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Why Public Utilities Will Always Rule by Anthony on January 6th, 2009
Remember when I was talking about how Internet access could be so much less expensive?? Well, along comes Lafayette (Louisiana) Public Utilities and their "Fiber to the Home" project to wire up the city-parish with high-speed fiber-based media to prove my point.
The Tuesday Night SmackChron Sex Work Primer For Jan. 6, 2009 by Anthony on January 6th, 2009
Your assignment for tonight:
1) Go over to Ren Ev's blog and educate yourself.
Male Sexual "Entitlement"?? Or Just Simple Desire?? by Anthony on January 6th, 2009
OK....I still owe y'all a 2008 Blogging Year in Review post, and that will be forthcoming...but there's something that I just have to get off my chest that is nagging my ass pretty good.
Caroline Shepherd over at Better Burn That Dress, Sister (and formerly of Uncool) has been fighting the good fight pretty hard lately on debunking all the crap that she has been taking on the British side of the Great Big Pond over the recent attempts to change for the worse laws concerning sex work in Great Britain. She is currently running a petition to get the British Parliament to delay discussion and enaction of various proposed anti-sex work legislation until a new government can be elected; if you are British, you are strongly encouraged by me to go there and sign it.
Caroline has also been all over the Internet lately -- guest posting in places like Sex In The Public Square, Shiraz Socialist, Feministe, and The F-Word -- on the negative effects of what is known as the "Swedish Model" form of legislation that seeks to eliminate prostitution and other forms of sex work through criminalizing and shaming exclusively the men who patronize such services while leaving the women basically untouched. Problem is, wiping out their professions by eliminating and criminalizing the "demand", as Caroline so aptly notes and backs up by testimony from active sex workers themselves, not only does NOT significantly reduce the harm to those sex workers who remain in the business, but it actively supports the broader system of sexual shame and sexual reaction which fuels the most violent and abusive practices to begin with.
Needless to say, the radicalfeminist defenders of the Swedish Model were out in force to defend their favored legislation, and as usual, they brought out all the usual and all too typical memes about how they aren't really against sex workers, but against the evil MEN who "sell women's bodies" and otherwise abuse and degrade women merely for "male sexual entitlement". A seminal example that touches all the bases of the usual boilerplate follows (this from the thread from The F-Word courtesy of "Cara", who responds en blanc to Caroline, Renegade Evolution, and SnowdropExplodes, who all commented earlier in the thread defending Caroline's work):
[posted by Cara to The F-Word on 1/6/06 @ 8:53 PM London time]
Renegade Evolution - I've never been a cleaner either, so I can't possibly comment on whether a cleaner is exploited or not...? [responding to Ren Ev's comment here; See also Ren's post to her own blog here]
Caroline - oooh, yes, a union for the protection of pimps and other abusers, how convincing.
And - because it *is* unthinking. [responding to Caroline's remarks here]
What part of: prostitution. will. not. be. a crime. do you all not understand?
'As for, "all she has to do is is show she is willingly doing sex work", this is no protection at all for the client - after all, whatever proof is shown might be faked by an abusive pimp, and Jacqui Smith's proposed new law means that however convincing the evidence shown to persuade the client that the sex worker is willing, he is still liable - there is NO room for "reasonable belief" or any other such caveat. He is taking the same risk whether she "shows willing" or not.'
This is rubbish. The burden of proof in law is on the prosecution. It would have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the sex worker *was* coerced.
I have not seen any convincing argument for, or evidence that this new law would in fact harm sex workers. As I said in my post, they have *more* redress to the law, and less fear of being prosecuted themselves.
And there *are* no 'decent' men who visit prostitutes, because decent men don't. There are merely greater and lesser degrees of abusiveness and misogyny. Don't try to tell me that there would suddenly be an explosion in abuse of prostitutes by nasty customers. There isn't a binary division between 'good' and 'bad' johns.
As for demand falling, *I don't care*. In fact if it leads to some sex workers exiting the trade, great, I'm ecstatic.
Those women who willingly work in the sex trade, by definition, have a choice and skills, and can find some other kind of work. I don't have a problem if they eventually decide to do so. *I* don't have a right to a job if demand for my skills falls, due to economic or other reasons, nor does anyone; you find something else, that's life.
