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I see a lot of antis using former sex workers to argue against sex work; while I sympathize with those whose experience in sex work was negative, radfems can turn anyone who disagrees with them into a monster.  What’s the best rebuttal to radfems weaponizing a former worker’s trauma?

Unfortunately, it’s extremely difficult for an ethical person to respond to unethical attacks.  When prohibitionists exploit damaged, confused people to attack others, it’s very much like terrorists strapping explosives to a child and sending them into a target building or vehicle; the only way for the intended victim to save themselves is to shoot the child before they close the distance, which obviously any normal person would be hesitant to do.  In the case of ex-sexworkers exploited in this way, it’s virtually impossible to engage directly, but one needn’t do so for the same reason one needn’t engage other prohibitionists directly.  Though the temptation to argue with people who hate us and wish our whole way of life destroyed is strong, it is invariably counterproductive; one cannot reason any person out of a position she did not reason herself into, so the only thing accomplished by debating these people is to bestow undeserved credibility on them in the eyes of observers.  When a scientist debates a flat-earther or creationist or some other crackpot, non-scientists in the audience believe that means those viewpoints are worthy of such debate, when in reality they are just silly beliefs for silly people who lack the power of critical thought.  And when sex workers “debate” prohibitionists, it looks to outsiders as though the prohibitionists have fair arguments supported by facts even though they do not.  The best approach is therefore to address the public rather than the prohibitionists; we can share studies, statistics, etc or even refute spurious claims in our own time, inviting our listeners or readers to do their own research and read studies by widely-respected groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.  In cases where weaponized ex-workers try to attack directly, one may wish to have a prepared statement to the effect of, “The world is not a perfect place, and bad people will take advantage of others; I’m sorry you were abused in that way, but that does not make your experience typical and does not excuse state violence against sex workers.”  Then stick to it; if such an individual persists in attacking, you might add something addressed to observers like, “It’s sad the prohibitionists are exploiting this person to attack sex workers; I can’t stop them from doing so, but I can refuse to participate.”  Then block or mute the person who refuses to respect your polite refusal to engage with them; you have no duty to continue interacting with anyone who does not respect your “no”.

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[Though] practical giftsmay not be the stuff of male fantasy like fancy lingerie and expensive jewelry…they mean far more to me [because] they…allow…me to create the comfortable home I plan to spend the rest of my life in.
–  “Brazen Solicitation

Prohibitionist politicians…think the state has the right to classify a bee as a fish, define pi as “3”, or declare that the laws of the State supersede the laws of science in any other way.  –  “A Blastocyst By Any Other Name

The Swedish model is not “partial decriminalization”, and I wish people (especially reporters; we expect lies from politicians) would stop pretending otherwise.
–  “Partial Bullshit

One of the reasons I semi-retired is because I had it up to here…with buying, keeping up with, writing, and jumping through the stupid censor-demanded hoops of escort advertising.  –  “And Now For a Word…

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Technologies funded to police sex work now monitor everyone.
–  Kate Zen & Chanelle Gallant

See How Well It Works?

Years after the end of the hysteria, fanatics still pretend their dissemination of fantasies is the reason those fantasies never materialize:

A [scam outfit belatedly set up to profit from hysteria over “]sex trafficking[” tried to drum up “gypsy whore” panic over] the NFL Draft in Green Bay[, Wisconsin]…HER Alliance, formerly known as Awaken…says they didn’t see a large uptick [of “victims”] during the draft thanks to [their propaganda about “]the signs of trafficking[“]…

Without Let or Hindrance

Everyone victimized by “child protection” agencies needs to sue:

