Recently, I was baking vegan cupcakes and watching Real Genius.  These are the sorts of awesome things I do with my days now that I no longer waste any time trying to convince sexually frustrated leftists that feminism and sex work can coexist.  (Can they?  Who cares- let's go swimming and drink mojitos!)

The movie got me thinking about the people on the other end of my internet fights.

Real Genius has a character (Kent) who's uptight, unhappy, unattractive, and always putting others down to make himself feel better- a bully.  He works tirelessly, yet achieves only mediocrity, and he's infuriated to no end that everything goes so well for his rival, Chris. Chris screws around and has fun rather than attending classes, but he's still more intelligent and successful than Kent.

Kent reminded me of a lot of people I've encountered in debates about beauty politics and sex work- they just can't stand the idea that other people are having a good time.  They make life hard on themselves, and then resent anyone who doesn't also struggle tirelessly against self-imposed problems.

In the movie, Kent sabotages Chris's final project so that it blows up and he loses all the time he painstakingly put into it.  But, thanks to the total destruction of his work, he has a breakthrough about an even better way to go about accomplishing his goal.  And Kent is back to his dull existence.

So, remember - when the Kents of the world sabotage you (Prop K, Prop 8, anyone?), may those setbacks be temporary.  Bounce back with stronger plans and better-executed projects.  Think in radically-clever new ways.

We will win- and have more fun in the process.