Life, Love, and Liberty

The depraved thoughts of a defense attorney in Irvine, California provide a great lesson in misogyny and anti-sex puritanical attitudes. To quote Charles Johnson:

Last month, in Irvine, California, Officer David Alex Park, stalker and rapist, was acquitted by a jury of eleven men and one woman. He was acquitted, not because he is anything other than a stalker and a rapist—which he as much as admitted in open court, and which was proven well enough anyway by phone records, license plate requests, and DNA evidence. He was acquitted because he is a cop, and the woman that he harassed and sexually extorted danced at a strip club, and so the jury concluded that she made him do it, and besides, if she strips for a living, she must have been asking for it anyway.

You might think that I am exaggerating the defense’s position for polemical effect. No, I’m not. Here’s defense attorney Jim Stokke: She got what she wanted, … She’s an overtly sexual person. And in cross-examination of Lucy, the survivor: You do the dancing to get men to do what you what them to do, … And the same thing happened out there on that highway [in Laguna Beach]. You wanted [Park] to take some sex!

Let’s review what should be rather obvious points to any decent human being:

1. Women are not the property of men.

2. The expression of a woman’s sexuality is hers to make decisions about.

3. You should not act on the premise that a woman flaunting her sexuality is inviting anyone to lay coercive claim over her.

Is it really that hard to understand this?

Tell me what you think, folks! It’s not done yet, but I am looking to finish it sometime this weekend or next week.

        Sex workers face violence from multiple directions. They not only end up dealing with abusive clients, but they also have to worry about the violence of the state being brought to bear against them. Every year, the violence against sex workers is spoken out against, and this year was no different. The annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers took place last December 17^th. This report was written to bring you the scoop on what went down last year.

        First off, I want to thank all the following organizations for being sponsors. The respective groups were:

1. SWOP (Sex Workers Outreach Project)

2. Desiree Alliance

3. SWANK (Sex Workers Action New York)

4. Scarlet Alliance

5. Stella

6. ESPU (Erotic Service Provider’s Union)

7. SWIRL (Sex Worker’s Internet Radio Lounge)

8. Spread

9. PONY (Prostitutes of New York)

10. Venus Envy

11. Charis

12. Star Light Ministries

13. Lady Monster

14. SWAN (Sex Worker’s Advocacy Network)

SWAN is a coalition of groups from Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. It includes:

Aksion Plus, Albania, www.aksionplus.net
HESED, Bulgaria, www.hesed.bg
Bliss Without Risk, Czech Republic, http://www.rozkosbezrizika.cz/01_htm/100_ENGLISH.htm
MPEE, Hungary, www.prostitualtak.hu
Kovcheg, Kazakhstan, fsz@mail.ru
Tais Plus, Kyrgyzstan, gkurmanova@yandex.ru
Dia+Logos, Latvia, dialogs@diacentrs.lv
I Can Live, Lithuania, www.galiugyventi.lt
HOPS, Macedonia, www.hops.org.mk
Tada, Poland, www.tada.pl
ARAS-Romanian Association Against AIDS, Romania, www.arasnet.ro
Humanitarian Action, Russia, www.humanitarianaction.org
Siberian Initiative, Russia, http://www.sibin.ru
Jazas. Serbia, www.jazas.net
Odyseus, Slovakia, www.ozodyseus.sk
All Ukrainian Association on Harm Reduction, Ukraine, www.uhra.org.ua

(I was able to copy and paste the above list from the SWAN press release on December 17th)

        The events that took place that day occurred in multiple venues. They were not only limited to the United States of America – my current country of residence. And one of them even occurred online – the Sex Worker’s Outreach Project held an online conference.

The essays of Voltairine De Cleyre are wonderfully absorbing, and I have added her to the list of writers whose style I would love to emulate. She combines rigorous logic with some of the most beautiful sentimental and emotional writing that I have ever been privileged enough to read.

Go forth and read Sex Slavery.

I’ve had trouble finding news stories about what specifically went on during certain events on the last International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. I have been depressed, so my work has been going slower, but I can’t find very specific information about events. I did find some great material on the SWOP-East blog though.

Dear Blog Readers,

I am trying to jumpstart a freelance writing career, so I’m working on a piece or two for the Sex Worker’s Outreach Project. One of them is about the last International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. It took place last December 17th, and I’d greatly appreciate it, if people pointed me in the direction of information about the events that took place that day.

Sincerely,

“Venus Cassandra”

Independent Citizen of “Cassandrastan”

“A strong shield against the vulgarity of jealousy is that man and wife are not of one body and one spirit. They are two human beings, of different temperament, feelings, and emotions. Each is a small cosmos in himself, engrossed in his own thoughts and ideas. It is glorious and poetic if these two worlds meet in freedom and equality. Even if this lasts but a short time it is already worthwhile. But, the moment the two worlds are forced together all the beauty and fragrance ceases and nothing but dead leaves remain. Whoever grasps this truism will consider jealousy beneath him and will not permit it to hang as a sword of Damocles over him.

All lovers do well to leave the doors of their love wide open. When love can go and come without fear of meeting a watch-dog, jealousy will rarely take root because it will soon learn that where there are no locks and keys there is no place for suspicion and distrust, two elements upon which jealousy thrives and prospers.”

