Top 10 blog topics of 2008
Inspired by Griftdrift, I decided to make a list of the top blog stories/topics/themes of 2008 ’round the parts of the blogosphere I frequent. The great thing about blogging and top 10 lists? There’s no wrong answer, because of the diversity of the communities we move in. So here they are, in (mostly) chronological order:
1. Spitzer scandal
On March 10, the story broke about New York governor Eliot Spitzer being involved in a (get your Bingo cards ready) “prostitution ring.” The pro- sex workers’ rights blogs were all over it from the beginning, especially Bound, Not Gagged, which was the #1 resource for updates as they unfolded. Sex workers’ rights groups across the country and world issued statements and press releases supporting Kristen and denouncing Spitzer’s hypocrisy. Bloggers challenged the same-old, same-old coverage put forth by mainstream media – oversimplification, titillation, and reinforcement of stereotypes – as well as MSM’s clumsy and transparently insincere attempts to “reach out” to sex workers. Behind the scenes, via email, text messages, and Twitter DMs, sex workers and their allies wasted no time in organizing a media team, and gave last-minute interviews from far-flung locations. Even though the voices of sex workers’ rights advocates were largely overshadowed by the usual rehashed “arguments” about prostitution, for the first time we began to make a dent in the coverage, thanks in large part to the greater connectivity offered by social media.
2. Atlanta tornado
On March 14, a tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta. I first heard about it on Twitter; Dave, who was at the Flatiron at the time, sent this tweet: “Tornado just came through the flat iron. We’re all fine but it was insane.” Coverage via social media and citizen journalism was almost overwhelming in its immediacy and thoroughness. People were taking photos, shooting video,Twittering, etc. Because of the coverage from the people on the ground, mainstream media reluctantly had to admit that the tornado hit parts of town other than the business district – although their coverage of the damage in places such as Vine City was still miniscule compared to citizen journalism coverage.
3. Seal Press/WAM!2008 debacle
Some bloggers who are women of color went to WAM!2008 and had some complaints about it. Blackamazon said “fuck Seal Press” and the feminist blogosphere blew up. Seal Press responded and the bloggers Apostate refers to as the noisy group didn’t like the response, and the blogosphere blew up again. Then other publications wrote (poorly and inaccurately, for the most part) about what happened and the blogosphere blew up a third time.
I stayed out of this one for the most part, because I’m pretty sure my thoughts on the matter wouldn’t have been popular with most people on either opposing “side” of the brouhaha, and I didn’t feel like dealing with drama.
4. Amanda Marcotte, Brownfemipower, and “intellectual appropriation”
On the heels of the Seal Press girlcott, there was also Amandagate (have I mentioned I hate the use of -gate as a suffix for any scandal?), wherein some bloggers accused Amanda Marcotte of having plagiarized Brownfemipower. I stayed out of this one for the most part, too.
5. New UK porn law
In May, the UK passed a new law banning so-called “extreme” porn. Bloggers on both sides of the pond covered the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (of which the porn ban was a part) as it made its way through the Houses of Parliament. Protests were held and people of all stripes spoke out against the ban, but ultimately it passed. So you’d better be careful about what’s on your hard drive, even if you don’t live in the UK; this law sets a dangerous precedent.
6. Deborah Jeane Palfrey’s death
On May 1, the body of Deborah Jeane Palfrey (a.k.a. the DC Madam) was found at her mother’s home in Tarpon Springs, Florida, dead from an apparent suicide. I first heard the news on Twitter, from Melissa. As with the Spitzer scandal, Bound, Not Gagged was again the central location for information – and, in this case, mourning. An online memorial was created shortly after her death, and starting on the night of May 12, a 24-hour vigil of remembrance was held.
It’s hard to talk about death without slipping into what sounds like clichés and platitudes, even if they’re actually sincere, but what I want to say is: We might never know whether Palfrey actually took her own life or was murdered, but sex workers’ rights activists will keep asking the questions that need to be asked, in memory of her life which was needlessly cut short.
