"Most sex workers are 'modern day slaves'"

[Nearly Sane]

Powerful piece of writing from Julie Bindel


https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/08/most-sex-workers-are-modern-day-slaves/

[Shaker]

I can't read the article due to constant pop-ups inviting me to subscribe for unlimited access, but seeing who it's by, and being only too familiar with this ghastly woman from The Guardian (where she is regularly, rightly and often quite brilliantly crucified), I'm not missing anything.

[Sriram]

Powerful piece of writing from Julie Bindel


https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/08/most-sex-workers-are-modern-day-slaves/

It is obvious isn't it?!  How can anyone possibly imagine that prostitution and porn are career choices for women?! 

[Nearly Sane]

It is obvious isn't it?!  How can anyone possibly imagine that prostitution and porn are career choices for women?! 

why single out women?

[Shaker]

It is obvious isn't it?!

Only if you don't like thinking.

How can anyone possibly imagine that prostitution and porn are career choices for women?! 

You don't have to imagine; try finding some and asking.

You know, that thing which is such a mystery to you - evidence.

[Sriram]

why single out women?

Ok...for men too!

[Rhiannon]

Oh no, the oppression.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/af17c3e5-02aa-40ce-8d7f-ba57a07a934c

[Harrowby Hall]

I can't read the article due to constant pop-ups inviting me to subscribe for unlimited access, but seeing who it's by, and being only too familiar with this ghastly woman from The Guardian (where she is regularly, rightly and often quite brilliantly crucified), I'm not missing anything.

I found it interesting and thought provoking. It made me think about the women caught in the trap of prostitution and the quality of their lives. Also - as someone who believes that prostitution should be decriminalised and regulated - it made me consider that the real beneficiaries of such actions might largely be the pimps brothel owners, not the "working women" who may continue to be enslaved.

[Shaker]

I found it interesting and thought provoking.

That would be a first, in my experience.

It made me think about the women caught in the trap of prostitution and the quality of their lives. Also - as someone who believes that prostitution should be decriminalised and regulated - it made me consider that the real beneficiaries of such actions might largely be the pimps brothel owners, not the "working women" who may continue to be enslaved.

Being caught in any kind of trap is a negative thing. Unfortunately Bindel and her fellow travellers have a script from which they never deviate, namely, that they are the arbiters of who is caught in a trap, never mind what other people themselves say about their own lives. It matters not a jot that somebody says, "No, actually, I don't feel that I'm in any kind of trap or anybody's slave"; Bindel knows best, and she decides who is enslaved (which is almost anybody in possession of XX chromosomes, basically).

[Rhiannon]

I found her article one sided. Do I really believe that every woman she interviewed was unhappy? Do I really believe that every punter she interviewed was a callous bastard? No.

Clearly there are terrible issues with some aspects of the sex trade. Trying to ban it though is insane. As one of the women in the clip I posted said, her big fear is that paying for sex becomes illegal, because that will drive the decent punters away and leave only the criminals who are far more likely to be abusive. I really don't believe it's impossible to regulate the criminal element out of the industry.

[Shaker]

I found her article one sided. Do I really believe that every woman she interviewed was unhappy? Do I really believe that every punter she interviewed was a callous bastard? No.

This is straight from the Bindel et. al. playbook. Everyone is a victim; everyone is a survivor. (Note the language used). Counterexamples are waved away or, at best, explained away by other stock phrases from the script.

To my mind, far from advancing feminism, it's one of the most derogatory and anti-women things you can advance.

[Rhiannon]

I don't know her reputation or work at all, but it's obvious that's a sloppy, one sided piece of journalism.

[Shaker]

I don't know her reputation or work at all, but it's obvious that's a sloppy, one sided piece of journalism.

She used to write for the Guraniad. Check out the archives there, and especially the comments.

[Rhiannon]

I'll probably just get annoyed. Better things to do on a Sunday.

[Shaker]

I'll probably just get annoyed. Better things to do on a Sunday.

Like strip dominoes, or painting the cat and what have you.

[floo]

It is so sad some people engage in this morally corrupt trade, whether because they wish to, or because it is forced upon them.

[Rhiannon]

Why is it morally corrupt if it's a free choice?

[Shaker]

It is so sad some people engage in this morally corrupt trade, whether because they wish to, or because it is forced upon them.

What's corrupt about if you choose it? Some people actually do - despite what others would have you believe.

As George Carlin of blessed memory put it: fucking is legal. Selling (many) things is legal. Why isn't selling fucking legal?*

* Speaking as an American there since in the US prostitution IIRC is illegal in all but one state (Nevada), whereas it isn't here.