A Georgia couple whose children were [abducted by the state] for two years following a [malicious accusation] of child abuse have filed a lawsuit…in 2023…Matt and Tuckey Hernandez took their youngest daughter, 3-month-old Emma, to the doctor after noticing some swelling on one of her legs…X-rays found that Emma’s leg and ribs were fractured in several places…[pediatrician] Stephen Messner…[immediate]ly diagnosed Emma with “non-accidental trauma”…[despite] no evidence of abuse on the couple’s 3-year-old…Messner never reviewed any of Baby Emma’s…medical history…the state [immediately abducted both]…daughters…placed the[m]…in a series of foster homes…[and] charged [the parents] with child abuse…DFCS…refus[ed] to place the girls with relatives or family friends…Emma had very low vitamin D, which…had caused her to develop neonatal rickets, weakening her bones…Genetic testing also indicated that Emma had defects in her collagen genes, possibly causing conditions associated with fractures in infants.  But these [facts] were…ignored by the DFCS, which continued to attempt to sever Matt and Tuckey’s parental rights [to sell] the girls…[to] another family…Last month, Matt and Tuckey were acquitted of all charges, and their daughters were finally returned to them…

Rotting Fruit (#894)

The first interesting development in this whole affair since ever:

QAnon didn’t start in a vacuum; it followed two decades of mainstream media and politicians…using the flimsiest evidence and most distorted data to falsely claim that America was in the midst of a sex trafficking epidemic.  And then along came Jeffrey Epstein…[whose] well-documented crimes involving teenage girls, and his roster of rich and powerful friends, could be read by motivated audiences as backing up QAnon claims…Trump…[and his henchmen] began to actively encourage the idea that Epstein’s client list was being deliberately withheld by Democrats with something to hide…But…now, Trump is telling people to forget about Jeffrey Epstein entirely…so…the whole “release the files” business seems slightly less preposterous now that Trump and his lackeys seem desperate to draw attention away from them…The theoretical files were useful as a tool to raise suspicion about Trump’s opponents.  But the actual files…could be a liability or an embarrassment…in that they don’t actually prove anything nefarious about any Democrats…As a political tool, the Epstein files are much more useful if they remain hidden…

Thought Control (#1109) 

Western countries have criminalized fiction the government dislikes for years:

Pingping Anan Yongfu…is among at least eight [writers] in recent months wh[o] have shared accounts on Chinese social media platform Weibo of being arrested for publishing gay erotic fiction…At least 30 writers, nearly all of them women in their 20s, have been arrested…since February…some are still [locked] in c[ages, and]…many more…[including some readers,] were summoned for [interrogation]…Haitang Literature City, a Taiwan-hosted platform known for its “danmei”, the genre of so-called boys’ love and erotic fiction…has cultivated a fiercely devoted following, especially among young Chinese women.  These authors are being accused of breaking China’s pornography law for “producing and distributing obscene material”.  Writers who earn a profit could be jailed for more than 10 years…Although authors of heterosexual erotica have been jailed in China…Gay erotica…seems to bother authorities more…

Enshittification (#1524)  

Another factor in the coming dark age: computer-generated garbage making records of this period unreliable:

…the [CGI] slop endgame, for social media companies, is creating a hyper personalized feed full of highly specific [fiction] about anything one could possibly imagine.  Because [CGI] slop is so easy to make and because social media algorithms are so personalized, this means that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube can feed you anything they…want…Case in point: Facebook…slop…shows [LSU] football coach Brian Kelly assisting in the Texas floods…[on] a Facebook page called LSU Gridiron Glory…[which] is [also] churning out slop that includes Brian Kelly…reacti[ng] to last month’s tragic Air India crash…getting his lost wallet returned to him, donating to the homeless…in the hospital with a rare illness…being deported by Trump, talking to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and…secretly “paying off the debt owed by a struggling gardener”…fans of the NBC show The Voice…[are being fed] slop of judge Blake Shelton saving dogs in the Texas flood…carrying a girl out of a medical clinic…donating to an animal rescue shelter, etc…many of these bizarre images link out to [LLM]-generated “news” websites…overloaded with ads…

Blunt Instrument (#1543)

“Sex trafficking” hysteria laid the groundwork for Trump’s anti-migrant pogroms:

Since January…raids on massage parlors have intensified, targeting immigrant women suspected of sex work…[yet] these workers — among ICE’s most systematically targeted — are largely excluded from community defense…On June 11, ICE and local police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, raided nine massage parlors, d[isappear]ing 10 Chinese women…into ICE’s sprawling detention system…yet not a single organization called for their release…nearly 1,000 arrests in Queens, New York, targeted immigrant sex workers and street vendors.  In Arizona, over 200 arrests were made.  In Texas, 11 parlors were closed in February and May under emergency powers that bypass criminal charges…In other labor sectors, worksite raids sparked massive outpourings of solidarity and creative resistance..but sex workers are left to fend for themselves…the…immigrant rights movement calibrates its messaging to appeal to moderate respectability — complying with lines drawn between the “deserving” and the disposable…To some, the…[current anti-migrant pogrom]s appear unprecedented.  But for those organizing with sex workers, they’re all too familiar.  For years, ICE has used migrant sex workers as testing grounds for its most aggressive tactics

I Spy (#1543)

Wave bye-bye to the last remaining shreds of your privacy:

…ICE…is now using data from the Insurance Services Office’s ClaimSearch, a private industry service for detecting car and health insurance fraud…ClaimSearch includes 1.8 billion insurance claims and 58 million medical bills—along with the personal data attached to them, including addresses, tax identification numbers, and license plates.  ClaimSearch…[openly admits]…that it grants full access to [any cop shop or spook house which wants it, yet]…Verisk, the company that runs ClaimSearch, [l]ied [by claiming]…ICE…is [somehow an exception, probably because]…ICE has access…through another government agency…[given that] the Trump [regime issued] an [illegal diktat] to tear down “information silos” between federal agencies, and…Palantir…has a contract with ICE to…target [human beings for abduction]…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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There are no magic words, practices or talismans that will ward off the evil of state violence any better than carrying a rabbit’s foot or making the sign of the cross.
–  “Ward Against Evil

Greeting to all the “criminals” the Council of Wizards created recently with a single magical proclamation.  –  “Welcome to the Underworld

It’s shocking how much pro-mob rule idiocy is emitted by people burbling about the rights of minorities…which essentially don’t exist under the mob rule systems these dolts favor.  –  “Lazy Tweets

Anyone who issued a “civil service officer card” to a piece of office equipment should be sacked for incompetence.  –  “Artificial ‘Intelligence’? (#1454)

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The only people who can truly claim to have made an absolutely free choice to do any kind of work are the Paris Hiltons of the world, those who have a guaranteed inheritance, income and secured future no matter what they choose to do with the present.
–  “A False Dichotomy

Though I will never set physical foot on another world myself, I have walked a thousand of them in my imagination.
–  “Ad Astra

If you meet a cop and he wants to arrest you he will do so, even if you aren’t even a hooker, and no magical formula will prevent that.  –  “Magic Formulae

The whole “pimp” and “sex slave” mythology derives from the need to deny the legendary sexual powers of whores by pretending that we’re the pathetic, powerless victims of men.  –  “Don’t Try This At Home

Computers are useful tools and (usually) dependable servants, but apparently generations of science-fiction writers have failed to pound into the heads of the intellectually lazy what a colossally bad idea it is to accept them in positions of authority.  –  “Mechanocracy

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There is no therapy for poor judgment.  –  “Public Service Announcement

Just as we ignore those topological elements of a cloud or inkblot which do not fit the meaning our minds have imposed upon it, so do we forget or distort elements of a memory which fail to conform to the schema in which we have embedded it, or even invent elements which were not in reality present, but which the schema predicts should be.  –  “Imagination Pinned Down

As long as we allow and even encourage our governments to criminalize private, consensual behaviors with no clear victim and no actual corpus delicti, lots more people are going to be senselessly killed and lots of senseless killers are going to get away with it.  –  “Rotten to the Core

Most modern prohibitionist propaganda is based upon depicting the prostitute as a mentally inferior creature whose statements about her own thoughts and feelings cannot be trusted.  –  “Ninon de l’Enclos

There is no magical moment of “Shazam!” at which teens are mystically imbued with the ability to consent.  –  “Legal Fiction

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Whores and actresses…both tend to be dehumanized into symbols for other people’s psychological needs and problems.  –  “Projection

The mind of a control freak craves being able to cram everything and everyone into neat little boxes, and to adopt a “one size fits all” approach to everyone forced into a given box.  –
Confined and Controlled

