So, let's get to it. I've divided it into categories to make things a little easier, however some posts do cross over. A few days ago I wrote some notes to this carnival, mainly on labelling it as 'Feminist', though a little too on why we didn't end up calling this the 'Sex Positive Feminist Carnival', so check that out if you wish. I hope people like this and get a lot from it, although it being the very first, I imagine there will be room for improvement. So yeah, enjoy.....
Sex Positive?
Dr. Crazy from Reassigned Time, an academic who, in her words, "does scholarship on sexually explicit scenes in literature, and as a person who teaches a lot of literature that includes explicit sexual representations" discusses her reluctance to describe herself as a Sex Positive Feminist.
I have felt, at various times, that my interest in sex either puts me on the wrong side of other feminists or it puts me on the wrong side of lotharios who think that my interest in sex generally is an interest them. I'm positive about sex, and I'm a feminist, but I'm not uncritical about sex, nor do I think that the label "sex-positive feminist" is one that is altogether positive.
Iamcuriousblue argues that there is such a thing as sex negative:
The thing is, I don't feel that this is a particularly good reason to drop the term "sex positive", because there really is a such thing as sex-negativity. It is something that has deep roots in Western culture, and quite a few non-Western cultures as well, and continues to manifest itself in religious systems, political ideologies, and in other dominant institutions like law and medicine. And, yes, one of the places sex-negativity comes up is in feminism.
Remember the whole patriarchal virgin/whore binary? Why would you simply restate that by substituting "sexy feminism" with "whore?" Why?Meanwhile, Renegade Evolution defends sex positive feminists against the stereotype that they are "Young, Dumb and Full of Cum" in this absolutely storming post:
So call us what you want: Sex Poxes, Fun Feminists, Fuck-Me Feminists, Traitors, whatever. Point is, no matter how young, dumb, and full of cum you make us out to be, how clueless and treacherous and blind, the truth is we’ve seen what you have to offer, and as adult women with forethought, intelligence, and agency, chosen something else. The sex-positive alternative.
And I suspect that stings. Just a little.
Feminism ?
Jill at Feministe asks for people's thoughts on strategies for discussing feminism and sex work in Feminist Feedback: Is sex work anti-feminist?
Obviously sex workers can be feminists because there are sex workers who are feminists. I’m not big on playing occupational Feminist Police, and as far as I can tell, sex workers have long been on the margins of society. They’ve been shamed and they’ve pushed the sexual envelope, and in some ways they’ve been at the forefront of challenging the patriarchal model of women and family. Sex workers — those who do it voluntarily, without coercion — are the most obvious “whore” side of the virgin/whore dynamic. And by voicing their opinions and telling their stories, they break that dynamic down by adding a complex, human face to it, and by refusing to be shamed or bullied into proper feminine submission.
I have a rant about the feminist police in Actually, yeah, I call myself a feminist.
Juliette, a sex worker, writes on what feminism means to her in Our Lady Feminism.
theemeraldqueen wonders if she is a feminist in The I Questions Herself.
Holly at The Pervocracy defends her right to be a feminist AND like men:
I'm a feminist. I really am, dammit. Our culture is permeated with weird ideas about femininity (and masculinity!) and it desperately does need to change. But if you don't take a realistic worldview and respect the people you're trying to change, you're not getting anywhere. And if you don't have sex until we reach perfect equality, well, buddy, you're never gonna get laid.
Marianne at Indiscretion writes Don't Box Me In, rejecting the labels put upon her:
Somehow, after the decades of efforts that have gone into giving us choice, we still ended up with boxes. You drive your children to karate and soccer and piano lessons every night of the week … ah, you’re a mom. You… you slept with a man on your first date with him… you’re a slut. You climbed the corporate ladder by the time you’re 30… you’re aggressive and career-obsessed. You write about being spanked… you’re the quintessential anti-feminist.
Snowdrop Explodes is also wondering Why Do People Cage Things?
