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My name is mokie, and I am ambivalent.
Saturday, 24 September 2011 01:36 pmPet peeve of the moment: people are not allowed to feel ambivalent about the sex industry.
Do you feel human interest in sex is perfectly natural? That porn is not destroying society? That women are perfectly capable of being exotic dancers, porn actresses, even prostitutes, without also being damaged or drug-addled or desperate or any of the other clichés? Then you're an evil pervert who's justifying misogyny and sexual slavery (let those hookers go!), and a poor feminist to boot.
Do you worry that the sex industry does, thanks in part to societal taboos, enable and encourage human trafficking? Do claims by some established actresses in the industry that they were 'held on set' until they agreed to perform certain acts elicit concern rather than disbelief? Do you suspect that most women working as exotic dancers, porn actresses, and prostitutes maybe aren't in it for the politics and don't find it all that 'empowering'? Then you're an evil prude who's justifying misogyny and sexual slavery (let those housewives go!), and a poor feminist to boot.
Can't there be a middle ground in which...
- we don't downplay the pimping of teenage girls by insisting that's child abuse and not really sexual?
- we don't insist that any woman who steps onto a stage and takes off her top must have some sort of sexual trauma in her past?
- we don't respond to any story on underage strippers or prostitute murders with kneejerk lecturing and blanket generalizations on how sex work is empowering?
- we don't respond to any story on the renewed interest in burlesque with kneejerk lecturing and blanket generalizations on how naughty shows, comics, etc., only encourage the objectification of women?
Do you feel human interest in sex is perfectly natural? That porn is not destroying society? That women are perfectly capable of being exotic dancers, porn actresses, even prostitutes, without also being damaged or drug-addled or desperate or any of the other clichés? Then you're an evil pervert who's justifying misogyny and sexual slavery (let those hookers go!), and a poor feminist to boot.
Do you worry that the sex industry does, thanks in part to societal taboos, enable and encourage human trafficking? Do claims by some established actresses in the industry that they were 'held on set' until they agreed to perform certain acts elicit concern rather than disbelief? Do you suspect that most women working as exotic dancers, porn actresses, and prostitutes maybe aren't in it for the politics and don't find it all that 'empowering'? Then you're an evil prude who's justifying misogyny and sexual slavery (let those housewives go!), and a poor feminist to boot.
Can't there be a middle ground in which...
- we don't downplay the pimping of teenage girls by insisting that's child abuse and not really sexual?
- we don't insist that any woman who steps onto a stage and takes off her top must have some sort of sexual trauma in her past?
- we don't respond to any story on underage strippers or prostitute murders with kneejerk lecturing and blanket generalizations on how sex work is empowering?
- we don't respond to any story on the renewed interest in burlesque with kneejerk lecturing and blanket generalizations on how naughty shows, comics, etc., only encourage the objectification of women?