7. Kyle Payne
Kyle Payne is a self-professed anti-porn feminist ally, who “is particularly interested in men’s roles in confronting pornography and the rape culture” and served as a rape crisis counselor for four years. It just so happens that he was arrested for assaulting a female student at Buena Vista University. After Eleanor’s Trousers first mentioned it, the news spread like wildfire through the feminist blogosphere. In the weeks leading up to Payne’s sentencing, feminist bloggers stayed on top of the story and sparked a letter-writing campaign to the judge that would preside. Ultimately, Payne was sentenced to six months in jail. It should have been more; but feminist bloggers brought attention to a case that would have otherwise gone virtually unnoticed, and that’s a testament to the power of blogging.
8. The C-word: “Credibility”
So here’s what happened. Andre Walker, who is well-known in the Georgia blogosphere (if not necessarily well-respected), was exposed as having received money from Congressman David Scott’s campaign without having disclosed it. Because Andre wrote several favorable posts about Scott and was credentialed as a journalist by the Georgia Legislature, this is your classic conflict of interest problem. I have to admit I was nonplussed by the revelation, since I never understood why anyone would consider Andre’s blog a beacon of journalistic integrity to begin with. But although I said that with my tongue firmly in my cheek, it’s exactly those sorts of words – “integrity,” “credibility,” “ethics” – that were suddenly being tossed around by the likes of Ken Edelstein. Andre’s actions apparently served as an indictment of all bloggers (stop me if you’ve heard this one before). The debate flared for a while and then died back down, but it’s only a matter of time before the embers are stoked again. Unfortunately, the actions of a few bad apples reinforce the negative pre-conceived notions held by new media naysayers.
9. Pink slips in the pink ghetto
I know, the title for this one is cheesy. I should’ve just stuck with “Sex writers getting canned,” but somehow I couldn’t resist. All silly puns aside, though, the fact is traditional and online publications lost many important voices for positive sexuality this fall. The tanking economy and the precarious position of the media industry in particular was the inevitable explanation. Whether or not you agree that these cuts make sense from a bottom-line perspective, there’s no denying that the effect will be yet another obstacle to intelligent, nuanced discourse on sexuality. While I hate to see people I respect losing their jobs, I do think there’s an opportunity presented here, too. Since one thing that certainly won’t happen is that these people and others like them will simply shut up, I have hope that blogs and other forms of new media will continue to grow and fill the void left by traditional media institutions. Mainstream media might see smart sex content as too risky, but as advocates of positive sexuality we take risks every day.
10. Prop K
Proposition K was a San Francisco ballot initiative, but its importance was covered online regardless of geographic location. Unfortunately Prop K did not pass, but the fact that it was on the ballot at all and got 42% of the vote should be seen as positive gains. I know that doesn’t do anything to change the lives of vulnerable, criminalized sex workers facing real violence right now, and the people who voted “no” and/or vocally opposed it need to think very hard about what their “no” means. Yet this was a historical moment and hard as it is sometimes, I think it’s important for activists to remain positive (which also means taking care of ourselves). I don’t believe Prop K would have had nearly the support it did without the effects of the online community; and maybe next time those effects will be even greater.
Honorable mentions:
Steve Gower
Gower is a dangerous vigilante who terrorizes street-based sex workers – especially trans* workers and workers of color – but thinks of himself as some sort of neighborhood champion for midtown Atlanta. On the heels of the 5th International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, Creative Loafing published a predictably slanted (and infuriating) piece about Gower. For a short time there was outrage over this asshole in the local blogosphere as well as the larger sex workers’ rights blogosphere, but sadly Gower and his MNA sidekicks (see Peggy Denby’s latest stunt of racism and homophobia) are still terrorizing some of Atlanta’s most vulnerable populations.
SpaceyG booted from Peach Pundit
Speaking of predictable… in August, SpaceyG had her front-page posting rights on Peach Pundit revoked. Coverage in the local blogosphere had a particular tone that other stories about political bloggers lacked; it didn’t take a rocket scientist (and we even have one of those!) to smell the sexism. It manifested itself not only in SpaceyG’s initial ousting from Peach Pundit by overlord Erick Erickson, but also in the manner in which it was “covered” – downplaying the significance, blaming the victim, saying “nuh-uh!” – all the usual Bingo squares. C’est la vie, right women bloggers?
