links for 2009-01-17
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"This is not to put my fingers in my ears and la-la-la Pollyanna the sex industry is awesome! It’s not. It sucks. But it’s also great. It all depends on the conditions. Which is what activists like me care about. I care about conditions and I care about consent. If you want to be a sex worker, I want you to have the best possible work conditions. If you don’t want to be a sex worker, I want to find a way to get you out of sex work. (And here’s the first piece: a criminal record is going to bar you from a lot of 'straight' jobs.)"
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"How can you separate out who a person is from what they do? Moreover, what they do that makes them happy? I know that’s bad psychology of me, but I’ve strayed from that path long ago. (I mean, one psychology class does not an expert make.) Rather, I think the aggregate actions of a person are part of who they are."
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"So much is made of this…and well, wait…what was the original topic again? Jacqui Smith? The execution of porn performers in the Middle East? Federal Law 2257? Anti Porn Documentaries? Unions in strip clubs? Harm Reduction? Anti Porn Groups exploitation and illegal use of unconsenting performers? The pros and cons of brothels? Zoning laws? The Rape of a prostitute being labeled a theft of services? Kyle Payne? A sex worker being called out, misquoted, and distorted then defending themselves? Body Image? Sexual Shaming? The murder of a sex worker? Legal rights? Wait, what? What was the original topic again? Well, you have to look at the name of the post, because the thread has been hijacked in an attempt to get the sex workers not to speak for themselves, on matters that affect them directly, or to demonize them when they do."
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"Speaking of slavery, abolitionists like to conflate voluntary prostitution with slavery. Again, this tells me they lack comprehension about something else: slavery. A slave is always at the beck and call of their owner. Notably, they do not live independently of said master, receive no pay, and make absolutely no decision on any aspect of their life. These modern-day abolitionists really need to study the history of slavery. This is not the reality of a woman who chooses prostitution, even if she charges very little for her services.
Escaped slaves from the American south often joined with abolitionist groups in the North. In an unsurprising parallel, even though these escaped slaves had the most experience with slavery and needed to tell their story, abolitionists groups often silenced them as well. Yet, they claimed to be concerned about the predicament of the slaves but ignored the very people they should be listening to."
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"The actual problem with objectification is the othering of a human being and reducing them to a one-dimensional figure that almost becomes a caricature of their true selves. It doesn't matter if it is objectification of their sexuality, intelligence, humor, earning power, or whatever. No one wants to be seen in such a flat representation. That is what the grievance against objectification should be, not strictly based on sexual expression and some people's discomfort with the human figure and sexuality."
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“Amid flashy images of faceless women in skintight dresses, neon lights, and purposefully seedy brothel bedrooms, Carey starts off the report by offering some background, saying that Natalie ‘claims’ that she is ‘auctioning off her virginity to pay for her education,’ pausing dramatically before adding a censorious ‘mmm hmmm.’ Then she goes on to say that Dylan ‘claims that she’s gotten offers from 10,000 men–guess she’s proud of that,’ once more adding her own two cents. The most ridiculous part in her commentary occurs when Carey explains where Dylan may have gotten her idea: ‘apparently her sister paid for her education by being a…I’m gonna say it–a hooker!’
Why, how utterly scandalous! Is she serious? In 2009, amid stories of genocide, torture, and war, she is incensed and offended by this? She was so bothered, she couldn’t even say ‘prostitute;’ she had to go straight for the dreaded h-word! Is this what we have come to call journalism? Name calling and righteous indignation?”
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"So what kind of message is it for kids, to tell them that taking risks will only ruin them? How is it anything other than utterly irresponsible to teach them this, rather than how to identify and assess risks worth taking versus those that are not? And how are our schools teaching them to view sexuality, when virtually all sex goes right at the top of the humongous list of always unconscionable risks?"
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"Word of another violent shooting in East Atlanta made the AJC today. I've read on a few local blogs today a debate about whether the shooting was justified self-defense. Reading some of the comments on AJC's ‘Talk of the Town’ blog discussing it just made me sick. There's obviously a lot of scared, angry, and hurt folks out there. Keeping yourself armed is one solution, but I really hope an Amadou Diallo type situation doesn't arise. That would really set shit off. Amber's post sums up a lot of what I'm feeling, though. Something is just not right."
Jan 17 2009 07:30 am | Category: del.icio.us links
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