Bound, Not Gagged's Jill Brennerman sets out what she believes in and what she and her colleagues do to help sex workers in Sex Workers Human Rights Statement, condoms, humanist goals.
... given that there is so much garbage out there about sex workers being pro trafficking, or for coercion, or whatever those that oppose us come up with. I felt it was important to put this out again.
Pornography
Anthony Kennerson and Renegade Evolution take down Maggie Hays for her post 'On Choices' in More Agit-Prop from the 'Ex-Slut' Feminist Factory: Maggie Hays Latest BS Mountain (Anthony Kennerson) and Huh, why does she keep doing this when she probably doesn't want the answers or replies that differ from her own opinions... (Renegade Evolution).
Megan at daily dose of queer writes about Australia's attempt to clean up the internet in Australia to Ban Porn.
figleaf of Real Adult Sex muses on Kink.com in Light Can Shine Through Any Window.
Barking Star at Sex in the Public Square asks Where are the guys? in discussions on sex work and pornography.
Renegade Evolution says if she wants to talk porn she will! She talks about porn being "bad" in a little secret, why she loves porn, and the right to choose (which also refers to abortion). Here, she writes about being Pro Porn and NOT feeling civil:
WARNING: THIS is OFFENSIVE. If you consider yourself anti-porn, feminist, humanist, WHATEVER…if you feel that porn, or the sex industry, or any such thing is BAD for society, if you feel that women who work in such industries are being victimized, or are whores, or are stupid, or that such things make men rapists, if you object to objectification or rough sex or all of that good stuff, if you think, in essence, that YOU and all those on YOUR side are RIGHT and the REST of us are violent, antisocial sexually twisted perverted animals or sad, beaten, defeated little victims with no sense of judgment or morality or intelligence, well then, READ THIS at your own risk.
In Ugh, Trinity at the strangest alchemy writes about an anti-porn article she came across:
I really don't like most anti-porn articles. I read a rather poppy, peppy one in my therapist's waiting room today (which is a bit amusing, considering how one of their major criticisms was that porn viewing is supposedly Feminism Lite), and wow, assumption city.
Bitchy Jones contemplates an article in the Guardian claiming that "The vagina accommodates what’s offered" in On Being Straight.
Renegade Evolution contemplates the Politics of Sex, Female Perspective.
There is little doubt in my mind that for the most part, men and women, in general, view sex a bit differently. Yes, there are individuals who blow the bell curve (raises hand) but over all, yep, I think they tend to look at it differently. And yep, sure enough, I think most, a lot of people, male and female, like sex. I've never called a radical feminist a prude, because I think most radical feminists like sex. Nods. Yep. I do I do. I am pretty sure most people, no matter their politics, like sex...and my theory on the matter has always been a bit like the Burger King Mantra: have it your way. I am all for adults, who are consenting of course, having the kind of sex they want to have and doing what they enjoy...even if other people don't like it or understand it.
Natty of Natty's Spanking Blog writes about feminism and domestic discipline. Dw3t-Hthr also writes about being in a D/s relationship in Centres of Power, Greta Christina considers Punishment and Elle asks people to stop equating aggressive sex with rape.
Sex Greek writes about BDSM in kink and campus controversy. See also the queen of the con: carol queen on bdsm and sex work, coming out kinky and working out the kinks of working out the kinks.
Christine at Me, My Kid and Life writes about the differences in sex education between France and the USA in The French School System and Sex Education.
Violet Blue comments on an ABC news article Is Sex Ed Working? in her post like I said, but now it's news.
Kirsten of The Choice busts some myths about emergency contraception in Emergency Contraception: Back Up Your Birth Control (Viviane blogs for EC awareness day here). Kirsten also links STDs in teens with poor sex education in Sex Ed in the City.
Dw3t-Hthr writes about what she learned in sex ed in Sex Education, Andromeda Appendix.