~ Emma Goldman

June 2001: The Taliban are the champions of illiteracy and highest incarnations of ignorant arrogance. RAWA believes that despite manifold impediments and meager resources, one of its duties is to carry the torch of literacy and knowledge among women in defiance of the Taliban and enlightenment-hating fundamentalists. All the classes are run secretly in some cities.

You go, RAWA!

I’d tip my hat to these folks, but I am not wearing one right now

Did I get any laughs with that attempt at humor there?

Be honest!

Note: In reading over this before I released it on the blog, I realized that I wanted to write an additional post to explain my conception of romantic love and sexuality. I’d also like to touch on the general nature of feminist philosophy since self-described feminists have a tendency to disagree on its meaning in the same manner that self-identified anarchists debate the nature of anarchy. I’d just like to make sure that individuals understand what conception of feminism I subscribe to since there are positions taken by self-proclaimed feminists that I disagree with. More on that to come in the future and here’s my piece:

Disney’s classic Beauty and the Beast has some positive ideas to impart about gender. Examples of a feminist — whether intentional or not — consciousness is on display with the character of Belle.

Our first taste of this is given to us in the beginning of the movie with Belle’s introduction as an incredibly beautiful — leaving aside debates about what constitutes beauty in the first place — young woman whose “peculiarity” lies in her accompanying appreciation for books. Her character is also an independent being resistant to the advances of the domineering male suitor Gaston. He simply cannot come to terms with the idea that Belle has aspirations she considers more important than a marriage to him.

What can be gleaned from all this is the utter ridiculousness of traditional assumptions about gender. Belle’s combination of intelligence with beauty is a rebuke to the common cultural idea that splits the two. Think of all the images in our culture of the beautiful blonde who is simultaneously represented as a complete dunce.

Who is frequently held up as the ideal woman to seek out? The shallow but stereotypically drop dead gorgeous girl rather than the “nerdy” or “strange” but far more interesting stereotypically ugly lady.

Gaston is interested in the dorky or weird protagonist but only for her physical beauty. His alleged romantic attraction doesn’t seem to have any room for a care in the world about her own passions or the entirety of her character.

The contrast between the persona of Gaston and the beast is very revealing. In the former, we see the archetypal buff attractive guy who doesn’t appear to have much going on in the head while the physically unappealing beast gradually becomes a rather gentle soul over time. His eventual sensitivity to Belle’s needs and desires is not accompanied by an inability to physically defend himself or others when needed. Something that runs counter to the popular identification of empathy or sensitivity with an unwillingness to physically defend yourself.

This combination of two usually opposed traits is shown in two scenes where the beast is forced on the defensive. When Belle makes an escape attempt after agreeing to perpetually stay in the castle in exchange for her father’s release, she is attacked by a pack of wolves. The beast comes to the rescue after having regretted his rough treatment of Belle. This situation is repeated near the end of the film when a struggle ensues between Gaston and the Beast because of the formers attempt to do away with him.

In the end, Beauty and the Beast offers us a vision of an androgynous individual that transcends the limitations of narrow gender roles. This is all for the better since the ability of people to comfortably create their own souls is an essential ingredient of a world worth living in. American culture has a very very long way to go in this department and I am not always optimistic about the potential for change. I still end up choosing to believe it’s possible most of the time but such a spirit isn’t always easy to maintain. Perhaps, it will be easier someday and one can only hope this comes sooner rather than later.

Not much of a general movie review but a discussion on a particular comment made in the film. For a good general review, check out this one by James Garfield.

AK Press has done a great service in reissuing this documentary for our viewing pleasure. Its strongest suit is the immense variety of footage from protests to interviews with famous radical figures. Particularly interesting are the multiple scenes with late anarchist Karl Hess. The parallels he makes between political figures or factions seen as separate are intriguing. In discussing his post-Republican study of the American anarchists, he makes two provocative comparisons involving Emma Goldman. She is said to embody what Hess thought the Republicans always stood for and the best of Ayn Rand with a better appreciation of the social aspects of existence. On the surface, this connection between socialist Goldman and capitalist Rand seems off yet is actually quite sensible upon deeper examination. Both were controversial female writers who display individualist themes in their work. Rand portrays independent heroines in both We the Living and Atlas Shrugged. In We the Living, the female protagonist Kira defies the norms of her family by vowing to become an engineer.

“But Kira! What will you do?” Maria Petrovona gasped.
“I’ll be an engineer.”
“Frankly,” said Victor, annoyed, “I do not believe that engineering is a profession for women.”
Pg.33, Signet edition 1959

This theme of a woman wanting to do what’s traditionally considered a man’s job reappears in Atlas Shrugged with railroad titan Dagny Taggert. Goldman’s individualist streak was evident in her attraction to Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Stirner. Her pamphlet The Individual, Society, and the State contains tributes to individualism like the following.

The individual is the true reality in life. A cosmos in himself, he does not exist for the State, nor for that abstraction called “society,” or the “nation,” which is only a collection of individuals. Man, the individual, has always been and, necessarily is the sole source and motive power of evolution and progress. Civilization has been a continuous struggle of the individual or of groups of individuals against the State and even against “society,” that is, against the majority subdued and hypnotized by the State and State worship.

One of her contributions to treating women as free individuals included promotion of birth control despite legal restrictions.