This inspirational post by Ren has lifted my spirits a bit.
You simply cannot say you want to help people in the sex industry if you deny them access to such simple and basic things, let alone legal rights, health and education resources, child care, and of course, their own voices. Not here in the really real world anyway.
I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll have to say it again: If you are against sex workers rights, then you cannot be, by default, an ally of sex workers. You don’t show people how much you care about them by assuring their legal status is often, in many cases, less than that of a house pet. And you can praise the Holy Trinity of Jensen, Dines & Russell as much as you want, but when those people have really done nothing to help actual sex workers where as actual Sex Workers Rights Organizations have - the types of organizations I see so often trashed by the fans of the trinity - well sorry, you are no ally, and…being my usual blunt self…you aren’t helping shit. In fact, you’re making it worse.
Because those people support the stigma. They support the illegal nature of some forms sex work and the “seedy reputation” of others. They hold up and play into a system which allows for “theft of services”. They support programs which deny basic things like condoms. They make it so prostitutes and other sex workers are afraid to report rapes, thefts, beatings…because under the world view they propagate, these people are criminals, messed up junkies, or full time victims with no agency. They aren’t, in short, real people…they are data points, book sales, and lecture tickets.
I am really looking forward to the fast-approaching Desiree Alliance conference! Woohoo!
READ ME: Disclaimer
2 Responses to "Can I get a “hell yes?”"
i’ve lost my sense of humor with a lot of folk here recently.
Hell, yes. Every time I read her I learn about something I need to do or stop doing so I can be a little bit closer to being a real human being. You too, Amber. Thank you two for all you give.
Leave a comment