QotD: “The Last Insult”

Anti-Porn Feminists

On 7th August, 2015 Amnesty International will have their congress meeting in Dublin, Ireland, my home town. At this meeting they will take a vote on whether to endorse decriminalising pimping and brothel-keeping. As a survivor of prostitution, I wrote this to remind Amnesty of the harsh realities of the sex trade from a very personal place. You will understand just how personal when you read it.

The Last Insult

In December, 2005, my friend and I were bought and brought to a hotel complex. We were paid by a group of eight men, to “entertain” them on their Christmas night out. That “entertainment” evolved into mayhem, the result of this held to the gang-rape of me and my friend. The events of that night were to change the way I saw the world forever and they took the life of my friend, a 27yr old woman named Jenny who…

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Currently Prostituted Woman Speaks- To the”Sex Worker” Lobby: This is What you Sound Like.

That’s crazy that when it comes to “sex work” people do not see that. I even had a dude that told me, “what’s the difference between selling my hands or women selling their vaginas? It’s a part of the body like another”. Err…

eachone

For the “Choosy- Choicers” and allies- this is what you sound like when you go on about “sex work” and “choice”

Chelsea Geddes, a woman currently in prostitution,  nails it here:

“There is a difference between sweatshop workers who are forced to work long hours in a factory for 1 dollar a day, and those who freely choose to work in a sweatshop earning 1 dollar a day. It is denying these consenting sweatshop workers agency and dehumanising them to say they are helpless victims of capitalism and racism. Some radical socialists have taken it upon themselves to assert that sweatshop work cannot possibly be consensual and we are basically slaves. Because of racism and capitalism, we are forced into the sweatshop factories, therefore it is not a free choice.

The danger with this approach, besides the unwelcome paternalistic attitude, is that it creates a roadblock for any further progress…

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« Elle a perdu sa bataille contre le cancer.» (elle avait qu’à se bouger le cul!)

« Elle a perdu sa bataille contre le cancer. »

Je lis souvent cette phrase aussi impitoyable que rébarbative.

Et je me sens toujours vaguement irritée- une légère gène, rien qui ne soit urgent à formuler. Mais là, j’ai atteint ma limite. Quand à dix ans, Aaliyah Mitchell meurt du cancer, elle a aussi droit à son article faisant l’éloge de sa bravoure, et regrettant la « perte de son combat contre le cancer ».

Oui mes amis, un journaleux nous apprend qu’une enfant de dix ans a personnellement merdé dans son combat contre le cancer.

Lucy, Christina et les chasseurs

Voici un post qui ne va pas parler de réalisateurs pédophiles imaginant des plans à trois autour de Javier Bardem, mais d’archéologie, paléontologie et féminisme. C’est tout aussi palpitant.

Ce matin: une pub me recommande d’aller visiter un quelconque musée de la préhistoire, et voir une reproduction du squelette de Lucy. Ceci m’a rappelé que Lucy avait été désignée femelle par les paléontologue uniquement sur la base de sa toute petite ossature -petite, et donc féminine?

Cette réflexion n’est pas restée isolée dans mon crâne -tant qu’à rester en mode Bones- et a été immédiatement déterrer une histoire d’ici qui m’avait dérangée. A savoir, le destin post-mortem de la Reine Kristina de Suède.

Kristina de Suède, un destin hors du commun…

… Mais surtout, un destin hors de sa cuisine.

Obvious Child: le film qui a sauvé ma semaine

Le mois de novembre est chargé. Entre un essai à rendre (en préparant l’opposition sur l’essai d’une de mes petites camarades!), la recherche d’appartement, le sport, le National Novel Writing Month et bien sûr …mon vrai travail, c’est difficile de trouver du temps. Mais en combinant ma mauvaise conscience de négliger ce blog et ma volonté de faire découvrir un film, je devrais arriver à pondre un petit billet !

Comme je l’ai raconté à l’occasion, j’ai du mal à supporter les films ‘grand public’. D’une part, ils mettent souvent en scène un ordre social rigide, patriarcal, colonialiste et raciste. On en ressort l’esprit embrumé, comme imprégné d’une odeur de linge humide oublié (depuis genre, les années 50). D’autre part, pour des films qui sont sensés laisser la part belle à l’imaginaire, ils reflètent un peu trop fidèlement la réalité. Une réalité où tous les films qui ne sont pas faits par des hommes blancs, et pour eux-mêmes ne trouvent ni financement ni possibilité de diffusion.

