All prostitution laws are conceived as methods to control women who, before ideas of victimhood took hold, were understood to be powerful, dangerous figures associated with rebellion, revolt, carnival, the world upside down, spiritual power and calculated wrongdoing. – Laura Agustín
Dr. Robert King on porn, with a nice endorsement of yours truly:
…Some would like to ban fantasies—hide them away…fantasy can function as an outlet for desire…violence—including sexual violence–has been decreasing across the board. Has consumption of violent fantasy decreased? Quite the reverse. Violent video is everywhere but violent crime has gone down…we really need to stop thinking that we…know what is good for others—especially when those others are consenting adults…puritans…try to control others’ sexuality…through guilt, fear, and misinformation… as documented in exhaustive detail by the excellent Brooke Magnanti and Maggie McNeill…If the puritans were serious about harm to children they would spear-head proper realistic sex education…
Brian Doherty draws on a Forbes article to discuss the government’s latest efforts to shut Bitcoin down, destroy everything good about it or, failing in both of those, to steal a cut of it.
One wonders how much more often sex workers could help to fight actual crime were we not absurdly and arbitrarily classed as criminals ourselves:
A prostitute given $300 in dye-stained $20 bills led police to the home of the man suspected of robbing a…bank…she…told the FBI agent [that the suspect, Anthony] Nugent…began behaving erratically [after paying her, so]…she left…later that night…her boyfriend…told her [the money] appeared to be dye-stained…
Frankly, what’s most “unclear” to me is how this is even physically possible:
An Idaho man was arrested Thursday after police say he sexually penetrated a cat on more than one occasion. Ryan Havens Tannenholz, 28 – a…”furry” who dresses up as a dog he calls Bubblegum Husky — is charged with six counts of crimes against nature, and one count of cruelty to an animal…It’s unclear how [police] learned about [his] alleged actions…Furry News Magazine Flayrah reports that Tannenholz was a member of…furry fandom…who portrayed himself as a “sparkly” husky, a blue fox named Kismet…and another purple canine…
I’ve said it countless times: As long as government actors have excessive power over individuals, cops will continue to rape women in their homes: “A deputy in Texas accused of raping a woman in front of her children has resigned…Lisa Rodriguez…said [he] told her if she resisted he would take her to jail…” or during traffic stops: “…Thomas Merenda and Franklin Hartley…are charged with unlawful compensation, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison…Hartley ordered the passenger to perform oral sex on him, then [raped] her. Merenda…asked the victim…to punch him in the…genital area…’Tom really enjoys this’, [Hartley] reportedly told the driver…” Note that the cops are charged with “accepting bribes” rather than rape, and the reporter even avoids the word. TSA agents can’t even confine their groping to travelers: “A [TSA] manager at Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport resigned after he was charged with sexually abusing a co-worker…Shane Hinkle, 38…is accused of forcibly touching [his victim]…”
The Polaris Project continues its loathsome and exploitative campaign to link sex work to historical American black slavery:
New undercover footage of pimp-controlled prostitution will be shared…at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and End Slavery Cincinnati to show the realities of enslaved women. The Polaris Project developed the 20-minute footage from the streets of Washington, D.C. Following the showing, representatives from The Salvation Army’s Anti-Human Trafficking Program, the Cincinnati Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Off the Streets program will speak about the reality of pimp-controlled prostitution in Cincinnati…
Here’s a short overview of the work of Elizabeth Loftus, the foremost expert on the malleability of human memory: “…Loftus…has done more than any other researcher to document the unreliability of memory…and…has used what she has learned to testify as an expert witness in hundreds of criminal cases…informing juries that memories are pliable and that eyewitness accounts are far from perfect recordings of actual events…Now…[her] research is starting to bring about lasting changes in the legal system…” I drew heavily upon Dr. Loftus’ work for the research paper I wrote for the Albany Government Law Review, to be published this autumn.
