I posted a slightly different version of this in a comment on RenEv’s blog, but I felt like reposting it here. Hence:
Honestly, I’m ready to give up, because I feel like I sound like a broken record, and yet somehow the message is NOT GETTING THROUGH to people who insist on not hearing it. What’s that message?
Sex work IS NOT universally empowering for women!! Porn IS NOT wonderful across the board!! Individual women and men may find sex work and porn to be empowering, but the feelings and choices of one person DO NOT implicate anyone but that individual!!
And, likewise? It’s equally disingenuous to suggest that sex work is universally disempowering and porn is universally horrible. There are simply too many nuances and variations to consider. It’s not a monolith.
Now, to use a personal example that apparently plenty of people have trouble comprehending. If I say pole dancing has been an empowering experience for me, I AM SPEAKING FOR MYSELF. No one else. I am not saying it is empowering for everyone, or that everyone should try it, or that anyone who finds it NOT to be empowering for them is wrong.
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Argh. Seriously. What more do I have to say? (She asked, rhetorically.)
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9 Responses to "Brick wall, meet broken record"
I completely agree with you, Amber, but then again, that’s just preaching to the choir, right?
I, too, find pole dancing empowering… FOR ME. I love feeling like something that involves exercise is fun, and it doesn’t hurt that (I’ve been told) I’m naturally adept to it.
But anyway…
amen
I’m afraid it’s an unwinnable argument. Although, of course, our side is the rational one. ;)
I found stripping to be very empowering…for ME. Many of the girls I worked with also found it empowering. To others, it was just a job, no more (or less) empowering than delivering pizzas or telemarketing. Still others got out of it as soon as it was financially feasible for them to because they hated it.
It’s foolish to say that one thing is categorically “good” or “bad.” (Except for mass genocide. That is bad.) Each person will have his/her own interpretation and experience.
Pole dancing. *sigh* I just discovered very recently that one could actually have a pole installed in one’s house. Yeah, I really am that naive.
I so want a pole in my apartment. But it’s not practical, since I live in a small studio apartment with higher than 10 foot ceilings and will be moving in less than a year. But Rusty has promised that once we move in together, I can have a pole (assuming we don’t have the same problem with the high ceilings). :) Perhaps a birthday present next year!
Amber, heh, I want a freakin’ studio in my house…but a pole would be nice too!
I just want a kickboxing bag in my house.
I want one of those little punching bags.
the message is NOT GETTING THROUGH to people who insist on not hearing it
Hate to state the obvious, but that’s your problem right there. Until they’re willing to listen it’s not even worth the effort.