I'm seeking the best links about leading anti-sex worker activists and groups to add to the opposition page on SWAAY.org.  (Most of the page was already compiled from the extensive notes kept by sex-positivity rockstar Megan Andelloux.)  I'm looking for two types of things: blog posts, articles, and videos debunking them, and particularly offensive articles and videos where the person describes their politics in their own words.  (Everything some of these people say offends the shit out of me, but sometimes they sound more crazy and cruel than other times.)

So please, post your suggestions in the comments.  I am currently looking to create and expand profiles on the following people and organizations, but am open to other suggestions, too.

* Catherine MacKinnon
* Gail Dines
* Donna Hughes
* DNA Foundation
* Melissa Farley
* Michael Leahy
* Pamela Paul
* The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
* Shelley Lubben
* Shared Hope International
* Captive Daughters
* Robert Brannon
* Janice Raymond
* Craig Gross
* Lisa Thompson
* Robert Jensen
* Rebecca Whisnant
* Janice Crouse
* Karen McLaughlin

In general, I aim to use SWAAY.org to 1) get normal people interested in sex work issues and informed of the basics and terminology, and then 2) funnel them to more specific resources written for various topics.  I'm not trying to be lazy - I truly believe that someone else has already done a better job of writing about many topics than I could.  So, point me to those links!

(Also, I'm still trying to populate the "respect" section of the site with tips from an array of current and former sex workers, so check out the submissions page.)

 

In the last week, I've seen lots of tweets about the Occupy Wall Street protest currently happening in Manhattan.  It's a protest camp first proposed by the glossy I'm-a-Whole-Foods-dwelling-yuppie-but-I-like-to-pretend-I'm-an-anti-capitalist-revolutionary magazine Adbusters.  The "occupation" of "Wall Street" has thus far seen a few dozen to few hundred people hanging out in a park down the street from the New York Stock Exchange.  (What you don't hear often is that this "occupation" is taking place in a private park where the protesters were given permission to stay.  The whole thing makes me think of an angsty teenager "occupying" their parent's living room in an act of defiance.)  The Occupy Wall Street protest doesn't have aims beyond some kind of vague "stop bad things," "end capitalism," and "no more corruption."  Earlier this month, the protest organizers were using an online poll (open only to people with a Facebook account) to vote on what the protest was trying to achieve.  Something like 80 people were arrested on Saturday, but the group has insisted it will continue.  A friend of mine reported this morning that the "occupation" is currently a few dozen anarchist kids sleeping outside.

Whereas supporters see Occupy Wall Street as a leaderless revolution on par with the Arab Spring that overthrew oppressive dictators, I see a small, confused group of white people who have no idea what they're protesting, what they want, and how to go about getting that end result.  I'm not at all against leaderless protest movements, but you can be leaderless, diverse, and democratic and still have some plans, goals, and strategies.  Getting people to show up in a small park isn't a revolution in and of itself.

It's all good and well to make a sign that tells people to "fire your boss," but how exactly is the average worker in America going to go about doing that?  Telling people to "fire your boss" is easy when you're flexibly-employed or privileged enough to be able to participate in "occupations," or a young traveling protester who is happy eating out of dumpsters and being filthy.  The group has been organized under the banner of "we are the 99%," but I really doubt the average working class person struggling to survive in this economy could either find the free time and financial resources to travel to Manhattan to attend, or, once there, gain anything useful from listening to the protesters.  Why not try to give all those regular working people tools to create actual change in their lives?  Why not use all the geek power behind this protest's social media presence to create an open database of people by area and occupation to help them find other workers to form collectively-owned businesses?  And use the streaming video feed from the "occupation" to give workshops on how to start a worker-owned co-op or small business?  And that's just one idea I had after seeing a photo of a "fire your boss" sign.  Sure, "work hard and start your own ethically-run company" isn't a very sexy tagline, but it actually does mean firing bosses.

If you want to overthrow something big - a government or capitalism or whatever - you're not going to do so as a scruffy "outsider" group of people sleeping on the street without a plan or tools for implementing change.  Successful revolutionary movements provide people things that the state isn't, plain and simple.  Revolution is about stepping up and showing the masses that you can do things better, not dropping out and sitting in a park, hoping that those beleaguered working class people you've read about in Adbusters will show up en masse and let you lead them to their salvation.  One of the most revolutionary projects across the 60s and 70s protest movements in America were the breakfast programs set up by the Black Panthers.  Lifting up your community with a long-term strategy like giving poor kids free food so they can pay attention in school might not be easy like holding a sign that says "smash capitalism," but it's stuff like that that really counts.  Remember, you have to demonstrate that you know how do it better, and you have to offer people things the current regime does not.  Occupy Wall Street uttery fails by that test.  Sadly, even the stupid Tea Party does a better job at getting large numbers of working class people on their side.

