Talk to y'all on the flip side...or maybe tomorrow.
In the mean time, can I just say how pissed off I am? Wooo, Spitzer, everyone is ALL OVER sex work and prositition- from Amanda M (who, best as I can tell has never turned a trick in her life, to the NY Times, who are whores for certain! International Sex Workers Day? Crickets!
Oh, and there are sooooo many people who just need to fuck off and shut their mouths. I am pondering a new policy...if you've never done sex work or been prostituted...you need to just shut the fuck up. You are not Judge Dredd, you are not the law.
In fact, you want to know what a lot of sex workers say, even unhappy ones? "I hate peoples assumptions about me"
xoxo
That Happy Whore...
Who is actually far more often Pissed Off than "Happy".
Humm, who to thank for that...
Friday, March 14, 2008
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13 comments:
Have a good, productive and relaxing trip. I hope there is some aspect of break to this.
Did you see Dacia on CNN yesterday? She kicked ass. If I knew how to rip video from my Tivo to the computer, I would post it. Also, this LA Times op-ed doesn't suck.
Have fun in Florida!
Ren, there's a thread on Feministe that's not bad... about whether a sex worker can be a feminist.... anyway, it's not the usual "one size, fits all" approach to sex work. i'm afraid one of my favorite bloggers is going to stroke out if she doesn't see something positive!
Ruth
"if you've never done sex work or been prostituted...you need to just shut the fuck up."
It's funny. I was just about to write a post about how all men need to get out of the prostitution discussion. It's bad enough hearing the idiocy from women; but men who think they have some 'right' to an opinion on this subject should go fuck themselves.
No, not all prostitutes are victims. Women who say that are terrible, but men!? I just want to punch them in the face. And that goes for the men who ignore that some prostitutes are victims and claim prostitution is a victimless crime. I want to punch them, too.
When I hear shit from Dr. Laura or Farley playing madonna/whore games, I get mad, but not nearly as mad as when men say it.
But where does that leave those of us who have been prostituted and still want people who buy sex criminalised?
Though I do agree with the assumption thing, it never occurs to anybody ever that I was prostituted. Because that obviously doesnt happen to women who are (now) educated and middle class.
"It's funny. I was just about to write a post about how all men need to get out of the prostitution discussion. It's bad enough hearing the idiocy from women; but men who think they have some 'right' to an opinion on this subject should go fuck themselves"
Given that there are plenty of men around who have sexually prostituted themselves at one time or another, your position would seem to be the expression of sexual prejudice and nothing more. But don't let that put you off writing your post.
Hey Elaine,
I'm a man who has been a sex worker most of his adult life. I've been an activist and advocate for sex workers' rights since 1975. I'm a co-founder of the most successful sex-worker organized and supported healthcare foundation in the world.
So, do I need to get out of the prostitution discussion? Should I go fuck myself because I have an opinion on this subject and happen to be male, even though my opinion is based on a lifetime in nearly every branch of sex commerce? And no, I have never been a pimp and I have been paid directly for sex acts, so you may not marginalize me as parasitic hanger-on. I've paid some dues that might surprise even you.
And no, I don't think there are no victimized prostitutes, but I do believe prostitution is a victimless crime because it isn't a crime at all and should never have been classified as such. You want to punch me in the face for that?
I guess you feel you don't need any male supporters to help make sex work better for women. You can just do it all by yourselves.
Fortunately for all concerned, I don't agree and I'll no more be silenced by you than by Gail Dines and Bob Jensen.
And anonymous, your personal desire to see sex buyers criminalized does not take precedence over the human cost to other women of such retrogressive ideas. Check out what Swedish sex workers, linked from this blog just a few threads down, think of that great idea.
So where does that leave you? On the opposite side from every sex worker who hasn't had your good fortune and still needs to make a living in what is already a very hard business.
I expect ignorant comments like these on some sites, but when they crop up here, that's truly a dark day.
Ahhhh...Elaine:
I don't have anywhere near the activism of Ernest nor the experience of being a sex worker..but I DO happen to have an opinion about prostitution and sex work being legitimate and deserving of approval, or at least, destigmatization. I guess that I should also "shut the fuck up", too; since my penis gets in the way of my opinions??
Actually, NO ONE should ever "shut the fuck up" when it comes to having opinions; you are as entitled to yours as I or Ernest or Ren or even Melissa Fairley is entitled to theirs. You don't have to be a victim of rape to support those who have suffered that horrible crime; and you sure as all hell don't have to be a sex worker or even a female to give support and solidarity to sex workers' rights.
On the other hand, though, just because you are entitled to your opinion doesn't mean that we can't call it out when we see bullshit...and guess what, Elaine: your opinion expressed here is nothing less than prime, freshly dropped crap.
Does your statement mean that you will be sending the likes of Robert Jensen and Richard Leader (two MEN who happen to support your antiprostitution and antiporn positions) their walking papers?? What does that make them...gender traitors??? Women possessing male bodies?? Transsexuals???