If you are going to argue that many sex workers love it and are making a free choice and all, and are not abused, these are the 'high end' girls who can pick and choose customers, work out of their own home or somewhere else safe anyway. I do not see that their clients would suddenly all run away in fear - by definition, most johns aren't the type of people who care about what the law says overly anyway. They won't be forced to go from servicing nice polite clean johns in a warm flat for large sums of money, to selling blow jobs for a tenner on the street!
As for the police investigating, don't make me laugh - in the UK they often don't come if your home has been burgled.
It's the addicts, the desperate, those who have probably been abused in childhood or by partners, those with few qualifications and so on, as MB says. who I care about.
Legalisation would only condemn them to continue in the trade. However sanitised you make brothels, you've still got to admit it is mostly the desperate and vulnerable women who would be attracted to this line of work. Prostitution is inextricably linked to drug trade and other organised crime.
Making sex work acceptable would only reduce their chances of getting out, hey, nothing wrong with sex work, so it's easy to say there's nothing wrong with drug addicted, vulnerable women being...
The Year In Smack (And Other Things) 2008: The Audacity of...Well, Audacity by Anthony on January 1st, 2009
OK....I've just finished watching a ton of college football as well as the required Rose Bowl halftime show, so now I can chill as promised and give you my personal reflections of the year that just passed....that is, 2008.
It was the best of times: Tiger Woods using the PGA Championships to show that he can play with serious pain on one knee (and Rocco Mediate showing that even slightly less mortal men can push the limit, too, and be graceful in defeat). The New York Football Giants show the New England Patriots that 18-0 perfection is only good if you can finish the job in the game that matters. Michael Phelps turns the Olympic swimming pool into his own personal video game/gold mine. Britney Spears proves that you can come all the way back from the depths and survive. Miley Cyrus grows beyond Hannah Montana and shows a human side to teenage celebrity. And, Barack Obama put the exclamation point to the notion that people of color can't make it to the White House: "Oh, hell yes, we can!!!"
It was also, and mostly it was, the worst of times, too: Deadly earthquake in China. Hurricanes Gustav and Ike devastate Cuba, then leave their mark on Louisiana and Texas (and I had a nice front row seat for both of them, too). Everything from tornado outbreaks in January to snow in Vegas, Portland and South Louisiana in December (the latter followed not a week later by temps reaching the 80's). Terrorist bombings in Mubuai in Pakistan and in Somalia. Russia invades the Republic of Georgia (not our state). The Middle East remained a powder keg (the war of smack between the ruling Israeli government and the Islamic group Hamas simmered for most of the year, then exploded when Israel decided to drop their bombs on Gaza late last week). And, of courst, the usual lunacy of death in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Then there were the distractions of the dog-and-pony show that we call celebrity journalism: Britney's meltdown and resurrection. Eliot Spitzer getting caught with his hands down Ashley Dupree's panties and getting run in disgrace out of his New York State governor's seat. Louisiana US Senator David Vitter getting caught in Deborah Palfrey's black book as Diaper Fetish Man...yet he didn't lose his seat. Yet. (Ms. Palfrey paid the cost, though with first her freedom through getting convicted of fraud in running prostitution, and then with her life through suicide.) Orenthal J. Simpson got a little too cute for himself, and it came back to bite his ass hard with a conviction that will put him under the jail for the rest of his life. (Maybe that will finally allow Fred Goldman enough comfort that he can finally back away from the camera and rest in peace.) Heath Ledger gave up the ghost, but not before giving us the ultimate going away performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight Returns. (Good thing, too, considering how much the 2008 movie season sucked.) Sad to say, so did Paul Newman, Bettie Page, Suzanne Pleshette, George Carlin, Issac Hayes, Bernie Mac, Eartha Kitt, Charlton Heston, Sidney Pollack, Tim Russert, Mildred Loving (of the historic Supreme Court interracial marriage ruling Loving vs. Virginia), Cyd Charrise, and Madelon "Toots" Durham, who raised our President-to-be...among other notable passing. Not so notable, of course are the 1,500+ men and women who lost their lives in Iraq fighting a war based on lies and falsehoods. (I would love to add the passing of Jesse Helms to that list, but people going straight to Hell don't deserve the same props.)