Bloggers taking blogging back
To close on a happy note, I started to notice this year that one by one, bloggers are getting fed up with the little boxes into which “digital entrepreneurs” and “social media experts” have tried to shove them. You can do this, you can’t do that, play by the rules if you want to be taken seriously! We’ve reached the tipping point, and more and more bloggers aren’t having it. We’re taking blogging back from those who have tried to co-opt it. My prediction for 2009? Even more momentum of this sentiment!
Election reflections
Now that it’s been a few days since the election, I want to mention a couple things that disappointed me. I didn’t want to go negative right away and kill the “OMG Obama awesome!!!!” buzz (which still lingers some for me; hell, ever since Wednesday my Tumblr has been mostly Obama pictures).
I was disappointed that California’s Prop 8 passed and San Francisco’s Prop K did not pass. Some of the news pundits were blaming black voters in California for passage of Prop 8, but I think that’s BS; my inclination is to think it has to do with low voter turnout in certain areas of the state.
One reason that amendments “defining marriage” are so disturbing to me is that you’re then using a state’s Constitution to restrict freedom of its citizens, rather than expand/protect their freedom.
Good posts about the outcome of Prop 8:
BlackGayBlogger: Finding the Words
The media would have you believe that the blame of the proposition’s passing lies squarely on the backs of Black Californians, which I find to not only be silly, but statistically impossible. I’m not sure of the exact number of Black voters who voted yes on Prop 8, but I can bet that there weren’t enough to make it a majority vote of just that ethnic group.
Sugarbutch Chronicles: post-election: on love
Despite that I do understand what people say about the threat of gay marriage, I don’t really understand. I just don’t. Why? Why why why are we so threatening? On bad days – like this one, when literally millions of people voted against my very personal right, my very personal decision to get married – my heart fills up with emotion and I feel like a little kid after another kid yells, “I HATE YOU!” My eyes well up. I didn’t do anything to you. Just – why?
As for Prop K, while I’m disappointed and frustrated that it didn’t pass, I
And what has your no vote done? Well, people: women, men, boys, girls, of all colors, of all sexual orientations, of all ages, cis and transgender, will still be involved in prostitution. In homes, in hotels, in cars, in massage parlors, in alleys, in clubs, everywhere. The sex trade will continue on, just as it always has. Whether there by choice, or by force, or because there are no other options, people of all kinds will still be selling sex, and people will still be buying it. You know it, and I know it. However, thanks to you, when a young woman is raped, when a young man is beaten, when any of these people get cut up, sodomized, violated, abused, mutilated, harassed, tortured or robbed, they will still have no where to go. They will still fear the law; they will still carry, along with the stigma of being a whore, the stigma of being a criminal. Their murders will still be written up with the tag NHI (No Humans Involved). You have not helped these people, why yes, real live human beings with thoughts, dreams and emotions just like you, at all. You’ve only hurt and marginalized them further.
Bound, Not Gagged also has a wealth of coverage, including this video from Margaret Prescod:
Most important take-away quote from the video, in my opinion: “Criminalization empowers pimps. I really want you to remember that.”
That’s probably all I’ll write about the election results for a while… I’ve got three other posts percolating, about 1) body image, 2) the value of blogging, and 3) pole dancing.
XXBN’s election night coverage
Reposting from the XXBN blog:
You are invited to attend XXBN’s Election Night Coverage.
When: November 4th, from 10 p.m. to Midnight (Eastern)
Where: On XXBN ~ listen live, talk in the chat room, & even be on-air!
Why: There’s this little thing called a presidential election, as well as lots of local elections going on that night and we’ll be bringing you the news, results and (fingers-crossed!) the laughs and sighs of relief. (If not we’ll be crying, ranting, barfing… possibly renting U-Hauls to cross a border…)
Who: Along with you, of course, Gracie Passette & Jill Brenneman will play host to the always fabulous Nina Hartley, Jessie Daniels, and Prop K Proponent, Maxine Doogan ~ as well as a slew of other sex positive & liberal folks.
What: We’ll be talking politics, propositions, and elections ~ on national and local levels.
Please join us ~ no need to RSVP, just be there.
Have something to say, pray, or, if you’re really on a rant, spray? You can even join the show by calling in at 646.200.3136.
Covering Prop K
Yes, it’s happening way over on the Left Coast, but it’s a pretty historic thing here in the U-S-of-A and has the potential to open up the dialogue about sex workers’ rights for many people who had never thought about it or had heard only one viewpoint.
