::Khalifa’s comments though, and the backlash, demonstrate I think that adult performers, and adult performance, is a vital issue of public discussion. Khalifa’s comments obviously are not pornography. But the attack on her is inseparable from a context in which her work in porn is seen as shameful.::
Thank you for saying this, Noah, and for defending sex workers' right to be sex workers.
There's always been the reek of Victorian Patriarchal Puritanism to so-called "feminist" attacks on sex workers. The whole "These women are being exploited because—because I say so!" isn't too far removed from the entire "soiled doves" and "fallen women" of the 19th Century and the 1950s. They use instances of human trafficking as "proof" that the sex industry is so far beyond the pale that no amount of censorship and arrests (of the workers, and almost NEVER of those paying them!) is unreasonable in stamping out the scourge of sex work! That they often instead harm women who willingly get into sex work and run their own businesses is...irrelevant to them.
I don't believe in the Right/Left Horseshoe that so many "Enlightened Centrists" posit, saying Leftists are as intolerant as Fascists—mostly, it's just an excuse to sit in the middle and do zip-diddly. But in the of Religious Right Sexual Fascism and "Feminist" Sexual Censorship, it's too obvious to ignore....
feminism's relationship to sex work is conflicted. there's a lot of anti sex work 2nd wave feminism, but younger, more intersectional third wave feminists have been advocates. there's definitely a lot of left opposition though, and general ignorance and prejudice.
Yes, and that's why I use scare quotes when referring to anti-sex work "Feminists". To me, their "Feminism" is no more truthful than the Christianist Right's "Family Values" are....
I've had the good fortune to meet or talk with Third Wave Feminists—and sadly, with a number of younger women who refuse to self-identify as Feminist because to them? "Feminist" equals Well-to-Do Middle-Aged White Female Privilege, scolding those younger than them in truly odious, ugly ways.
The public's perception of and relationship to the modern porn industry is incredibly complicated. Khalifa herself has been extremely critical of anybody who speaks positively of their experiences in the adult entertainment industry, saying that such statements "should absolutely be caveated by a warning because out of the few dozen or maybe few hundred women every year that find success, there’s MILLIONS of women hurt by it.” But it's undeniable, and unfair, that anybody who has done porn is eternally discounted and stigmatized by the general public.
Yeah, I don't really agree with her that people should have to caveat their experiences. People should be able to talk about their own experiences, positive or negative, in a very stigmatized industry without having to discount themselves, imo.
I don't agree with other stuff she's said too. But she shouldn't have to deal with slut shaming when she says whatever she has to say, either way.
::Khalifa’s comments though, and the backlash, demonstrate I think that adult performers, and adult performance, is a vital issue of public discussion. Khalifa’s comments obviously are not pornography. But the attack on her is inseparable from a context in which her work in porn is seen as shameful.::
Thank you for saying this, Noah, and for defending sex workers' right to be sex workers.
There's always been the reek of Victorian Patriarchal Puritanism to so-called "feminist" attacks on sex workers. The whole "These women are being exploited because—because I say so!" isn't too far removed from the entire "soiled doves" and "fallen women" of the 19th Century and the 1950s. They use instances of human trafficking as "proof" that the sex industry is so far beyond the pale that no amount of censorship and arrests (of the workers, and almost NEVER of those paying them!) is unreasonable in stamping out the scourge of sex work! That they often instead harm women who willingly get into sex work and run their own businesses is...irrelevant to them.
I don't believe in the Right/Left Horseshoe that so many "Enlightened Centrists" posit, saying Leftists are as intolerant as Fascists—mostly, it's just an excuse to sit in the middle and do zip-diddly. But in the of Religious Right Sexual Fascism and "Feminist" Sexual Censorship, it's too obvious to ignore....
feminism's relationship to sex work is conflicted. there's a lot of anti sex work 2nd wave feminism, but younger, more intersectional third wave feminists have been advocates. there's definitely a lot of left opposition though, and general ignorance and prejudice.
Yes, and that's why I use scare quotes when referring to anti-sex work "Feminists". To me, their "Feminism" is no more truthful than the Christianist Right's "Family Values" are....
I've had the good fortune to meet or talk with Third Wave Feminists—and sadly, with a number of younger women who refuse to self-identify as Feminist because to them? "Feminist" equals Well-to-Do Middle-Aged White Female Privilege, scolding those younger than them in truly odious, ugly ways.
The public's perception of and relationship to the modern porn industry is incredibly complicated. Khalifa herself has been extremely critical of anybody who speaks positively of their experiences in the adult entertainment industry, saying that such statements "should absolutely be caveated by a warning because out of the few dozen or maybe few hundred women every year that find success, there’s MILLIONS of women hurt by it.” But it's undeniable, and unfair, that anybody who has done porn is eternally discounted and stigmatized by the general public.
Yeah, I don't really agree with her that people should have to caveat their experiences. People should be able to talk about their own experiences, positive or negative, in a very stigmatized industry without having to discount themselves, imo.
I don't agree with other stuff she's said too. But she shouldn't have to deal with slut shaming when she says whatever she has to say, either way.