments was like, was like, well she wearing a skirt that short that’s painted on the billboard? No wonder something happened to her. Like, we gotta catch you big time. Wow.
AMD
What is, yeah, I thought that we grew out of this what they’re wearing doesn’t mean anything thing. For sure, we’re still there. That’s so like archaic and like 80s.
Monty
Yeah, yeah.
AMD
Like, haven’t you grown out of that? That’s, I think it would be my response to somebody who says that like, oh, you’re still saying that? That’s so old. Nobody says that.
Monty
Very much so. That’s how I feel. I’m like, okay, throw it in the pile. That’s normally what the negative comments are though. It’s like, wow, you are on an old version right now. Like you are very outdated in your thinking. I feel pity.
AMD
Very outdated, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I do, I know, you you’ve mentioned, you know, you said more than once that people have said like, oh, you’re dressed like that, or oh, you’re a stripper, you’re sex worker, and you ask for it, and like, just, you know, I just want to tell our audiences listening that, don’t ever believe that. That is not true. You are not
Monty
Right.
AMD
asking for it. you are not asking for it and don’t ever believe the people who say that to you. Because it is so untrue. So, so many of us have been there and your story is so powerful and shows what art can really do. And move so many people made such a difference. And like, thank you so much for that. Because it must have been such an incredible journey, so like thank you for just putting it all out there for us all to see like you just You know you like told the story like you didn’t give a fuck like you said that motherfuckers name. You know like
Monty
I was very angry. I was absolutely fueled by rage. I was… I was not…
AMD
as you should have been, yeah, every night.
Monty
Yeah, I was not… At that point, I wasn’t worried about how I was gonna be viewed. I knew… I knew that was… I don’t
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
know. I knew I was not going to be received well and I didn’t care.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
Which is probably why I have that baseline that’s like, okay, yep, another shit comment. Like, I knew that was gonna happen. But I’m so, I don’t know if I have a word for this. I feel so connected, knowing. that this act of my mantra during painting it was vengeance for me, justice for them. Vengeance for me, justice for them, as I was painting the whole time. And knowing that… the work really served them is so important to me. Yeah, it gives meaning to what I do.
AMD
Yeah.
Monty
Yeah. Which is why I am so proud to be, to illustrate the short film. Because it’s another avenue where people are feeling seen and soothed and inspired to find justice for themselves, which is really an insane ask. But it is something that I will actually ask everyone is to find what is special and unique to them and use it to continue to fight for justice for yourself and for those around you.
AMD
Yeah, I love that. Thank you. Can we share, I just want to know what are you doing now with your art? What inspires you right now? Like what’s helping you continue on? Is it just the film or is there other things for you?
Monty
So the film is wrapping up, it’s Festival Circuit, and I am creating a companion art book to it called Making of Monster Slayer, where I’m compiling all of the illustrations and the creative process and documenting just the process of creating the film in this beautiful art book. So I’m in the early stages of that, and I’m actually… moving forward on the Festival and Fair Circuit.
AMD
thing.
Monty
So yeah, I’m starting back on that. Yeah. Yeah.
AMD
Okay, that’s great. That’s awesome. I can’t wait to share like I want more sex workers to see this film. Can we say the name of it? is it just in festivals? They can’t watch it online just yet. Okay.
Monty
Not just yet, unfortunately, like I will blast it. You should follow Monty Monsterslayer on Instagram. You should follow Monsterslayer Film on Instagram. The title of the film is Monsterslayer. Yeah, and
AMD
Perfect.
Monty
we’ll let y’all know as soon as it’s distributed or like widely available online.
AMD
Yeah, awesome. We can’t wait for more people to see it. It was so moving and so beautifully done. And just to fill in our audience, your imagery, your artwork took up 60 % of the film, is what I was told. And so your creative control was massive, which I think is really important for sex workers to hear that are trying to tell their stories and how important it is that you… really were the driver of your story. You weren’t just a subject that people were looking at and like, you know, turning it into what they wanted for their own, from their own perspective. It was like from your perspective, your art in your heart. And I think that’s one of the things that makes it so special.
Monty
I agree. I really got to know Katie, Katie Skip, the director. And she really got to know me and she put in a lot of work to understand sex workers’ perspectives. And she pretty much handed me the mic and made it happen. Yeah, I’m so grateful for that.
AMD
Thank you. Yeah. Well, thank you, Katie. Thank you, Monty, for coming
Monty
Thank you, Catie.
AMD
here today and spending your time with us and sharing your story.
Monty
I loved it.
AMD
So meaningful. I’m so honored that I got to spend time with you today. So thank you. And thank you to our listeners.
Monty
Thank you everybody.