Confused to see a diary column on a Monday? That was a sort of last-minute change designed to accommodate the fact that I’m really behind schedule and didn’t have anything else for the slot. It’s partly due to the fact that I haven’t finished dealing with all the crap that comes along with divorce and relocation, and partly due to doing more on-the-ground activism; for example, last Friday I testified against a new “trafficking” law in the Washington state senate. But more than both of those is the fact that I lack the ability to focus on my work when my new life in Seattle offers so many distractions compared to my previous life in the country. We’ve decided the way to fix that is for me to get a small office space where I can go to work for a few hours every day, so that I can focus on my writing and actually get it done!
Later on the day that I testified, I was interviewed by a student writing for Humanosphere; she took the photo of me you see here on Occidental Street in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. And Thursday saw this article (which quotes me extensively) published in the Daily Beast; it’s amazingly refreshing to see a mainstream site recognizing the hysteria for what it is, and I think it’s an excellent sign of the impending collapse of the hysteria. And assuming I can get my writing regime back on track, I’ll be right there giving y’all a play-by-play on that collapse as it unfolds.
Really? Seriously?
Soooooo … the feminists have “lilly white pure goals” when they’re involved in it?
I take this as a statement that … if only religious leaders would get out of trafficking – then feminists would be able to handle it honorably.
You and I both know that isn’t true.
Krulac, I read this differently. Before the Church got involved the feminists when around saying it was all us evil men that were brutalizing and exploiting these women sex workers. Now the Church has got involved and come at it from the angle that all sex outside of marriage is sinful and should be eliminated. So I don’t see your point in thinking that the article is saying if you removed the Church then you’d only have the honorable feminists left. The feminists were never honorable in the first place.
It always pays to remember the source of the comment; The Beast isn’t exactly a bastion of conservatism… That they would focus on one political wing as the bad guys should come as no surprise.
I don’t hold it against them that it’s a liberal publication, although I agree that they should point out that both parties tend to be against sex work. Funny thing is that when I was reading the comments on the site that it seemed like most of the people leaving comments were conservative. I would have assumed that more of them would be liberal – reading a liberal website.
Exactly, “Beast” isn’t interested in any of this except as a “wedge” issue – and they’re using anything they can to drive the wedge.
Mind you – that the Republicans are pretty cowardly and despicable for engineering this whole “circus trick” … but then again … it comes nowhere near to the MASSIVE three ring trick of Obamacare. Shit man, there was all kinds of shit in that bill that no one predicted – even the five people who read it all.
Both parties do this shit – and it’s one of the reasons we no longer have a Republic – but some twisted, confusing, “soft tyranny” with a clown with big ears heading it all up.
“Yet, as McNeill also pointed out, the two are often at cross purposes. If you really want to eliminate sex trafficking and sex slavery, the best policy choice would be to legalize and regulate prostitution.”
Have you changed your opinion here, or did The Beast take your words and tack on “and regulate” for their own purposes?
Maggie’s and other activists’ position is to decriminalise, not legalise, which automatically comes with ‘regulations’.
They added “regulate”. I’m a minarchist and I know legal “regulation” of sex work never works and has about a 90% non-compliance rate.
Maggie, it’s good to see that you have been using your time productively in spite of moving across the country and dealing with a divorce at the same time.
Speaking of seeing this kind of article in the main media, how long do you think it will be before you see something in the major TV networks (CBS,NBC,ABC)?
… but you look happy. How nice to see you smiling mysteriously…
Maggie, moving house and dealing with a divorce are some of the most stressful things that any person has to deal with. Two of these simultaneously, together with a new relationship are more than most people could withstand.
And yet you continue to post daily; and don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading every post every day. When I first discovered your site, some time after you had started, I went back to the start, and over several days, read every single one.
Yet your daily publication schedule is a self-imposed task; your readers do not demand this of you—well, this reader doesn’t, even if he, selfishly, would be disappointed.
Now, and you aren’t going to like this—you’d better not like this—I think you are in danger of doing just too much at present. You could recycle some older posts, with a short intro, if you must post daily—I’m not aware of any other individual blogger who posts daily in the way that you do—or, alternatively, take a day or two off during the week for a while. You know, there is actually life beyond blogging.
Were I your medical advisor—it’s very unlikely that we well ever meet, let alone be in this position—I’d be inclined to say to you; “Woman, you stupid cunt, get a fucking grip on yourself, relax, do things one at a time. You need ‘me’ time, you need to unwind”.
And I’d expect you might reply, “You patronising, patriarchal piece of shit, go fuck yourself, stuff your advice up your butt. You men are all the same, a bunch of egotistical wankers”.
Women; why is it so hard to crack your skulls open, to introduce some common sense?
K, you’re a doctor … and as such you always give advice based on the “average”.
Maggie – not average.
Myself – I don’t even go to Doctors anymore – I use nurse practitioners. They are more open-minded and consider individual differences. LMAO – the last Doc I saw said … “You are getting too old to be lifting heavy weight. You should do more repetitions at lower weight.”
My nurse practitioner asked me how much weight I lift … I told her … “now you’re gonna tell me about lower weight / higher reps?”
She said … nope … if you’ve been working out for 30 years you know what you need in the gym better than I do!
Oh, fear not; I’m getting “me” time as well. Jae is extremely insistent upon it, and will even go behind my back to arrange it!
What a lovely smirky smile!!
Looks like you were feeling happy. I’m so glad to see it.