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  • Venusta [any]
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    2 years ago

    so many “communists” whose politics might be better described as Chinese nationalism or in some cases anti Americanism / anti Westism have such terrible takes about women and sex work due to having surrendered their abilities to critically think to only see things in terms of everything about my camp is good and correct and everything about the other camp is bad and incorrect

    Having bad politics is not an excuse to be a swerf or just a general sexist / bigot (on top of this usually also get a bit of eastern fetishism and orientalism thrown in bc vast majority of the crowd are themselves western yts who think they are absolved of this bc of their politics)

    This is tolerated and even encouraged in other online spaces and that’s why this struggle session happens once a month.

    (not directing this at op onbviously)

    • Lilith [she/her]
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      2 years ago

      so many “communists” whose politics might be better described as Chinese nationalism or in some cases anti Americanism / anti Westism have such terrible takes about women and sex work due to having surrendered their abilities to critically think to only see things in terms of everything about my camp is good and correct and everything about the other camp is bad and incorrect

      This is absolutely a dynamic I've noticed. In addition to that, the imperial core is rampant with misogyny and classism. A number of otherwise functional leftists refuse to self-crit and address their own misogyny. The end result is they self-select for political reviews that allow them to reframe and retain as much of their existing prejudices as possible. "Patriotic Socialists" and Stupidpol are two other examples.

      This is tolerated and even encouraged in other online spaces and that’s why this struggle session happens once a month.

      It's discouraging how widespread SWERF viewpoints are. I cannot safely organize with someone that will happily report me to the pigs. I'm not surprised the federal government and LEOs spend so much money supporting SWERF groups like AF3IRM

      I thankfully don’t need to explain to any actual Marxists or Anarchists that the bourgeois police state cannot be used to “protect proletarian women.”

    • DumpsterDive [none/use name]
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      2 years ago

      Regarding this website: There's also the fact that people get called "SWERF" for recognizing the present reality that most prostitution (though not necessarily other forms of sex work) is driven by destitution and efforts should be made to help workers leave that profession if they so choose as well as make it safer for those who prefer it.

      Regarding the PRC: As it is, I don't think being conservative (in the sense of reserved) should be mistaken for being reactionary. Pornography, as it exists in the world today, is a huge market for nominally illegal forms of porn, particularly involving minors and non-consenting parties of various kinds (intoxication, voyeurism, revenge porn, trafficking, etc.). These things are difficult to account for and may require systems more sophisticated than China currently has.

      Does that mean the specific policies they have now are completely correct and rational? Probably not, just more points to consider.

      • Lilith [she/her]
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        2 years ago

        That's a misrepresentation of the struggle sessions I've seen here on this site around SWERFs, but maybe we saw different threads.

        The struggle sessions tend to be cishet men ranting about ideals for a communist utopia while actual sex workers reiterate why we're not human trafficking victims and that claiming "sex work is SA" is extremely offensive and misogynistic. Ironically, many of those same people with SWERF views tend to claim they are "strictly rational".

        Most sex workers are not against programs that help people shift to other industries. We are against programs that involve the police, criminalization, and the American carceral industry.

        It takes a very minimal amount of time to educate oneself about the violence SWERF orgs like AF3IRM inflict on sex workers and vulnerable peoples. I thankfully don't need to explain to any Marxists or Anarchists that the bourgeois police state cannot be used to “protect proletarian women.”

        • Awoo [she/her]
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          2 years ago

          The struggle sessions tend to be cishet men ranting about ideals for a communist utopia while actual sex workers reiterate why we’re not human trafficking victims and that claiming “sex work is SA” is extremely offensive and misogynistic. Ironically, many of those same people with SWERF views tend to claim they are “strictly rational”.

          But also people who have sex workers in the past get screamed at by you for saying it. You're entirely unwilling to accept that there are former sex workers who look back on their time having done sex work as one of economic coercion and that we feel much of it was sexual assault.

          Last time this topic came up I got attacked so viciously by several people here that I've stopped participating in the topic and frankly every time it comes up I consider no longer participating on the site altogether because there is absolutely zero nuance at all and the level of viciousness that occurs is appalling.