From Sienna Baskin and Melissa Ditmore at RH Reality Check: “SF’s Proposition K: Changing the Landscape for Sex Workers”:
The assumption that criminalizing prostitution reduces its prevalence, or even more absurdly, helps those engaged in the sex trade, is fundamentally flawed. Prostitution arrests help no one, especially not the people arrested. Not only is arrest itself traumatic and often violent, it drives sex workers into a broken criminal justice system and comes with a host of collateral consequences. Sex workers who have been arrested may face the loss of their mainstream jobs, adverse impacts on their immigration status, eviction from their homes, or even problems retaining custody of their children. All of these factors may force them to return to the trade, if only to be able to pay fines and legal costs, or because their criminal record precludes them from securing other employment. Most people, when asked why they engage in sex work, cite money as the reason. Criminalization and arrests do nothing to address the lack of living wage alternatives to prostitution, which should be the real goal of anyone seeking to reduce its prevalence. In fact, criminalization is expensive, both for those arrested and for the city. One thing about Proposition K is that it gets right to the heart of the matter — the pocketbook — by prohibiting use of public funds to enforce laws against prostitution, it diverts money away from criminalizing and arresting sex workers and makes it available for more effective efforts to keep everyone safe and secure. These are compelling reasons, but the most compelling reason to stop arresting sex workers is to decrease their vulnerability to violence.
From Melissa Gira: “Keeping San Francisco Safe From Prostitutes?”:
A Yes vote on Prop K will not create an “unregulated” industry where sex workers are in more danger than they already face. Remember: the only publicly-funded body regulating the sex trade right now is law enforcement. In a City where 1 in 7 sex workers say that police have forced them to have sex with them to avoid arrest, cops have as much to gain from criminalization as pimps do. Those who should take the lead in regulating the sex industry — sex workers and social service professionals — cannot when they must compete with cops. San Francisco’s Director of STD Control & Prevention supports Prop K for this reason: if cops are using condoms against sex workers as evidence of intention to commit a crime, how does that keep anyone in San Francisco safe?
A Yes vote on Prop K is a vote for human rights. For the last thirty years, regional, national, and international networks of sex workers and sex worker advocacy organizations have been fighting to protect the civil rights of sex workers. This summer, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon joined sex workers in calling for the end to laws that discriminate against us by making us criminals. Prop K is just one step towards achieving that goal.
From Karly Kirchner at Change.org: “Stripping Down Proposition K – Why San Francisco Should Decriminalize Prostitution”:
Supporting Prop K does not mean that you advocate prostitution. Prop K is about supporting the rights and health of all San Francisco residents, including prostitutes. Prop K asks San Franciscans to look past their socially-conditioned attitudes about prostitution to the human lives that are impacted by prohibition.
Prop K decriminalizes the act of exchanging sex for money. Prop K does not hinder the ability of law enforcement to investigate any crime that is related to trafficking, child abuse or sexual assault.
Decriminalization does not mean that there are no regulations. For example, a carpenter is not ‘legalized’ but simply is not a criminal. There are plenty of regulations in place that protect the carpenter as a worker, the community in which the carpenter is working (such as materials, zoning, noise, etc) and a carpenter can apprentice, be trained or join a union. Under decriminalization, sex workers would have similar rights, but also have civil, labor and social guidelines to follow.
From Stacey Swimme at Bound, Not Gagged: “Opponents of Prop K Use Lies and Fear Tactics to Sway Voters”:
Prop K decriminalizes the act of exchanging sex for money between consenting adults. Any law related to sexual assault remains intact. This includes: laws that outlaw forced or coerced sex (rape/sexual assault), forced or coerced sex for money (rape, assault, sexual exploitation), laws that outlaw sex with minors (statutory rape and child sexual exploitation) and laws that outlaw moving an individual from place to place, including across national, county and state borders for the purpose of paid sex (trafficking as defined by TVPRA). Prop K DOES NOT prevent any form of investigation into the crimes mentioned above. In fact, if police were spending less time doing undercover operations to target adults engaging in prostitution privately, they could focus more of their attention on these very real crimes and other violent crimes.