Finally, check out Renegade Evolution's round-up of those who participated in Blogging for Sex Education Day back in June 2007.
Sex Work
Bound, Not Gagged's Amanda Brooks writes about the term "sex worker":
...somehow sex workers are still not seen as human enough to deserve the autonomy to identify themselves with their own language, even though “sex work” has been around for more than 20 years.
Governer Eliot Spitzer is unsurprisingly a common theme in posts about prostitution of late. Susie Bright, Amber Rhea, LitChick, Kristen, Elizabeth Wood, Courtney, Melinda, Bound, Not Gagged, Audacia Ray, Calico, Tom Paine and Radical Vixen all comment. Violet Blue, meanwhile, is Bored of Sex Scandals, Lux Alptraum wonders why we even care, while Susie Bright asks why WASPs stand by their cheating man and Pan/Thanatos wonders about the wives. Speaking of sex scandals, Anastasia writes about Max Mosley in When Sex Fantasy Becomes Public.
Renegade Evolution writes about her experiences as a sex worker and shows the inappropriate use of the words "rape" and "violation" used by anti-porn feminists in Choice, Words, and my annoyance with the antiporn/anti sex work & RadFem Contingent. She also discusses the differences between the pro-porn and anti-porn movement in this must-read post, The Difference.
The issue of sexwork is a volatile one, both for feminists and non-feminists alike. For those who take up the issue, it seems that they have fallen into two major camps: The anti-sex work camp, and the pro-sex work camp- titles which are simplified and generalized and often misleading, but seem to be the best we have at this time.
The Dominatrix Next Door writes about Eight Ways To Revolutionise the Sex Industry.
Chris Hall asks What Good is Sex Work?
Too often in discussions of sex work -- and sexuality in general -- it seems like we on the pro-sex side take on a defensive stance that inherently limits our success from the very beginning. One of the linchpins of many of our arguments is that using pornography or paying sex workers for their services doesn't hurt anyone, and is a private matter that's strictly between the people involved; so Gail Dines and Robert Jensen and Melissa Farley should just mind their own business and find some real battles to fight. And that's true, as far as it goes. But the flip side of that argument is that it concedes ground immediately because underneath the surface, there's the implication that these things should stay private because they are a little shady, and the best that can be said about them is that they don't hurt anyone else. By accepting that argument as our starting point, the best that we can ever do is maintain the status quo and not slip even deeper into the morass of puritan self-loathing that already drives our national obsessions about sex.
Sex Worker Advocate at Bound, Not Gagged asks Is Prostitution Ever a Choice? Is Persecution Ever a Choice?
Calico wonders Why Not Pay?
Radical Vixen comments about an article found in Creative Loafing Atlanta about a man in war against the town's prostitutes. In Spying on Sex Workers, Radical Vixen points to other stories of sex workers being harrassed and the need to legalise prostitution:
There is nothing shameful about seeing a sex worker. Sex workers of all kinds meet specific needs. Outlawing different types of sex work doesn’t make these needs magically disappear. If Gower and Bates really wanted to deal with these “problem prostitutes” how about being an activist for legalizing prostitution? If these women didn’t have to fear arrest they could work out of their homes. They wouldn’t be hanging out in these men’s neighborhoods and they wouldn’t be risking arrest. They would have better working conditions and likely make better wages.
Juhu Thukral from Women's News also emphasises the need to protect prostitutes rather than condemn them in Sex Workers Need Safety, Not Prosecutors.
A.J. Luxton writes about Supply, demand, and consequences:
Since everyone’s in trouble anyway, prostitution moves in — the bad kind, the really bad kind, unregulated and disease-spreading and below-cost. Drugs move in. A regulated business where women could work in safety becomes an uncontrolled underground market. I don’t think I really need to explain why those are bad. Since nude dancing is suddenly conflated with prostitution, the clientele immediately slide towards becoming a prostitution clientele, trying to get more for their money – women who don’t want to enter that line of work are out of work, or have to move to another area.
