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?

Alix Lakehurst of Chicago was kind enough to quote me in one of her recent posts.

Thanks! Alix.

By the way, I’ll be revising and potentially expanding my comment on there in a future post.

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.

Oh dear, this is rather amusing — though, not because sex is something to be immature and giggly about –, and it’s also quite true.

It’s not going to lick itself.

Indeed. It is not, so you should suitably equip yourself by reading Gwen Master’s review of two oral sex kits — one for the ladies and one for the gentlemen.

Check out this excerpt:

We put the batteries in, opened up the lube and got down to business. The man of the house was eager to show off the new things he learned from the Ultimate Guide, and oh, my…he’s a fast learner! With a few naughty techniques and the Orchid G touching that perfect spot in just the right way, the mind-blowing orgasm arrived before we could even think about getting to the Lickable Oil. But that’s alright, because the generous bottles of the lube and oil will last for a long while, and there are many more sections of the books to try out. By the way, did I mention the vibes are waterproof? Lots of oral fun can be had in the shower, the bathtub, the whirlpool, or outside in the rain — the options are endless.

Yummy yummy. If only I made my living by providing mind blowing oral pleasure to wonderful people who enjoy a good discussion afterwards too . Now, that would be a good time! Except there would be vice cops on my tail.

Grrrr…

And they call this an amazingly free country

Bah. I’ll believe it when they defund the enforcement of laws against prostitution. Will Barrack Obama do that? Don’t count on it. You can try to convince me otherwise, but I just don’t see a member of the ruling class-establishment, as likely to take a strong stand for decriminalization on this vital issue.

Anyhow, you should go read the entire review by clicking this link. And go thank The Midwest Teen Sex Show for this fine quote. I absolutely love their show!

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”

Some of you might remember the post I wrote about a blogger named Rachel Kramer Bussel. I found some of her posts about the reality of her life to be very interesting–she’s also pretty cute. I saw some of my own tendencies in it too. Even when I identified more as a guy — right now, I am not so sure who I am when it comes to gender — I was pretty sappy about romantic things. And it’s always refreshing to see someone else who isn’t ashamed to celebrate these kind of feelings too. My more insecure side fears that the attributes I singled out might have turned her off from speaking to me, but she did add me as a friend on Myspace, so I should stop my usual self-deprecation! Needless to say though, I feel a bit embarrassed by that post now. That’s just me for ya.

Anyhow, if you’re in the New York City area or anywhere else; for that matter, then you might want to check out her singles ad. Just make sure that your sole interest in her isn’t that she’s a sex writer. In fact, her blog post gives me the impression that a person focusing on this at all is not who she is particularly looking for. Prospective suitors of either a female or male gender: take note! Remember; sex isn’t everything. There is also good Chinese food, wonderful literature, and passionate political protests — be careful about that last one.

Without further ado, I present to you a link to Rachel’s ad. I’d copy and paste it, but I am not sure what copyright law would say on that. And no, if anyone was wondering, I don’t believe in intellectual property rights, but I don’t like lawsuits either.

The beautiful Serena of the San Francisco Bay Area was kind enough to allow me to use the below picture of her. She is an author, singer, actress, model, and eccentric. This is one of my favorite modeling pictures of her, and I thought she was wearing a swimsuit. It turns out that it’s underwear! Sure fooled me.

I hereby invite the carnival members to participate in a discussion on the topic of anarchism and sexuality. After posting that Goldman essay on jealousy, I decided that this would be a good thing to talk about.

I encourage people to be as creative as possible in coming up with ideas for posts, but here are some suggestions:

1. Talk about the relation between anarchism and feminism. You’d probably be hard pressed to find a left-wing anarchist who doesn’t consider themselves a feminist, but there are Rothbardian influenced libertarian anarchists on here too. I am not sure if all of them would say they are feminists. I know Roderick Long is one though. And some would say that Rothbard wasn’t even an anarchist. If you want to hear my take on the issue, then just email me.

2. Is monogamy or polyamory more consistent with the anarchist ideal? Does it really matter? Is jealousy innate, and does that undercut notions of “free love”? Is polygamy or polyandry compatible with anarchism?

3. Does the existence of patriarchy provide the ideological basis for the existence of the state? Does matriarchy also do so? If not; why not?

4. What can anarchist philosophy help us understand in the area of gender and gender roles?

Please start posting your responses on the 29th of this month.

Happy Writing!

“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