Oh...and although there may be "victims" to the extent that a married man doing hookers or escorts on the side without informing his wife or SO might do harm to their personal relationship (but the same could be said of adultery for free, too); there is no crime being done by men and women seeking consensual and safe sex, whether through free or paid encounters...and there should be NO law restricting that, either,other than the minimal concerns of safety and mutual consent.
Oh..and to Anony #2 with her "but what about ME??" smack: Well, dearie, that would probably leave you with plenty of other blogs and venues where you can vent your spleen about how criminalizing people who are willing to pay for consensual sex (never to be confused with rape, which remains a crime whether money is exchanged or not) will soothe your fears about being "prostituted".
And yes, Anony #2: women who are middle class and educated DO actually get into sex work....a few are abused and degraded by their personal experiences, but others are actually empowered. As Ren said, there is NO universal experience, and ALL experiences, whether good, bad, empowering, debasing, or indifferent, should be respected and judged on their individual merits. We on the pro-sex side actually respect those who don't have glowing experiences...can your side say the same???
As a former erotic actress once said when faced with such shallow responses to her opinions as this: "If you don't like the answers, don't ask the questions." This is a pro-sex work/pro-sex worker blog by a proud sex worker and her supporters; if you don't like what she says and does; well..there are other blogs.
Anthony
"Given that there are plenty of men around who have sexually prostituted themselves at one time or another, your position would seem to be the expression of sexual prejudice and nothing more."
Annnnd... Scene!
Attention Ren:
I don't know who Babya is, nor do I ever want to, but the link to the video clip needs to go now. It's yet another non-2257-compliant appropriation of someone's porn to make what is obviously an anti-porn statement, but it puts you in jeopardy by making you part of the chain of custody.
Bet the cowardly asshole who linked to it watched it about ten times before using it to make his/her slime-ball drive-by.
Carol Queen has a name for people like Babya - absexuals - those who derive indirect sexual gratification from dwelling on sexual behavior they find repugnant.
Just another kind of perv to me, and unlike many pervs I regard and respect, this one is a hypocrite who pretends to despise something as an alibi for obsessing over it.
Anyway, block that link as soon as you can. It says nothing at all about the topic and plenty about the poster, who anonymously endangers you while feeling superior about this heroic blow against the evil of sex work.
I say, track down the IP and ban this sucker, after posting whatever email was used to sign the fuckwad up.
ernest: noted, thank you. i rarely click to see where "name" links go, i shall start doing so.
My pleasure, Ren. Happy to have your back.
This shit happens to us all the time.
Most of it is mere span, meant to send our visitors to the front doors of porn pay sites. it's easy to spot and the perps are easy to ban. Like burglars, if a place looks well-defended, they move on in search of easier prey.
Other times, overzealous fans with no clue how the system works or the dangers to which the expose us, link to explicit images of Nina or other performers they like. I just take down the links and warn them and that does the trick.
But haters are a different matter. They re-up under new usernames, change email accounts, borrow other people's computers, and pull much more sophisticated tricks I'm not about to reveal here for fear of encouraging them, all for the purpose of getting people who agree with us to look at the worst examples that can be dug up in order to create guilt by association and drive away anyone who might be conflicted on the issues under discussion.
In the process, they put us at risk of federal prosecution, which probably doesn't keep them up nights anyway. They claim they've been silenced every other minute, but that doesn't stop them from doing things that might get us silenced for real and for a long time.
Is it not interesting how useful pornography is to those who oppose it? And is not entertaining for people who can say whatever they want at no risk to themselves to claim that they're the ones being censored when we're the ones who can be sent to jail for misfiling a single sheet of paperwork?
Oh, I did note that the clip linked to in this case made repeated references to the "poor, victimized" female performer being vegan. That must have really touched a nerve with ... somebody around here. I don't think you'd have to look too hard to find IPs that matched up on this page, even though the names may be different, or there may be no names used at all.
You'd be surprised at some of the IP matches my admin searches have turned up, including at least one "progressive" who has posted under at least six usernames and a couple of different genders.
These folks think we're pond scum and have no hesitation about using any means against us. At least as far as I'm concerned, the feeling is mutual. I don't propose this as a model for others, but after all the hacks, attacks and general bullshit we've put up with, these days i drop the million-pound shit-hammer on any new poster at the first sign of rudeness. And I make it very, very difficult for that individual to get back in.
Funny, but I didn't notice any Babya link....must have flown by in the Internet ether before Ernest spotted it and Ren nuked it.
But I have noticed some of our more famous trolls around here using such "name links" to spam this blog with their particular racist tripe. ByrdBrain (nee birdeye) was infamous for some of his name links going to some pretty nasty anti-Semitic and antifeminist sites.
Must be a Blogger thing, because I see it in no other system.
But, way to point it out and nuke it at the source, Ernest and Ren.
Anthony
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