Jenny Penny asks "Why aren’t sex workers allowed to take part in the conversation about themselves?" in To the Swedish government: Prostitutes may have something to say about prostitution! (radical suggestion I know). I look at an academic study on policing prostitution in Canada in the late 1980s that addresses the issue of including sex workers in discussions in Legalise It / Don't Legalise it.
Penny Red writes in Barely Legal:
The functional illegality of prostitution in the UK serves only one purpose: to better allow the police and others to bully and pick on the most vulnerable members of society - mostly young, mostly women, almost exclusively poor and desperate, often chemically addicted and forcibly on the wrong side of a sexually conformist-heteronormative privilege divide.
Madam Butterfly of Blissful Desires writes about regulating prostitution in Regulating Prostitution and its various business models.
Regulation is needed that addresses the industry abuses but allows women the freedom to choose this profession and practice it in safety. Good legistlation would allow the providing of pleasure to those who need it and income and protection if worded correctly to the workers providing the services.
Kerry Howley examines the Good Arguments Against the Legalization of prostitution; "In responding to a lot of bad arguments against legalization, I’ve neglected the good ones. "
Tom Paine looks at arguments for and against prostitution in Prostitution: Victimless Crime?
Elaine Vigneault kicks Amanda Marcotte's arse in If It Came Out Of Your Ass, It's probably Shit.
I didn’t know this before, but apparently Amanda is an expert on these things: men who pay sex workers, Nevada brothels, Amsterdam brothels, child prostitution (which is wrongly labeled, explained below), and human trafficking. Amanda is also an expert on just about everything else. Now, let’s break this down a bit…
Radical Vixen is reminded of the value of sex work in Touching.
Dw3t-Hthr considers the healing power of sex in this poweful post How I Didn't Lose My Virginity.
Also by Radical Vixen: Amanda Brooks is profiled as part of Vixen's Sex Workers Solidarity series.
Red Spine muses on emotional labor and exploitation.
Secondhand Rose writes about sex work being at times emotionally draining in Filing Myself.
We too want, need, conversations in which someone listens to us and considers our needs, not just their own. We too want, require, some identity besides that of servicing sexual needs.
From Bound, Not Gagged, Faith O'Donnell writes about how a New York Times article merely perpetuated the stereotype of sex workers in How the NYT Got an Interview Wrong while iamcuriousblue, also of Bound, Not Gagged, points to a good article in the NYT: The Double Lives of Call Girls.
Ernset Green of pro-porn activism points to the LA Times for a good, sensible article on prostitution.
Elizabeth Wood also writes about a New York Times in The Myth of the Liberal Media, or Further Evidence that the NYT is an Elitist Newspaper:
The story itself is worse than the headline. It contains stereotypes, overgeneralizations, faulty logic, bad assumptions and lots of other problems that I warn my students about. And aside getting the prostitution stuff wrong, it’s very clear message is this: don’t try to pass yourself off as belonging to the upper classes if you weren’t born and bred among them.
Gracie Passette and Secondhand Rose with Working Girls Speak: Shame on you, Diane Sawyer at Sex~Kitten.net, Sex in the Public Square and Secondhand Rose. See also Grcie's follow up post One Week Later. Serpent Libertine of Serpent Libertine, Sly Sex Pro also calls Diane Sawyer out in Diane Sawyer is full of shit. Stacey Swimme is equally as unimpressed.
Chris Hall of Literate Perversions in Sex Workers Awareness: A New Voice in the Media Wilderness writes:
As is typical of American discussions of sex, the Kristen/Spitzer scandal didn’t turn into an opportunity to talk about the realities of sex work, or the ways that our private desires diverge from our public declarations, or anything resembling a forthright discussion of sexuality. It was just another opportunity to obsess about sex as if it were a particularly ugly scab that just won’t stop itching.
Radical Vixen praises an article from Reuters in Lusty Lady Peepshow.