Miranda Kane, the BBW escort turned comedienne, is getting good reviews; here’s an introduction she wrote for the Edinburgh Festival:
…There’s a stigma to sex-workers, as well as their clients. We’re all shown the negative side, the poor, helpless trafficked victims. But all the women I knew were just ordinary, happy ladies who just happened to enjoy having sex for money…Our clients weren’t seedy, sex-obsessed perverts. They were kind, keen, appreciative men who just wanted a moment of luxury, intimacy… to be able to be with the kind of women they could only fantasise about normally…My show exposes the every-day life of a sex-worker; how we work in the digital age, the bizarre and strange requests from clients, what both elated and annoys us. I try and show the human aspect – that the women are normal, they’re not drug addled victims, nor are they overtly beautiful and wealthy courtesans. They’re women you see every day…
[Queensland] Police Minister Jack Dempsey is considering allowing sex workers to make suburban house calls after lobbying by the Prostitution Licensing Authority. While it is lawful for sole operators to make house calls it is illegal for brothels to send their workers to clients…brothel owners…[say they] need the extra business to remain profitable…[PLA] chairman Manus Boyce…[said] that illegal prostitution was operating without fear in Queensland and that allowing more outcalls could put more pressure on the illicit trade…
Last week Dr. Laura Agustín published “Prostitution Law and the Death of Whores”, a primer for those who haven’t thought much about the harm anti-prostitution laws cause:
…Twenty years ago I first asked two questions that continue to unsettle me today. The first is answerable: What does a woman who sells sex accomplish that leads to her being treated as fallen, beyond the pale, incapable of speaking for herself, discountable if she does speak, invisible as a member of society? The answer is she carries a stigma. The second question is a corollary: Why do most public conversations focus on laws and regulations aimed at controlling these stigmatized women rather than recognizing their agency? To that the answer is not so straightforward… My focus on the female is deliberate. All who propose prostitution policy are aware that men sell sex, but they are not concerned about men, who simply do not suffer the disgrace and shame that fall on women who do it…
Though it’s not extremely long, the article covers agency denial, the “rescue industry”, the irrationality of prostitution law, neofeminism, the Swedish model and media sensationalism; it’s thus one you should bookmark for sharing with people who are ignorant, but will listen to reason.
As the Netherlands continues to cave in to greed and hysteria, Dutch sex workers have been forced to find their own solutions: “A group of 15 prostitutes in Utrecht have set up a cooperative to run floating brothels after the council withdrew operating permits from their previous landlords. The cooperative, named Macha’s, is now applying for a…brothel licence and a boat mooring permit…Some 300 Utrecht prostitutes lost their place of work when the council cancelled contracts for the operation of brothels…because of human trafficking fears…”
Backwards into the Future (TW3 #321)
…The Commission for Gender Equality has [submitted] a proposal…for the decriminalisation of sex work [in South Africa]…“The current position of total criminalisation has not succeeded in addressing problems associated with sex work”…said the…commission…[which] was informed by studies conducted in…New Zealand and Australia. “Legislation…should adopt the principle that sex work is work, and allow the industry to be governed by the wealth of existing labour and business laws aimed at preventing unsafe, exploitative and unfair business practices”…The commission said studies…offered strong and concrete evidence that decriminalisation empowered sex workers to protect themselves from violence…improved relationships…[with] the police…[and] reduced chances of sex trafficking or sexual exploitation of children…
Deals with devils always have more conditions than anticipated:
The Maine woman convicted of running a prostitution business out of a Zumba fitness studio is headed back to court…to fight having to testify at the trial of one of her clients. Alexis Wright…has been subpoenaed by prosecutors to testify at the trial of Donald Hill…
It’s That Time Again (TW3 #326)
A politician’s wife wants her state to look even stupider than New Jersey by starting “gypsy whores” panic a year and a half in advance:
The wife of Sen. John McCain…is calling on the [Arizona] legislature to pass tougher laws against human trafficking…[for] the Super Bowl in 2015. “The Super Bowl, as all of you know, is one of the world’s largest human trafficking centers when it goes on in the world,” McCain said…Forbes reported that 10,000 prostitutes were brought to Miami for the 2010 Super Bowl. There were 133 prostitution arrests in Dallas during the 2011 Super Bowl…
No, Forbes said that habitual liars NCMEC claimed there were that many, and there were 133 arrests of all kinds in the entire Dallas-Fort Worth area during a 2½ week period before the Super Bowl…which is typical for DFW.
