So here’s an interesting story: The creator of the popular I Fucking Love Science Facebook page recently got a Twitter account.
Oh, I know that doesn’t sound all that interesting, but here’s the thing: When she got the Twitter account, she revealed to her Facebook fans that she was, in fact, a she.
This apparently shocked and confused a large portion of her readership. A … Woman? But … but … SCIENCE?! But there she was, with a woman’s name — Elise Andrew — and a woman’s face and everything.
Over on Hello Giggles, Julia Gazdag — also rumored to be a woman — reports on the reaction to Elise Andrew’s Big Reveal. Some chick at Reuters also did a piece on it.
(Thanks, Elizabeth, for pointing me to this story.)
I’ve noticed that too. I consider myself sex-positive, but that’s more about reaching a goal where women are free to express and enjoy sexuality at their preferred level, without being punished for it. It’s impossible to look at porn, sex work or kink without seeing rape culture’s influence on it all, and I think there’s value in disentangling those institutions. They certainly aren’t things to be accepted uncritically.
But, but… the hivemind! The Feminist Hivemind! How can we be having discussions about different opinions and debates about the best approach for feminists to deal with culture and society without undermining the Hivemind? It’s almost like the Hivemind doesn’t even exist, and dissent and disagreement are actually valued within the movement. But that can’t be true, because girls suck at science, or something!
Okay, ow. I think I sprained my brain on that one….
Yeah. I find this a really difficult subject because there are problems to overcome, but you can’t overcome them by a) handwaving or b) demonising. I see more of the problems as a result of patriarchal capitalism to be honest. A lot of them could be overcome (or made better) by unionising, creating proper worker’s rights and by creating a proper welfare state (with proper support networks) so people don’t have to choose between work that is in excess of what they signed up to do, or more dangerous, etc. and not being able to pay rent that month.
Please also note this is my opinion on all jobs, not just sex-work, and I’m fully in support of sex workers (and all workers) making a free choice on how they live and work.
*amendment*
I wouldn’t include kink in that point of view, since it’s not work, it’s a… I dunno, hobby? Unsure of the best word to use but there’s no economic transaction as an outside influence on it.
This is the main reason I stopped even marginally liking the President. Howard Dean was my idol back in the day and his fifty state strategy was instrumental in getting the House and Senate back in 2006, massive state lege controls and Obama’s victory in 2008. So his thank you was to be kicked out in favor of Corporate Man Tim Kaine RIGHT BEFORE REDISTRICTING was to occur.
2010 was the year that we needed to have as many Democrats in state leges as possible. Because yeah, the Dems redistrict in their favor but nothing like the Republicans do. (Look at PA’s map to see that much.) So if we had majority Dems or really close Houses at the state level, Congress would be back in the Democrats hands and we could get something done.
/rant over
Sorry, I am political and but for the fact that Arizona has the independent redistricting commission, we would be in a world of hurt (more so then we are now with that asshole Kavanaugh doing his anti-trans bills.)
I think part of it is because over time the citizens get to know someone who is in office because of events and the occasional communication with the office.
@freemage- If I had my druthers, all campaigns would be a line item in the federal budget and nobody would be allowed to donate money to campaigns. Time yes, money no.
@princessbonbon- Yeah, I think there is a certain value in incumbency (not always, but sometimes) as a career politician learns the “tricks of the trade” and is able to build up social capital in the halls of power. Of course, the system would work much better if an incumbent was more directly responsible to zir constituents rather than lobbying money…
I’m in nothing like an appropriate mental state to be commenting here, but!
thenatfantastic — I think the major difference between sex work and kink, even paying kink (eg paid dominatrix) is that no one is forced to do sex work or starve. Not that all non-kinky sex workers are forced into it by economics, addiction, pimps, trafficking, etc, but afaik no one’s really forced into kink sex work that way. Basically, I see it more like a high end call girl // escort versus street walking. Maybe I’m mistaken and people do freely choose the latter sort of sex work, but the extreme danger factor, risk of pimps, etc…I haz doubts.
And yeah, there are, of course, all the issues with capitalism in general and being forced to work jobs without insurance (well, in the US anyways), jobs that don’t pay a living wage, etc. the need for better worker protections apply to all jobs though.
Sorry if this wall of text is all wrong and offensive and shit, if I just inserted my foot in my mouth it’s sitting there with the Seroquel fog and Ativan breakfast, neither is good for my ability to make sense. Sorry.
I agree that discussions about sex work need to walk the line between “demonizing” and “uncritically accepting.” Especially when feminist discussions of sex work gets dominated by the most privileged sex workers and a dollop of I-choose-my-choice, it’s easy to lose sight of the very real problems with both the work itself and its incarnation in our culture.
Did… did we just have a discussion about sex work without a flame war and bitter infighting?!
Go team! *high fives Argenti and Bagelsan*
Oh gods that anti-trans* bill. Previous version was a fine for trans* people caught using the bathroom for the gender not on their birth certificate. I checked and yes, they require surgery cal transition to get that changed. Current version, afaik, is to prevent repercussions against businesses who prevent trans* people from using the bathroom not on their birth certificate.