Whenever I air criticism of things like this, I get the common response: "at least they're doing something!"  There's this idea that so many people who consider themselves activists have that "doing something" is of paramount importance, and it doesn't matter what you're "doing," so long as you can tell people it's "better than doing nothing."  Yes, the people hanging out at Occupy Wall Street are "doing something," but what, exactly?  That's what no one can explain to me.  They've gotten some media attention to the idea that some Americans aren't happy with the current state of the economy, I suppose, but that's hardly news.

"Doing something" isn't doing something unless you're actually doing something.

Here's how to do something:

* Decide what you're against.  Make it well-defined, not "I'm against greed."
* Decide what you want.  Make it a clear goal, not "No more corruption."
* Explain what exactly you're going to do to get from point A to point B.  Look at the history of other social change movements and figure out what tactics best suit your cause, and which tactics are likely to fail.  Remember that just because you're "doing something," it doesn't make that something effective.
* Follow through and modify tactics as necessary until you achieve your goal.

It's pretty amazing to me how few people who consider themselves activists can't master these simple steps for how to have a campaign.  So many people seem to think that endlessly restating what they're against, or what they want, will somehow magic those things into happening.  I see this with sex workers' rights activists a lot.  There's a lot about "Stop violence against sex workers" and "We want decriminalization," but there doesn't seem to be much of an overall plan other than continuing to repeat those demands within our echo chamber.

With my project, SWAAY.org:

* I am opposed to marginalization and violence against sex workers that is the result of bad laws and social stigma.
* I want full decriminalization and for sex workers to be an accepted part of society.
* The only way to get any of these things is to get the public on board and educate them about our issues.  You can't change an ingrained social stigma and laws when the majority of the public is against you.  It amazes me that there is almost no sex workers' rights activism that does any sort of public outreach or education, since that is generally the foundation of any social change movement.  (And no, having a blog that a member of the general public could conceivably find does not count as "public outreach.")  With SWAAY, my goal has been to get people interested in the topic, using both DIY campaigns like the "respect sex workers" stickers, and paid media campaigns like the upcoming billboard to draw viewers to a web site that gives people the basics in an accessible manner.

See, it's not that hard.  Coming up with a goals and a plan is the easy part of activism, the tough work is in the implementation.  If a group or person can't handle putting together a reasonably well thought out foundation, I don't give their cause much of a chance of succeeding.

 

I've turned off comments on this post because I'm tired of reading stupid nonsense from people who couldn't debate their way out of a wet paper bag.

"Why then would anyone become a pornographer in this day and age?  What exactly is the point?  I’d argue that some have not quite caught on to current state of things.  Many still believe there are fortunes to be made.  But for most who find themselves fucking for a living, the financial incentive is no more than a rocky path towards middle-class existence; one without job security, benefits, or a retirement plan.

[...]

Porn is the new punk because it has shifted backwards.  The golden era of its success is over.  Internet piracy and over-saturation have countered the scales so that the risks of porn may now outweigh the benefits.  Of course there is still money to be made in the adult industry.  But it’s of a more modest sort than perhaps ever seen before.

For the new generation of pornographer, there is inevitably a fight to be had. No longer is there an option for passive stance."

-- Danny Wylde, in Porn is the New Punk on smittenkittenonline.com/blog

This week in Arizona, two "sacred temples", aka, Pagan-themed sex businesses, were raided on charges of "illegal control of an enterprise, prostitution, maintaining a house of prostitution and receiving the earnings of a prostitute."  The busts at the Phoenix Goddess Temple and the Sedona Goddess Temple have liberal sex bloggers rushing to cry foul and act shocked, asking, "What about freedom of religion?!"  It's apparently an outrage that sex workers who are Pagan (or claim to be Pagan to earn money) weren't given a special exemption from the laws that apply to other sex workers.

First off, for those of you not familiar with the funny double-speak about "tantric healing," "goddess worship," and "sacred touch," you might wonder what goes on inside a typical "sacred temple."  Sometimes, sensual massage parlors and brothels are gussied up with a bunch of new age mumbjo jumbo, and the businesses stress that they are "churches" that are not selling sex, but providing sacred healing sessions for "donations."  You're not supposed to notice that these "sacred healing sessions" look exactly like regular prostitution, and if you suggest such a thing, you will be accused of oppressing people for their "religious beliefs."  Whether the owners and workers in such sex businesses choose to go this route because they think it will offer them legal protection, or because they honestly believe they have magical powers, seems to vary on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier this year, an Arizona paper ran an exposé, "Phoenix Goddess Temple's 'Sacred Sexuality' Is More Like New Age Prostitution," for which the "temple" workers were happy to demonstrate a "healing session" where a nearly-naked woman massaged a naked man and then fingered his ass while giving him a handjob.  Really, go read that article and tell me that the "temple," which took in $20,000 in "donations" each month, doesn't sound anything like a for-profit sex business.  (Tracy Elise, the "Mystic Mother Priestess" who founded the Phoenix Goddess, had her last business/"temple" shut down by law enforcement in Seattle for allegedly being a brothel.)  The article is full of gems, like one worker's claims that being touched by him will cause you to re-grow lost body parts, or this, a description of language:

