Veronica Monet
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{short description|American activist for sex worker rights}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Veronica Monet
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|04|01}}
| alma_mater = Oregon State University
| occupation = {{comma separated entries|activist|author|therapist}}
| website = {{url|theshamefreezone.com}}
}}
Veronica Monet (born April 1, 1960) is an American author and activist for sex worker rights.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbsun.com/2008/03/20/escort-explains-sex-secrets-success/|work=The Sun|author=John Bogert|date=March 20, 2008|access-date=September 11, 2019|title=Escort explains sex secrets, success}} Her early activism focused on disproving stereotypes about sex workers and advocating for the decriminalization of all sex work. From 1989 to 2004, she was a high-end escort and courtesan.{{cite news|url=https://www.sbsun.com/2008/03/20/escort-explains-sex-secrets-success/|newspaper=San Bernardino Sun|title=Escort explains sex secrets, success|date=March 20, 2008}} Monet's later work focuses on anger management, healing shame, and helping couples integrate their sexuality with their spirituality.{{Cite web |date=2023-06-07 |title=Building a Shame-Free Zone in a Sexually Messed Up World: Veronica Monet on PYP 556 - Plant Yourself |url=https://plantyourself.com/building-a-shame-free-zone-in-a-sexually-messed-up-world-veronica-monet-on-pyp-556/ |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=plantyourself.com |language=en-US}}
Early life and education
Veronica Monet was born to working-class parents in the rural town of Prairie City, Oregon. She was homeschooled and did not participate in public education until entering college in 1978 when she was granted Honors at Entrance at Oregon State University. In 1982, she graduated from Oregon State University with honors, earning a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a minor in business administration.{{Cite web|url=https://dce.oregonstate.edu/wgc/events/2010-2011-past-events/modern-sex-conference-wednesday-feb-15|title=Modern Sex Conference|date=February 15, 2011}}
In an article written by Monet, she said that her father, who was a victim of sexual abuse as a child, had started taking nude pictures of her at the age of 5. He would also insult her for her looks throughout her childhood and later on made sexual advances at her. Monet also claims that her father hated her mother and would hit her.{{Cite web |last=Monet |first=Veronica |date=2020-11-24 |title=How I Healed From Being Raised By A Father Who Took Nude Photos Of Me |url=https://www.yourtango.com/experts/theshamefreezone/trying-be-ten-time-trump |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=YourTango |language=en}}
After graduating, she worked in corporates, where she experienced workplace sexual harassment.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35804161/quadcity_times/|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|title=Former escort says sex is all in the mind|date=December 11, 2005|access-date=September 11, 2019}}
In her early adult life, Monet's used drugs and alcohol, eventually entering the twelve-step program and becoming sober in 1985.{{Cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2002/10/23/veronica/|author=Michael Castleman|title=The Two Worlds of Veronica Monet|work=Salon|date=October 23, 2002|access-date=September 11, 2019}}
Career
Monet became an escort in 1989 and worked as a clean and sober high-end escort for fifteen years. Throughout her escorting career, Monet was married and helped to raise her husband's two young children.{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Escort-s-hot-tip-It-s-not-just-about-the-sex-2593542.php|newspaper= San Francisco Gate|title=Escort's hot tip: It's not just about the sex, it's about the mind|date=November 23, 2005}}
In the fall of 2000, the Kinsey Institute established The Veronica Monet Collection.{{Cite book|url=https://iucat.iu.edu/kinsey/3354059|title=Indiana University, Bloomington – Veronica Monet collection|year=2000 }}
Academics in the field of psychology have referenced Monet's expertise on the dynamics of sexual shame and porn addiction. She is cited in the late Christopher Kennedy Lawford's Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit Manage Any Addiction (pages 166–167),{{Cite book |last=Lawford |first=Christopher Kennedy |date=December 18, 2012 |title=Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit Manage Any Addiction |publisher=BenBella |isbn=978-1936661961 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/recovertolivekic0000lawf }} and Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo's Man (Dis)Connected (page 223).{{Cite book |last=Zimbardo |first=Philip |date=May 17, 2015 |title=Man (Dis)Connected |publisher=Rider |isbn= 978-1846044847}} Monet's first book Sex Secrets of Escorts, was published by Penguin in 2005.
Monet became a Certified Sexologist through the American College of Sexologists in 2007 and an anger management specialist through Century Anger Management.{{Cite web|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/veronica-monet-grass-valley-ca/217145|title=Psychology Today}} She is also a graduate of San Francisco Sex Information{{Cite book |last=Lawford |first=Christopher |date=May 17, 2015 |title=Recover to Live |publisher=BenBella |isbn= 978-1936661978}} and now works as a relationship therapist.{{Cite web|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/sexual-addiction/ca/grass-valley/217145?sid=5ce369c4c2456&ref=4&tr=ResultsName|title=Psychology Today directory}}
Selected works
=Books=
- {{Cite book|title=Veronica Monet's Sex Secrets of Escorts: What Men Really Want|last=Monet|first=Veronica|date=2005|publisher=DK Publishing|isbn=9781440690778|language=en}}
- {{Cite book|title=Sex de Luxe: Profi-Tipps für heiße Nächte|last=Monet|first=Veronica|date=2009|publisher=Goldmann Verlag|isbn=9783641017033|language=de}}
References
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Category:American sex educators
Category:American sex worker activists
Category:Writers from California
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers
Category:American women non-fiction writers