Dr. Brooke Magnanti writes about others who think good sex can be defined by statistics:
…Thanks to the new [iPhone] app Spreadsheets, no longer will you have sex without being able to save and analyse the stats of your performance…according to the company’s website: “Spreadsheets monitors data from user’s movement and audio levels through the accelerometer and microphone to provide statistical and visual analysis of their performance in bed”…The notion that longer is better…and that loud equals enjoyment has gained such traction in popular culture that it’s hard to find any other measure of what “good” sex is…I once dated a guy whose sole measure of whether a good time had been had was how long he stayed erect. Being jackhammered long into the wee hours is hardly a great way to spend your time…
Do As I Say, Not As I Do (TW3 #332)
“A pastor from…Sweden has been convicted of buying sex from a prostitute after…police broke up a major pimping operation…[he] has been temporarily relieved of his duties…” Synopsis of the rest: “human trafficking”, “These woman were used as if they were on a conveyor belt“, blah blah blah.
As you might imagine, I find this new trend of cops arresting retired madams on drug charges to be a highly disturbing one:
…Heidi Fleiss has been charged in Nevada with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell…officers found nearly 400 marijuana plants growing in and around…[her] home in Pahrump…She said she had been growing marijuana without a license and that she intended to sell it to a cooperative in Las Vegas…she was not arrested. All the plants were taken away by police as evidence.
Yeah, “evidence”. Pull the other one, guys.
Coincidentally, someone else wrote about the problem with the word “privilege” and came to almost exactly the same conclusions as I did:
…A privilege is something extra — and from a very young age, I knew that when something was referred to as a privilege, I was in danger of losing it. How does that make sense…with something like being free from fear of police harrassment?…when it is called a “privilege,” my initial thought is that it is something unjustified that should be taken away — i.e., we should all have to be stopped and frisked…I [have] some degree of autonomy and dignity in my work — do we really want to say that that’s a “privilege”? In both cases, aren’t we dealing with something more like a right that’s been denied to a great many people?…
There’s an interview with Elizabeth Loftus in the most recent issue of New Scientist (volume 219, Number 2931):
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929310.400-i-could-have-sworn-why-you-cant-trust-your-memory.html
You will need to be a subscriber to read the full on-line article.
Just stopping by. I’m glad to see that this research is finally starting to be accepted by our legal system, which is often 50 years behind on anything that challenges it’s accepted practices, but 50 years ahead in an alternate universe of forensic science (CSI is a sci-fi show, but used methodologies accepted in courts, go figure). This fallibility has been “known” for a long time by simply comparing a shared experience, but finally some proof.
My mother-in-law had a great phrase when you disagreed with her memory of a shared experience: “you remember it incorrectly”. She never understood the irony.
Scientific American ran an article on a study on memory back in the early 70’s (maybe 1969) where people had to memorize a picture. A picture of a white mugger mugging a Black businessman on a subway (I still remember the picture, early 60’s stereotypical dress including the hat and narrow tie on the businessman, white mugger much shorter, but I wouldn’t swear to it, obviously). Six months later a substantial portion of the study group had transposed the characters.
And then, there was and is always Rashomon.
(Sorry if disjointed, I’m trying to make/find a gui for RDkit and Ascend on Linux, and it looks bleak. I’m not even a newbie on Python, total ignorance.)
As noted in the article Maggie linked, Dr. Loftus gave testimony about memory malleability in the California murder trial of George Franklin, circa 1990. Franklin was convicted, but conviction was reversed on appeal.
Since then, in large part because of that case, and Dr. Loftus’ work in it and subsequently, “recovered memory therapists” and their theories touting “recovered memories” by witnesses have been subjected to more stringent scrutiny.
In California courts “recovered repressed memories” are not considered generally accepted scientific technique, and are subject to strict qualification that they generally cannot meet. I think no “recovered memories” have qualified in California courts since the Franklin cases.
Federally, a case seeking to reinstate Franklin’s conviction failed in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “Recovered repressed memories” are no longer admissible in that circuit.
Dr. Loftus deserves very much gratitude from all who prize justice for her dedication and arduous work to keep quackery out of the courtroom, often while under extreme legal pressure and attack by quacks.
If you’re going to do your scripting in Python, why not Idle?
About the furry – the articles didn’t say it was penetrative.
As for Privilege – it would be a great idea if it were usually presented as ‘imagine these were privileges… now, understand, that’s how it seems to me because I don’t get them’. But it’s usually presented as ‘these are privileges’, and that is just moronic, because they’re structurally not privileges.
“…police say he sexually penetrated a cat on more than one occasion…”
I’m sorry, but I flat out don’t believe the police … not after a lifetime of struggling to get cats to swallow pills. I’m just. Not. buying.
I couldn’t find that in the root article, but all right — it didn’t say what he penetrated it WITH.
Big cat / little … ??