Though the pace of change is usually glacial, it is inexorable.  –
The Mills of the Gods

Prohibitionists want to “save” sex workers like the Inquisition wanted to “save” heretics:  preventing them from “sinning” by any means necessary, even if it means they end up tortured, locked in dungeons or dead.  –  “Rescued To Death

If the deities or forces that control reincarnation wanted us to remember past lives, we would.  And if they didn’t, the Divine will couldn’t be circumvented by a parlor trick.  –  “Flying Saucers

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This is the facial recognition technology nightmare scenario that we have been worried about.  –  Nathan Freed Wessler

Pyrrhic Victory (#1291)

This is no surprise to anyone acquainted with how things are done in New Orleans:

For two years, New Orleans police [have] secretly [spied on]…city streets [with facial recognition] in search of suspects, a[n illegal] surveillance method without a known precedent in any major American city…New Orleans police [abuse]…a private network of more than 200 facial recognition cameras to [leer at] the streets…automatically pinging [cop]s’ mobile phones through an app to [report] the names and current locations of [any possible] matches [for police harassment].  This [blatantly violates] a 2022 city council ordinance, which limited police to using facial recognition only for searches of specific suspects in…violent crimes and [prohibits] generalized…tracking…Each time police want to scan a face, the ordinance requires them to send a still image to trained examiners at a state facility and later provide details about these scans in reports to the city council…[but] the…cameras ha[ve] played a role in dozens of arrests, including at least four people who were only charged with nonviolent crimes…[cops regularly hid] their reliance on facial recognition matches in police reports…to the city council [in order to circumvent the law]…

Secret Squirrel (#1385)

This sickness will get much worse before it gets better:

According to recent research…“nearly 1 in 5 young people believe it’s OK to track their partner whenever they want”…Many constantly share their location with their partner, or use apps like Life360 or Find My Friends…one of the most disturbing notions is that acceptance of digital monitoring is…a way to create – rather than undermine – a sense of trust.  When government officials or tech industry bigwigs proclaim that you should be OK with being spied on if you’re not doing anything wrong, they’re…demanding…we trust them.  But it’s not about trust, it’s about control…and…use of digital spying tools by parents on their children has “anaesthetised young people to the whole idea of being monitored”, teaching them that surveillance is a form of love…and [equating it with] safety…[thus empowering] police, intelligence agencies and…politicians…to undermine [privacy, civil rights, and even]…safety [from state violence]…


Torture Chamber (#1461)

Americans’ sick lust for torture turns ordinary prison sentences into death sentences:

Missouri prison[ers] have filed a lawsuit [because] they’re suffering from life-threatening extreme heat in their un-air-conditioned cells during the summer…[in] violat[ion of both] the Missouri Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act…Algoa [Dungeon] is one of four prisons in the state where none of the [cell blocks] have air conditioning.  And, due to the building’s design, it is frequently hotter inside…than outside.  Even at night, temperatures remain high…[and the only] heat-mitigation practices include…warm showers; the option to purchase one small, personal fan; and…[splitting] small coolers [of quickly-melting ice among] 100-plus people in each [cell block]…Due to a lack of outlets in solitary confinement, [those locked up] there are unable to use fans…According to legal documents…[similarly-inhumane] prison units in Texas reached 149 degrees Fahrenheit in 2023…

I Saw My Brain (#1492)

The psychopathic Grady Judd won’t pass up any opportunity to inflict harm on as many people as possible:

A recent “human trafficking enforcement operation” in Polk County, Florida, led to 244 arrests—albeit none for human trafficking…ICE…Homeland Security, and the U.S. Army [?]…were involved in [the sophomorically-entitled] Operation Fool Around and Find Out, along with more than a dozen Florida [cop shops beside Judd’s]…In addition to targeting adults for trying to consensually engage other adults in private sexual activity, immigration enforcement seems to have been a goal.  A press release…notes that 36 of those arrested “are here illegally”…[and] color-coded boxes around some [mug shots] denote that the…[victims are] receiving welfare benefits…Among those arrested was [a] former NFL player…[which] catapulted this story into national news.  And that’s meant a whole lot of outlets [parroting]…the police’s preferred narrative…

This will continue until the majority of those arrested fight back with lawsuits, or the voters of Polk County get tired of paying the many lawsuits that are already filed against this cretin every year.