Bien sûr, on peut se dire que ce ne sont que des films, apprécier les images, et rappeler qu’il faudrait veiller à ne pas les confondre avec la vraie vie (ben oui, personne n’a jamais acheté quelque chose qu’il aurait vu dans une pub, ça se saurait ?!), et continuer à en ingurgiter. Mais si on refuse ce lavage de cerveau insidieux, je recommande de « subtiliser » des programmes de festival indépendants pour savoir quoi regarder dans l’année.

NGOs: the best PR and Spin Doctors that (sex-industry) money can buy

Update: The German version has been made available by German Sisters, and is available here:

http://abolition2014.blogspot.de/2015/08/ngos-beste-pr-und-meinungsmacher-die.html

Don’t hesitate to read and share!

Disclaimer: Anyone seriously concerned about the topic of prostitution is advocating for the decriminalization of the Prostituted (women and children). The position adopted in this text is to criminalize the buying and the procuring of women and children as goods in the “sex-industry” for the enjoyment of men.

I refuse to use the terminology “sex-work”, if not in quotations. Words are important, and the term “sex-work” conceals the fact that 95% of the Prostituted are Women and Children. The term also implies that prostitution is a reasonable career choice for a human being and a normal way  to make a living, like domestic work or any other physical labor job. 

“The Prostituted” is a term that actually reflects the  reality of the situation and the ramifications of the Industry. Many survivors find it the most apt word.  It is used by the artist Suzzan Blac who herself survived the slave-trade of prostitution and pornography.

“Mind fuckers” 2012

Don’t eat animals (and save a fellow drunk)!

L’observation de la nature nous amène régulièrement à la conclusion irréfutable que l’animal est AU MOINS aussi intelligent que l’être humain. En voici une autre preuve

Si toi aussi, tu attends impatiemment le week-end pour te mettre minable, que ton humeur devient festive et que tu oublies tous tes problèmes avec un verre, tandis que tu deviens agressif.ve une fois bourré.e, sache que le Cétartiodactyle Alces Alces (l’élan quoi!) en fait autant.

Lilla Berlin vs Festival de la Saucisse

Toute personne un peu sensibilisée au féminisme connait toutes ce sentiment au cinéma…. Un nouveau Lilla Berlin par Ellen Ekman!

– Alors, t’en as pensé quoi? Mortel ou bien?

– Ouais, y’avait de l’action quoi…

Suzzan Blac Art: Resilience and Truth

I love your comments and I follow all the links I get. We might argue, but most often we share anger, indignation, ideas and solidarity (yes, I’m lucky that you take the time to leave a word of appreciation!)

This time, I -was lucky enough that Suzzan Blac read my text, commented, and left me an open door to her work.

I followed the link and it was mind-blowing. Her story is sadly way too common. Her resilience is not.

“Suzzan Blac’s early years were the stuff of the darkest nightmares: abject poverty and spirit-crushing abuse. Adolescence brought a harrowing coercion into the horrific world of the sex trade where she was held prisoner. She escaped, but spiraled into depression. Eventual marriage to a loving man and two beautiful children gave her a sense of normalcy for the first time in her life. But the long buried memories kept her an emotional hostage. To free herself and heal, she started painting. Out came 42 pieces, so raw they shocked even the artist. She hid them for a decade. When finally she revealed them, fame followed. Her work is exhibited around the world.”

Her art breaches intellectual defenses and hypocrisy. Her art overwhelms the heart. You can’t search “logical” counter arguments while looking at it. This is visceral, you absorb her message, and suddenly the story of her life is yours too. The trigger warning comes here, as many will recognize themselves in the things she paints, those things people don’t like to talk about. It’s distressing.

Feminism is NOT a private issue: a powerful lesson by Ellen Ekman

Stockholm comics scene is incredible. One of my favorite comic artist is Ellen Ekman. In 4 squares, she adresses an issue much better than I and my arm-long articles. (And think that she publishes one piece a day in the metro!!) I wish to translate for the English public this piece from the 12th June 2014.

This one addresses a very important women’s and public health issues, and why tagging something “my choice” will never be as powerful as treating it as making it “our problem“. So let’s treat all, and I mean all – health, prostitution, schools, public space and our safety- as collective matters.

 

“Lines 3, 15, 63 and 19 are delayed due to the presence of a bag of crisps on the rail lines …If no one denounces oneself, we are not going further … ok?”