When it comes to paraphilias, I consider myself pretty open-mided. I personally only have four absolutes when it comes to what I think is “perverted”:
1 .Animals
2. Children
3. Dead bodies
4. Genuine lack of consent
Incidentally, if I tried to “penetrate” either of my cats with ANYTHING, I’d be clawed to bloody ribbons. It takes me and my husband working in concert to clip their claws, and more often than not one of us will end up wounded or at least peed-on.
Number 4 encompasses the other three.
Well-spotted, gumdeo. Just so.
Actually, he was just dating an older woman and they misinterpreted his bragging.
LOL!
No, I mean I actually DID laugh out loud.
I do strongly suspect that the furry is being persecuted for being a freak, rather than anything he’s actually done. Perhaps for things he’s written, or porn he possesses. Doesn’t say how they know he’s done these things.
An app to analyze sex? Are you shiiitin’ me?
I’m headed for my iPad now to download that baby!
If nothing else it’ll be a giggle!
I’d be very wary of this app if I were you, krulac. Once you start entering your stats, your iPad will go into meltdown 😉
I don’t think so – the picture has “duration = 74 minutes” and that is WELL BEYOND my abilities! 😀
I’m fairly certain I’m also a lot slower than 130 TPM’s.
I already downloaded and configured it – I’ll do an actual test this afternoon!
OK, krulac, 24 hours are up. Either your iPad has melted or its memory is full. which is it? 😉
I tested it …
Here’s the stats …
Duration = 24 mins (LOL – that’s INCLUDING foreplay!)
Thrusts = 0 (WTF? I had the headboard shaking!)
Decibel Peak = 100db
Okay – first the duration. That’s pretty pittiful – 24 mins and that’s accurate. Goddamn it seemed like longer and my wife was certainly ready to quit and had “finished” herself a good five minutes before I did. I don’t know what happened – it felt like a LONG time.
Second – Thrusts – it didn’t register any and I even made an extra special effort in this area. I have a waterbed though – and I’m not sure if that impacted the sensor – which was sitting on the headboard.
Third – Decibel – 100 db but I had a fan running for white noise … this is an old trick for people “married with kids”.
Forth – My wife thought this was stupid as fuck – and told me not to get any “ideas” about trying to become the “marathon man” to improve my time.
Overall – I’m not that impressed – with app or … myself! 😛
Friday night – two fairly hot lesbians tried to pick me up in the bar. Maybe I should have used this with them?
I mean – these girls were as overt as I have EVER seen about their attentions. They were like guys staring at a hot chick. I felt like a piece of meat – a complete sexual object – IT WAS AWESOME!!
They came over and talked to me … one was wearing a “K.D. Lang” T-shirt so that was a tip-off they were Lesbis … plus they had their tongues and hands all over each other when they were in the bar. They told me … “What time do you get off, Krulac? You should come by our place – we only live two blocks away and you can have a drink and we can play some games”. And I was like … “What kind of “games” do you have in mind?” And they were like – “Well, we have a TWISTER set!” LMFAO!
But this didn’t smell right – so I declined the offer and it was really, really hard to do. Two lesbians gaming for a dude … what’s up with that? I really got worried when one of them started asking me about how many kids I have and if I was still able to have any (she was really coy about how she did this). Honestly – the thought of inseminating two girls for that purpose drives my cave man brain absolutely nuts – but boy, that sure could wreak havoc on my life it they actually got pregnant!
So dammit … I turned them down. 🙁
Reminds me of the story about the pro football coach that was asked how his honeymoon went. He said before commenting, he had to review the film,
I couldn’t bring myself to click on the link to The Polaris Project because the prohibitionist co-opting of the abolitionist and black slavery history sends me into fits and I’m having a great day. Beyond that, abolitionists, like their modern day counterparts, really hated for the former slaves to speak “off script” for themselves, as Frederick Douglass himself pointed out.
I keep stubbing my mental toes on the idea that there is NO human trafficking, as it is generally understood. But I may well be wrong. What I want to ask the Prohibitionists, loudly and often, is “OK, say trafficking exists. Grant that for the sake of this discussion. How does outlawing prostitution HELP its victims? How does treating them as minors or imbeciles HELP their position? How is anything you are doing about HELPING THEM and not aggrandizing YOU?””
Hi Maggie,
I ran across this reprint of Clarence Darrow’s “The Eugenics Cult,” here.
http://dododreams.blogspot.com/2011/09/reprint.html
I think you might find this quote adaptable to the modern prohibitionists. Of course, they were talking about a different type of prohibition – mixing of the races aka interracial sex – but it is still topical.
