Non SW Leftists CANNOT be "critical" of the SW industry
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Watch "Non SW Leftists CANNOT be "critical" of the SW industry" on Streamable.

Edit:

Here is a list of resources to learn about sex worker from actual sex workers who are engaged in the struggle for worker's rights:

  • https://www.nswp.org/resources/types/nswp-briefing-papers-248
  • https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/white-mans-burden-revisited/
  • https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/from-brothel-to-sweatshop-questions-on-labour-trafficking-in-camb/
  • https://titsandsass.com/the-massage-parlor-means-survival-here-red-canary-song-on-robert-kraft/
  • https://medium.com/purplerose0666/the-af3irm-agenda-b5ec31216904
  • https://medium.com/@katezenjoy/dear-esperanza-5aa7db4d501a
  • https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/decriminalising-sex-work-in-new-zealand-its-history-and-impact/
  • https://www.mayamorena.com/anti-equality-model-campaign/2021/5/22/pscegcnr680fh4oazlmwe8i5527o9j

Bigger repo of theory / resources:

  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oWxx3yodCJJGxTmqgCeB6csVAeRkllSQq_VUe78MJA4/view

Books to check out:

  • https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36224357-sex-lies-statistics
    • HodgePodge [love/loves]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Great, yeah, I agree that theory is important and also that’s not what this is about.

      You know what makes sure the working class doesn’t read theory? Using it to tear them down and belittle them.

      if workers succumb to the liberal impulse of hyper-individualism, i.e. “I will always know what’s best for me.”

      A woman asserting her right to bodily autonomy and owning the full value of her labor is not hyper-individualism.

        • myopic [none/use name]
          ·
          2 years ago

          “listen to x people” is always a stupid as fuck non-argument because there’s a wide diversity of opinions in any fucking group you can come up with. you just take the one you agree with and tokenize them so that their mere existence is your argument. casting the topic aside for a second, this a deeply frustrating thread and general (non-)argumenative line for that reason. one should learn to argue your points, and if you’re right you’re right, but until then you’re just being a rude condescending asshole that doesn’t even show an understanding of a given subject

          • HodgePodge [love/loves]
            ·
            2 years ago

            “listen to x people” is always a stupid as fuck non-argument because there’s a wide diversity of opinions in any fucking group you can come up with

            It is absolutely not a stupid as fuck opinion when it comes to theory and politics directly related to x people.

            "Listen to trans people about trans liberation" is an obvious take. "Listen to women about women's liberation" is an obvious take. "Listen to the workers of a union about what the those workers need" is an obvious take. "Listen to sex workers about sex work" is an obvious take.

            This video is a response from a woman who has been talked down to and ignored when she tried to "be polite".

            you just take the one you agree with and tokenize them so that their mere existence is your argument

            I am not tokenizing a woman for posting her own video articulating a very real problem in leftist circles, based on her lived experiences. This is sexist and demeaning.

            It's interesting that instead of actually discussing the concept, you are resorting to attacking how the idea is presented and that it doesn't cater enough to SWERFs.

              • HodgePodge [love/loves]
                ·
                2 years ago

                This is a bizarre line of argument. At what point can someone speak about their lived experiences? Do you need three sex workers? 5? 25? all the sex workers?

    • Lundi [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      It's important to read theory in order to learn that things like basic human decency and empathy are way more important than rote memorizing the words of dead people.

    • HavanaSyndromeVictim [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Mao:

      Marxist philosophy holds that the most important problem does not lie in understanding the laws of the objective world and thus being able to explain it, but in applying the knowledge of these laws actively to change the world. From the Marxist viewpoint, theory is important, and its importance is fully expressed in Lenin's statement, "Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement." But Marxism emphasizes the importance of theory precisely and only because it can guide action. If we have a correct theory but merely prate about it, pigeonhole it and do not put it into practice, then that theory, however good, is of no significance. Knowledge begins with practice, and theoretical knowledge is acquired through practice and must then return to practice.

      On Practice

      so glad you know more about the organizing efforts and the material reality of the person making this video than they do themselves :)

        • HodgePodge [love/loves]
          ·
          2 years ago

          But the way she dismissed very critical theoretical works and then claimed virgins could not create communities as effectively as sex workers just makes me think she has fallen victim to liberal, individualist ideology.

          You are extremely focused on a throwaway line about virgins. What do you think about sex workers and sex work?

          • Mrtryfe [none/use name]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I don't think the line is a throwaway, and I don't even think it's just explicitly talking about "virgins." She mentions sex workers are better at it then most leftists, which I just find divisive for no reason, and I highly doubt there's any factual basis to it

            • TreadOnMe [none/use name]
              ·
              2 years ago

              I would hope there is a factual basis. Sex work is labor, and by that standard, sex workers are a large group whose labor interests are at least somewhat aligned, which means they have more reasons to form community (until pressures of competition kick in). Leftism (or whatever that means) and Marxism, while incredibly powerful tools for economics analysis, are just ideologies. Good for some level of liberal understanding, but not sufficient in-of-themselves to naturally create widespread labor solidarity. And this is something I think Marx himself would agree with, even if he had some Victorian morels he couldn't get past in his writing. It is certainly something Engels would agree with. Maybe not Lenin, but Lenin basically turned the Bolsheviks into a labor organization so it would have some level of solidarity, though it became alienating to the workers because of that. Solidarity is difficult, if it weren't we would have anarchism or communism by now.