From Existential Hedonist at Bound, Not Gagged: “My response to Farley on Freakonomics- Should prostitution be Decriminalized?”:
I know someone in the US who was trafficked as a runaway teen into a life of sadistic sexual slavery about 5 miles from her house. The ONE thing that kept her from going to the authorities was that she knew that prostitution was illegal, and her captor reassured her every day that if she ever dared to go to the police, she would be arrested and put in jail- which is exactly what happens in far too many cases. Prostitution WAS illegal then, and did her “criminal status” save her? How might things have been different if she knew she wouldn’t be arrested for going to the authorities?
From Rad Geek: “Ending State violence against women in prostitution in San Francisco”:
While I certainly agree that coerced sex trafficking is an evil that needs to be seriously addressed, government officials and government cops like Captain Al Pardini, who claim to be concerned about the welfare of women forced into prostitution, refuse to talk about ways to address the systemic issues that stop trafficked women from being able to come forward and speak out or seek help about what’s been done to them (like, the State’s violence against undocumented immigrants and the threat of deportation; like, the police’s refusal to take women in prostitution seriously or treat them like human beings), and instead they apparently feel perfectly comfortable insisting that their difficulties in investigating sexual slavery somehow justify laws that grant police the power to force any woman suspected of being in prostitution off the street and into police detention, under police scrutiny, to imprison her, to force her to pay punitive fines, to conduct arbitrary police raids to go on fishing expeditions for trafficked women (e.g., at “Asian massage parlors”) based on nothing other than racial profiling, and so forth, and so on, all in the name of facilitating the police’s attempts to investigate a different crime that affects some subset of the women being rousted up, shoved around, arrested, questioned, fined, imprisoned, and so on, and all in order to be able to force trafficked women into the “protection” of the criminal law, with or without their consent. This amounts to nothing more than an argument for ensuring that the State maintains and exercises plenary police state powers over all women suspected of being sex workers, for no reason other than the alleged necessity of protecting some women in the sex industry from violence, while ignoring the many crimes that women in prostitution are never able to report to the police for fear of being arrested, and while ignoring the immense violence against all women in the sex industry that is committed by cops themselves, as part and parcel of this policy of arrest and detention.
From La Libertine: “Morality and Prop K”:
The anti-Prop K argument that the ordinance will ignore abusive pimps and allow organized crime to gain a stronger hold on prostitution is absolutely ridiculous. The latter was used to try and keep the prohibition of alcohol going as well and similarly, this argument can be easily stripped. Legalizing the sale, production and consumption of alcohol didn’t put breweries, bars and saloons into the hands of the Mob; but the criminalization of alcohol most certainly did. Exactly where in the proposition does it say that offenses such as rape, kidnapping, slavery, coercion, theft, blackmail, murder or assault will be legal? Nowhere it does. In fact, because of the criminalization of prostitution, the law has implicitly made such actions legal by the simple fact that when a prostitute suffers violence the police and the courts look the other way. They do not investigate or prosecute violent offenders against prostitutes, therefore they essentially say to said offenders (and anyone thinking about it), “Oh, that’s okay. Carry on.”
Read all the posts in full and educate yourself about Prop K! And if you live in San Francisco, VOTE YES!
Update: More from Bound, Not Gagged: Wendy Vinagrette, “Decriminalization of Sex Work versus Human Trafficking”:
It is clear that the major argument against Prop K is the idea that the decriminalization of Sex Work would facilitate human trafficking. I have been in Belgrade, Serbia for the past week and a half, where I have met [and] interviewed a couple of different groups dealing with issues of human trafficking and sex work. Their experiences showed that decriminalization of sex work would potentially help minimize human trafficking.
Update #2: From Peridot Ash: “How I Will Vote on PROP K”:
Once again, the onus will be on the sex worker, but this time, rather than being blamed and shamed for our “choices,” we are being given a chance to improve the situation for ourselves as well as for less fortunate sex workers. It will be a huge responsibility to not let decriminalization result in law enforcement turning a blind eye to crimes committed against sex workers. But in the long run I think it will be worth it, so I’m going to vote YES for this, and if it passes, be ready to do my part to help other sex workers become aware of their rights.
Yes on Prop K, left coast people
Short performance by Sadie Lune, explaining why sex workers’ rights are important.
Via Melissa.