Politically speaking, 2008 definitely was the year of the surreal: At first everyone was betting on Rudy "A Noun, A Verb, and 9/11" Giuliani to battle Hillary Clinton for the Presidency...but then this upstart junior Senator from Illinois had to mess things up and destroy the coronation. At least for Hillary, though, she was able to hang on too the end, and got a plumb prize of Secretary of State in the new Obama administration and a leg up on 2016. Unfortunately for Rudy, on the other hand, he still simply wasn't good enough for the Karl Rove "Base" of the GOP, who then turned their support to "The Maverick" from Arizona, Senator John McCain...and then destroyed him by inducing him to select Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate. (Ah, Sarah Palin....dissecting her impact would take an entire blog entry...but I will do my best with the abbreviated version later.) At least Obama's pick of Delaware Senator Joe Biden was a bit more fruitful...even with Biden's tendency to never see a microphone he didn't like. From then on, it all went downhill for the GOP: the meltdowns of Caribou Eva Braun, the "suspended campaign" move by McCain that backfired on him when the GOP base rejected his plan to bail out the banks; the Ashley Todd attempt to mine Tawana Brawley and fake an assault by evil Obama backers (right down to the reverse "B" scrawled on her face), to the epic FAIL that was Samuel Joesph "Joe the Plumber" Werzelbacher; to McCain's propensities for not connecting his brain with his mouth...but mostly, it was the economy going into the toilet and McCain getting tagged with the legacy of George H. W. Bush as the Worst. President. Ever. that sealed his fate. Well....that, and the fact that Barack Obama wowed people over with his charisma, his deft knowledge of policy, and his huge bankroll ($ 600 MILLION spent on the campaign). The result: a devastating near landslide victory, and the Democratic Party coming pretty close to getting a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and getting an overwhelming majority in the House. Whether that will convert to genuine change or signal the mere changing of The Old Boss for The New Old Boss remains to be seen.
However, as sweet as the Obama victory (or rather, the ass kicking of Dubya/McCain/Palin) was, it was tainted big time by...
The Bottom Line On Gaza (Or, A Tale of Two Terrorist Groups) by Anthony on January 1st, 2009
Let us cut through the bullshit and get to the heart of what is happening in Gaza, shall we???
On the one hand, we have Hamas, a reactionary fundamentalist Islamic outfit (but an outfit that was elected to power there through elections recognized by international treaty), reduced to firing weak rockets into Israel proper as a means to oppose the savage occupation and blockade of their region.
On Male Sexual "Entitlement"?? Or Just Simple Desire?? by Anthony Kennerson on January 6th, 2009
In-freakin'-WORD, Aspasia. In spades.
Of course, folk like Cara will say that they are soooooooo deeply concerned about the women....as long as they play the desired role of helpless damsels needing SuperRADFEMGirlz to step in and SAVE them from the horrible PENIS MONSTERS!!!!!! But, if those women simply state that they can save themselves, thank you very much, but we could use a helping hand or two to assist us....out come the chants of "Privileged tool of the Patriarchy!! Cumdumpster!!! WHORRRREEEEEE!!!!!ONEHUNDREDELEVEN!!!!!!111" and the hand turns into a wagging finger of disapproval. And it allows them to be full participants in the existing system of sexual oppression while claiming deniability.
Too bad about those other stresses in your life...hope you are feeling better.
Anthony ...
On Male Sexual "Entitlement"?? Or Just Simple Desire?? by Aspasia on January 6th, 2009
nThe whole canard held by folks like Cara of "no john is ever a decent person" is the other side of the coin of "no whore is ever a decent person".
On The Year In Smack (And Other Things) 2008: The Audacity of...Well, Audacity by Anthony Kennerson on January 2nd, 2009
**MESSAGE TO ANONYMOUS WINGNUT SPAMMER:
Sorry, but the US Surpreme Court has already ruled that Obama is a bona fide US citizen, and he will take over the office of President as duly voted by the people and the Electoral College.
On The Year In Smack (And Other Things) 2008: The Audacity of...Well, Audacity by Anonymous on January 2nd, 2009
nMESSAGE TO EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS:nWhen counting the electoral votes, either Congress finds by 1/8/09 that Obama, not being an Article II “natural born citizen”, fails to qualify as President whereupon Biden becomes the full fledged President under 3 USC 19 (free to pick his own VP such as Hillary) or thereafter defers to the Supreme Court to enjoin Obama’s inauguration with Biden becoming only Acting President under the 20th Amendment until a new President is duly determined.
On Responding to NoPornNorthHampton: by Recent URLs tagged Antiporn - Urlrecorder on January 1st, 2009
[...] recorded first by WilliamSledd on 2008-12-21→ Responding to NoPornNorthHampton: [...]...
: Doing a quick test of the wall... Anthony
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