The Cop Myth (#1496)

How long will America ignore the costs of its sick worship of state-sanctioned violence?

Since 2013…Phoenix [cops] have [murdered] 173 people…the second-highest total in the country behind…Los Angeles…The study used data from Mapping Police Violence, a website that has become widely known as the foremost tracker of police killings…in the United States since 2013.  It has utilized information from police and media reports to [do what cop shops and governments have refused to do]…Estimates suggest the database captures 92% of police killings….the five deadliest police forces[are] Los Angeles [with] 199 deaths…Phoenix [with] 173…Houston [with] 128…New York [with] 126 [and]…San Antonio [with] 106…In June 2024, the Department of Justice completed a years-long investigation[which] found that…Phoenix police…taught…tactics that were “dangerous, unnecessary and unreasonable,” including that…deadly force…would lead to de-escalation….[Phoenix cops regularly] fired…at people who presented no immediate threat and…[often strangled] people who had not committed a crime…

Thought Control (#1524)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

A fresh round of books — more than 600, by one estimate — have been taken out of circulation from Hillsborough County classrooms after [deranged] state [politicians] ramped up pressure on school district officials.  Those books include Margaret Atwood‘s The Handmaid‘s Tale, Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Ari Folman’s Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation[Psychopath] General James Uthmeier [foamed at the mouth and waved his dick around while ludicrously barfing that the books were]…“patently pornographic”…He said the state’s newly created Office of [Froot Loop] Rights plans to give [random Froot Loops power to censor any book statewide]…since 2022, Hillsborough County has removed 389,073 books from its collection of more than 2 million books, and will continue to “actively [burn down]” its collections…

Sales Pitch (#1530)

Swedish politicians are angry that their law doesn’t destroy enough lives yet:

Participating in interactive adult live-streams or ordering custom porn clips are about to be punishable by a year in prison in Sweden, where a new law expands an already-[tyrannical] model of sex work criminalization to the internet…The text of the newly-passed bill (in the original Swedish here, and auto-translated to English here) states that criminal liability…shouldn’t have to require physical contact between the buyer and seller…Buying pre-recorded content, paying to follow an account where pornographic material is continuously posted, or otherwise consuming porn without [having to deal directly with the sex worker as a businessperson] is outside of the scope of the law…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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If you accept money from someone that he gives due to sexual interest in you, then you are a whore and everything else is just semantics.  –  “Whorearchy

Only by living in a state of complete denial can someone pretend that the only valid, “healthy” and legal sex is that which is so sanitized and neutered that it resembles the real thing about as closely as a hamburger does a heifer.
Tales from the Dark Side

The prohibitionist philosophy…is that it’s perfectly acceptable for women to be endangered, harmed or even killed if it keeps some men from thinking Bad Thoughts.
–  “All About the Men

Statists are fond of pretending that the slippery slope is a “fallacy”, because they don’t want you to think about how either legal precedent or human psychology work.  –  “Conceptual Ledge

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Police departments all over have discovered that criminal accusations are a valuable way to enrich themselves at the expense of the public.  –  “They Just Don’t Get It

Sex worker rights are human rights, and there can never be too many voices speaking up for them, nor too many occasions on which to speak.
–  “Never Too Many

[Some “feminists”] seem…to imagine that if it weren’t for…bogeymen like “the Media” and “Patriarchy” subjecting girls to “sexualization”…we would all grow up in a blissful, chaste state and never, ever, ever be interested in dirty, nasty sex…and that this would be a good thing.  –  “China Dolls

It’s probably impossible these days to work for any company larger than a mom-and-pop that doesn’t have some questionable association.  –  “Dilemmas

Overbroad laws, no matter how good they may sound to some, are only ever used to increase the power of those who already have it at the expense of those who don’t.  –  “Rough Trade (#1129)

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