There's a euphemism for everything in temple-speak. There are no johns, but "seekers." No sex, only "sacred union." There are no handjobs, only "tantric touch." No payment is accepted, but hefty "donations" are expected. There are no hookers, just "goddesses." They don't work with penises, but "wands of light."

Let me emphasize: I support all consenting adults' rights to buy and sell sex, but there is no difference between selling sex while burning incense and selling sex while not burning incense.  I am sick of seeing sex-positive people act as though Pagan-themed sex work is morally/ethically superior to non-Pagan-themed sex work, and that if you claim a certain religious belief, that you deserve special treatment under the law.

I absolutely support freedom of religion and our First Amendment rights.  However, arguing that the law should apply differently to people of certain religions is actually the opposite of "freedom of religion".  It's state-sponsored favoritism, which is what the First Amendment was set up to prevent, not to create.  I don't want to live in a world where each faith has a different set of law books, and people can pick and choose which religion they say they're currently a part of based on which laws they want to follow.  Again, I don't think consensual adult sex work should be illegal for anyone, but I don't support carving out special legal rights only for sex workers who are Pagan, or those who pretend to be Pagan to make money as a part of their work persona.

I have sympathy for the "temple" people arrested in Arizona, and I hope they beat their charges, but my sympathy is not because I think they have supernatural healing powers or deserve special treatment, but because they're sex workers like me.  It's too bad that so many of the people who will now rally around the Phoenix Goddess "temple" are not doing so out of concern for sex workers' rights for all, but because they want special rights for Pagans only.

I've long complained that the sex workers' rights movement in America fritters away too much of its energy on art, feminism, and intellectual theories, and mostly ignores practical activism, like educating the public or chipping away at bad laws.  I thought it would be good to take a look at some numbers so everyone can make an honest comparison of how American sex workers' rights activists prioritize their time.

I decided to base my data on the program from last summer's Desiree Alliance conference.  (In my opinion, this is fairly representative of what I see elsewhere, although it excludes all the time people spend navel-gazing about feminism and the meaning of gender.)  I grouped each scheduled conference session into a larger category, and counted each slot towards one category only, based on my opinion of what category best described the session.  Here are the results:

[*Open mic nights and sex worker art/performances sometimes listed only a start time.  I would guess that this category is at least twice as time-heavy as the 3.5 scheduled hours listed in my graph.]

Based on how time was distributed at the key US sex workers' rights conference, we can conclude that:

* Making art is 343% more important than understanding the legal issues of one's work.

* Academia is 271% more important than activist organizing.

* Yoga and meditation are 499% more important than networking with other people and social movements.

* Anti-oppression discussions, combined with minority topics, are 56% more important than having business and financial skills.

* Harm reduction for street-based sex workers and drug users is 158% more important than activist organizing.

* And my personal favorite: witchcraft and new age spirituality are 300% more important than protecting your personal privacy.

I'd say this chart is basically upside down for what most sex workers in America would consider important to them.

Last night, I came across the horrifying story of a 20-year-old gay man in Utah being attacked and curb-stomped by a group of attackers. One article describes Hall's injuries: "The 20-year-old has six missing teeth, his jaw is broken in multiple places and a piece of broken bone was shoved into his brain." Hall is facing huge medical bills after 5 days in the hospital and a lot of surgery.

Though news coverage has been extremely slow in conservative Utah, several days after the attack, Salt Lake media finally covered the case [video]. They note,

An account has been set up for Hall’s medical expenses. Donations can be made at any Zions Bank branch to the "Dane Hall Fund."

I called Zions Bank today (1-800-974-8800) to ask what out-of-state supporters can do to donate. I was told that there's no way to donate over the phone, but checks can be mailed in. They should be made out to "Donation Account: Dane Hall Fund," and sent to any Zions Bank Branch. I picked the first one from their location finder:

Dane Hall Fund
c/o Zions Bank
310 South Main Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

The queer blog that originally reported the attack has been updated to say that Wells Fargo Bank also has a donation account. Wells Fargo has branches in almost every state, so drop by one today and chip in for the "Dane Hall Donation Account."

The Utah police have apparently stated that they are investigating, but they haven't even bothered to interview Hall yet.