Audacia Ray explains why sex workers aren't represented in the media:
Sex workers aren’t represented in the media because the media does not create space for us to talk intelligently about the issues that face us. Like I said in my post last night, we are being cast into roles, roles that are nearly impossible to break. We’re afraid of being abused and manhandled by a media that has no interest in our well being, only in our cunts and the details of how we got to be so bad.
Finally, be sure to check out Red Light District Chicago Sex Worker Media: 'Sex Workers Making the Media so the Media Doesn't Make Us'.
Daylight Atheism writes about the importance of challenging the attitude that sex is wrong in De-Mystification.
... more fundamentally, we need to confront the belief system that lies at the heart of these and many other sexual ills. Rather than just disseminating facts, we need to change attitudes - specifically, the attitude that sex is a dangerous, mysterious thing that should be kept a secret and not talked about. This is an ignorant and fearful mysticism, and it needs to be dispelled.
See also Greta Christina's post on The Blowfish Blog: Sexual Perspective, or How Can You Eat That?
Curvaceous Dee laments society's embarrassment at the naked female form in The Naked Truth.
C.L. Hanson links sexual behaviour and class in Come on baby, won't you show some class? (more on primate sexuality).
Kim responds to the suggestion that My Little Ponies have been sexualised in My Little Tally-Hos?
I may not be the best writer in the blogosphere and heaven knows, I'm certainly not the best feminist in the blogosphere, but I tell you what: to my knowledge, I am quite possibly the best blogging, feminist, equestrian writer who also happens to have a boatload of My Little Ponies right here in my home -- remember? I therefore feel fully qualified to take on the task of reviewing this article.
Drakyn is thinking about Skewed Words:
Bigots often take the words those they hate use to define themselves and skew their meanings to make their 'opponents' look ridiculous and make them defend against a straw-argument.
This is true, we see it all the time with right-wing assholes saying they aren't homophobic because they aren't afraid of queer folk.
I used to argue against this conservative woman who refused to call "homosexuals" gay because gay meant happy and very few "homosexuals" were truly happy (and they were going to hell).
If anything, bigots who twist words like this remind me of a heterosexist twelve-year old on that same forum who kept getting mad and offended because she refused to look at my definitions for things and instead 'clarified' my posts with AskJeeves.
Renegade Evolution has also been thinking about language in Okay, Let's Talk About.
Suzanne Reisman takes down the Madonna / Whore dichotomy, including interesting and relevent links to others who have blogged about the binary oppositions that exist in the female stereotype.
Dw3t-Hthr writes about women owning their sexuality:
But when I see people talking about sexuality, especially women's sexuality, I look for the code language to sort out who they think owns it. Because people who think that they have some level of entitled position to control someone else's sexuality without explicit consent ... are scary, scary fuckers.
Renegade Evolution talks about stereotypes in "because they portray a sexualised cartoon of female sexuality".
I say no, and I always have. My mini skirt does not oppress you, nor am I a paraody of your sexuality. Neither is any other woman, trans or otherwise. We are all our own people.
Who get to be “us”…in whatever packaging we choose, and regardless of your “obia’s” and “ism’s”.
The world owes you nothing. And neither do we.
Finally
- Audacia Ray (at Viviane's Sex Carnival) draws our attention to supporting the Rape and Incest National Network.
- Sex 2.0 is coming up!
- Look out for Sex~Kitten Gracie Passette in New York on Saturday, 5th April - she'll be on XBN: Sex Worker Rights Broadcast Network.
- Check out Amber Rhea's blog, Viviane's Sex Carnival and Sugasm for regular links to sites that may be of interest.
- Have a look at the Feminism For Freaks call for papers at Queen Emily's.
- The next edition of the Feminist Carnival of Sexual Freedom and Autonomy will be held at Labyrinth Walk on the 21st April 2008. Call for submissions is here.