Maggie noted;
Deals with devils always have more conditions than anticipated:
Lando Calrissian said;
“This deal is getting worse all the time.”
You know. Just to put a face on the type of devil you’re dealing with.
Maggie quoted;
“These woman were used as if they were on a conveyor belt“, blah blah blah.
Maybe it’s just that my fetish level is set to low, but I can’t think that sex on a conveyor belt would be uncomfortable. And I am so susceptible to motion sickness…
Yikes! too low
although I guess if I had a rheostat labeled “fetish level” I could set it to low.
Level 0: Lie back and think of England
Level 1: Vanilla
Level 2: Talking dirty
Level 3: Role playing/props
Level 4: Honey, a cheese grater, and a live chicken
😛
I can’t but think that sex …
Word order is important! At least in English.
I’m going to have to write a scene.
Prostitution laws are to control male sexuality, just like many prohibition laws have been to control male behaviors. Including the 16th century mvement to outlaw coffee shops.
Your blog always makes me think about my own experience, and my own presuppositions. I agree with your opinions for the most part, but human trafficking does exist, it is a problem. In the U.S. legalization could help regulate labor conditions, but the trickle down lack of support or regulatio into the third world scares me.
It depends on what you mean by “trafficking”. Apparently you mean something specific, but the “authorities” don’t.
True, I refer to young girls in third world countries who are sold into the trade by parents and caregivers, or the young Mexican girls I’ve worked with who were told they were coming to the U.S. to offer domestic help and then found themselves locked in a bathroom and prostituted at fear of retribution by the cartels if they didn’t comply. Yes, the claims may be exaggerated, but not fabricated completely.
Decentralization
In truth, I know almost nothing about Bitcoin, and I suppose if it’s becoming a big deal I should make some effort. I’ll look up some videos, some Wikipedia, and see if it’s something I need to >b?study, or if it’s something I can just watch a few videos on and spend a half hour at Wikipedia.
Scapegoats
Laura, stop giggling.
Above the Law
We’re running out of room to put all these rare, isolated incidents if we want to keep them isolated. Those who believe that “of course the vast majority of police offers are decent, brave, hard-working blah blah blah” need to put pressure on city Hall to get rid of the creeps, crooks, and thugs who are messing things up for all those noble Blue Knights… though come to think about it, cops are more and more wearing black these days instead of blue.
Hooker Humor (TW3 #31)
Go Miranda Kane! Best of luck to you, and I hope that people repeat your jokes all over the place, as this spreads your message even further than your show itself.
The Naked Anthropologist
So bookmark it I did.
I’m not saying when I’ll get to the rest of this, only that I will. And Maggie, some of your links not only lead to very interesting things to read, but to links to other very interesting things to read. So thanks, even if it is time-consuming (but in a good way).
Dear Sailor Barsoom: Laura, stop giggling-LOL
😉
Yesterday was great and terrible. Got most or all of what I set out to do accomplished, and got home wet, grumpy, sore feet with wet socks… Laura’s socks, since by the time I got to her place my own were too soaked to even consider wearing back home. But, I got things done from a haircut to getting more vitamins to, of course, seeing my Laura. I of course got NOTHING done on catching up here. So, both a good and a bad day.
Dutch Threat
They’re creating their own Floating World! Did anybody read the comments? Made me smile. Also, did anybody see the link to “Ramen Burger?” Yikes!
Backwards into the Future (TW3 #321)
Kenya has been using cell phones to pay bus fare for years now, something which Dallas has finally gotten around to. And now this from South Africa. There have been experiments in basic income in different countries in Africa. I expect to see a lot of innovation coming out of what we in the West used to call “The Dark Continent.” After all, the biggest innovation in the history of humanity came from Africa: humanity itself.
It’s That Time Again (TW3 #326)
I’m worried about the Nomadic Harlots this time around. They’ve got to overwhelm the Superbowl in New Jersey on February 2nd, and then get all the way to Sochi, Russia by February 7th in time for the Winter Olympics. The poor girls are being so rushed!
Election Day (TW3 #332)
Watch out Maggie. You are in possession of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, a Schedule 1 substance. Of course, so are all of us. The human brain makes it.
Now dry and Laura’s socks, having dried out, are keeping my feet warm. Onward!