1) perceived gender = allowable bathroom, wtf?
1b) if you “pass” you can go pee; if not, hold it (yeah “passing” is a dicey term, since passing as what you are is fucked up)
1b.1) if not you can be humiliated by having to show your new birth certificate showing that you’ve had surgery
1c) cis people who aren’t performing gender to a high enough standard (for easy example butch lesbians) — going to get asked for their birth certificate?
1d) well I guess genderqueer people who don’t want surgery are fucked, either hold it, or present as the gender on your birth certificate (annoyingly, I already do for more or less that reason)
2) What. The. Fuck. Is. With. Arizona. And. Birth. Certificates?!
2b) no seriously guys, this shit isn’t cool, knock it off
2b.1) seriously, checking birth certificates to prevent a trans* woman who’s not had surgery yet // can’t afford it // doesn’t want it, preventing her from using the women’s room isn’t even remotely going to stop actual rapists from raping in bathroom
2b.1a) stranger rape is rare anyways
2b.2) wtf is with bathroom panic? You’re going to discriminate, clearly, why get so pissy about bathrooms?! Ban shoe stores from selling shoes without a birth certificate. Come on guys, just reductio ad absurdum your shit already! (Note, that’d never hold up in higher court is my point; well, and transphobia = bathroom panic = HUH?)
2c) who the fuck thought up the idea of requiring hospitals to get paperwork before treating, it’d be a damned shame if they saved someone who wasn’t here legally!
3) I hope the legislative bodies down there have to replant cactī. Perhaps as some sort of preserving nature project. Of course, one unisex bathroom will be provided.
4) yes I’m fucking pissed.
…we’ve started one anyways…go team “reasonable discussions”!!
As a friend pointed out “you do not go to a doctor who has no training do you? Why would you want a politician in office who has never done any politicking?” Sometimes it works out well when someone who has never been involved in politics before gets a major job like Senator or Governor but often it is an utter disaster. Of course we happen to be biased because we are both career politicians (having served or run for more than one office.)
Where my problem comes in is the fact that not even when you have money as a factor kind of controlled like with Arizona’s other major political reform that make everyone except Republicans happy-publicly financed elections-you get the stupid Supreme Court trashing it because apparently giving people more free speech is bad if it does not mean private business has overwhelming odds.
Argenti Aertheri-the version I saw was very sloppily written and appeared to have been written by Center for Arizona Policy’s Cathi Herrod who freaked the fuck out over Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance claiming it was going to let scary men who will dress up like women to get into little kids bathrooms and you know what that means! (It means that Cathi Herrod needs to stop eating ergot, that is what that means.)
I think it could be overturned on constitutional grounds if the Governor does not veto it though-she probably would since she has been showing her independence lately.
Incumbency is often protected by redistricting–as the demographics shift, the borders of the district will mutate to accommodate the incumbent. I agree that (for instance) term limits are generally a bad idea–I WANT the good people of Minnesota to keep sending Al Franken back to the Senate, dammit. I just want him to continue to have to earn it, too.
Princessbonbon: I want to believe the Dems would be better about redistricting than the Republicans, but… I live in Illinois. We’re almost as bad as PA, in pretty much the opposite direction. We desperately need an independent commission, but those are extraordinarily difficult to install.
Is the Arizona anti-trans bill actually looking like it might pass? The last I’d heard, it was generally being seen as little more than a publicity stunt by the rep of one particularly whack-nut district….
*high fives thenatfantastic back*
???? News to me! I thought he just upped and disappeared.
2b.2) wtf is with bathroom panic? You’re going to discriminate, clearly, why get so pissy about bathrooms?!
Back in the ’80s, the ERA failed to pass largely because of panic that equal rights for women would lead to unisex bathrooms. This is apparently serious business for some people.
Oh shit, there is a hearing on the anti-trans bill.
I think it is in hearing room five http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9
@Falconer: let me polish off my google-fu and see if I can’t find you the thread where he went bye-bye.
It was a striker amendment to this bill so it is possible that it will pass. I have to go to some function with a bunch of state lege members tonight so I can ask around to see if it will.
Here was when permanent moderation started.
And… I can’t find the comment that is bright in my memory, where David notes that he had perma-moderated NWO and was going to stop letting his comments through.
Did that only happen in my head?
Here is a post where David can’t remember if just perma-moderated Owly or banned him.
So I might be mis-remembering.
I could swear somewhere in the violentacrez/Amanda Todd thing where everybody was just sick to their stomach with it NWO came in all gleeful. It’s a very vivid memory. But apparently it didn’t happen.
@Howard: That first link goes to a comment where David says he’s going to not let anything from NWO through for a while unless they’re links to cats on YouTube.
Then the next comment from Owly is a kitty video. I wonder if he said something awful and David went back and edited the comment, or if Owly genuinely posted it as part of testing his new boundaries?