- Want to host a carnival? Email me - uncool [DOT] blog [AT] gmail [DOT] com
25 comments:
Nice work with this! You've gathered a really impressive collection of stuff - I'll have days of reading material here.
Damn, looks like I missed the deadline. But anyway, I did write something for the Carnival:
Well, as a matter of fact, there is a such thing as "sex negative"
Wow, Lina, this is an AMAZING collection of links! Really well done!
Thanks, guys! And iacb - squeezed you in!
Thanks for linking me -- I'm flattered to be included in such a list. One thing, though. My name is Lux Alptraum, not Luz Alptraumm.
Sorry - typo, changed it.
How on earth
a) did you find the time to read all of these?
b) were you able to find the themes of all these pieces and organize them?
I would like to claim that if these pieces were unreadable, you would be able to get an academic publisher to publish it. Sadly, these pieces are very readable and understandable -- does that mean the only market is on the blogosphere?
I would like to think some feminism (and society) revolutionizing conference could be had around the debates addressed in this carnival.
Thank you and best wishes!
Kudos to you for fine work. Thank you for mentioning me, I take feminism very seriously, partially for C. and partially for daughters.
Oh, good - thanks Lina!
This is offtopic to this carnival, but to add to what Tom Paine said....
I have considered myself a feminist since the early 70s when a jr. high school english teacher brought the subject up.
But I am also a feminist because I have two elementary school daughters.
Right now, my wild ass guess is that most fathers were born after title ix (in the US) and many if not most grew up with mothers working part or full time. In a two child family, 75% of all fathers have at least one daughter.
I believe that many fathers are helping eagerly do some of the real work of feminism. At home AND at work. Because of how they saw their mothers treated. Because of their income earning partner, and because of their daughters.
Sometimes I perceive fathers being unfairly attacked at many blogs. I honestly think that fathers and feminism should have a real win-win relationship but not in the canonical ("Men don't realize this, but feminists are men's greatest friends! Why are men so stupid as to not realize this?) paradigm.
Anyway, I am still busy reading just a few of your links. Thanks again.
WOW....great job, Lina....and thanks for including me in the Carnival.
I'm so sorry I couldn't contribute an original due to my work schedule, but whenever you want to use any of my essays at the SmackChron or BPPA, you are most welcome to do so.
And remind me when the next carnival will be, so that I can make a much more suitable contribution.
Anthony
Wow, I got carnival'd and didn't even know it! Thanks. :)
Lina, this totally rocks. Thank you for your time, energy, and talent.
Really awesome work!
And thanks for linking to me!
Kickass job, and thanks for including those old posts. I should have something fresh up for the next one.
omg: this one is even better than the last one! you are an amazing, dare i say, woman.
i confess to not understanding the controversy over sex-positive. interesting to see what people had to say.
Lina, this is an incredible archive of links and I am going to have a joyous week exploring them all. Thanks for adding me on as part of the carnival!
Just so you know: I just overhauled the second link rather considerably; it was written two years ago, there's a lot that sounds/ed patronizing and talking-out-my-ass to me now. still needs work, but I tweaked a little, pruned a lot and just added a shitload of links, so if nothing else it's another jumping-off point.
Darling Lina, where did my post go?
Wow, that's a hefty lot of interesting reading. Thank you for the link. My eyes almost popped out when I came across the media article the other morning.
Wow, nice work!
(Now I have something to read later on when I need a break from my job -- heh!)
Thanks for mentioning me -- so glad you liked my post!
This is amazing!! You have set the bar high... and I would not have it any other way.
I will link to this today. Absolutely awesome work!!
Thanks for including me, this looks great!
I never did learn how to do proper trackbacks, my profound apologies!
Consider this one:
Odds and Sods: Stella Blue edition
I love you for doing this. And I love your choice of title. It gets the aim across so much better than 'sex-positive', which seems to be all about being 'nice' about sex rather than about aiming for true feminist sexual freedom.
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