          • Lilith [she/her]
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            2 years ago

            I don't think I joined in with previous struggle sessions, mostly lurking and upvoting people who were arguing against SWERFs. I validate and support anyone who is a former sex worker and feels their experiences were SA. I hope they are safe now and can heal from those experiences.

            I set a clear boundary of rejecting attempts by others to insist I am being SA'd when that is not my personal experience with sex work. I will continue to reject that framing when it is directed towards me as it feels like someone encroaching on my body and attempting to retroactively SA me. I will also speak out against the idea that sex work is by default somehow SA.

            Full support, love, and solidarity for all former and present sex workers. I try to leave space for nuance and I hope my comments show that, upvoted you because I appreciate you as a person and as a part of this site. :anarchy-heart:

            • Awoo [she/her]
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              2 years ago

              I'm terrible with names so you may well have not done!

              For me, I have a big problem when it comes to discussing my views of the economic element. For example, one of my views aligns with others that you've been very mad at elsewhere in the thread -- I do think that sex work under capitalism is quite difficult to separate from sexual assault because of the economic coercion inherent to work under capitalism. I would have had EXACTLY the same view as you while I was doing the work, it was only afterwards and with a perspective that no longer involved it being in my economic interests to defend it that my view became as it is now.

              Like, I really don't like falling out with people over it. I don't want to exclude sex workers from the support, rights and care that they ABSOLUTELY need. But I do think that people inside the industry have opinions that are influenced by the economic interests they hold and I think people have a difficult time admitting that. I think the opinions of people those currently doing it vs those who have done it in the past tend to be a bit more... Complicated. I think people inside the industry that rely on it as an income source also literally can't even entertain thinking about the topic because it could materially destroy them, I know several people who upon exiting the industry became pretty broken by it, finally having no economic incentive to maintain the emotional coping-mechanisms they constructed in their head then led to a lot of repressed stuff exploding out.

              It's hard. Especially when people who are currently doing it rely on it and seem fine, I am worried about them later though given my experience and what I've seen with some others. Not all of course, at least not to my knowledge, but yeah.

              Probably the only topic I am pretty scared of discussing on this site to be honest.

              • Lilith [she/her]
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                2 years ago

                Thank you for sharing your perspective with me, I'm glad that you're in a better situation.

                :anarchy-heart:

                It's such a balance because like another user mentioned, this site is one of the only non-SWERFy communities with ML's I've found online. Most of the orgs I've been around IRL were fine, thankfully.

                I personally support full decriminalization to get the police further away from everyone. If there was an actual social safety net following a revolution, then conversations around abolition could maybe be realistic. As it is, I've known women who found themselves deported or incarcerated after being "rescued".

                My experience online when talking about sex work is that I have to come out of the gate ready to fight or I will be dismissed, talked down to, and dehumanized. I try to temper that reflex as much as I can in places I know are safe.

                • Awoo [she/her]
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                  2 years ago

                  The problem I think that exists is that since my experience is that I believe the economic coercion made it sexual assault, the problem we run into is that our experiences become diametrically opposed.

                  By that I mean that it's impossible for me to believe that economic coercion = sexual assault and for you to believe that it's not sexual assault. One of us must be wrong. The problem here is that when it comes to respecting "experiences", which is something we all mostly want to do because it makes it easier to tell each other we still see one another as dignified humans, if we disagree on this then we must disagree on the experience in some way.

                  This then leads to.... Vicious results. People recognise that these two experiences can't coexist and one camp (usually those still in sex work) tends to get hyper-aggressive, I actually understand this reaction, I get aggressive about protecting my means of survival as well. But it's difficult.

                  I do think that people's views on this topic tend to change when they don't have that personal economic interest. And in a sort of protective instinct way it makes me very concerned. It's difficult of course, because this concern can be seen as "talking down to" someone, I've seen enough people come out of the industry and then just break afterwards to feel like there's a lot more going on with it than people currently in the industry tend to admit to.

                  I think a lot of this conversation however tends to not matter much? Like, materially what we want to happen for sex workers isn't that different even if we might disagree on the matter of economic coercion. We both want protections for sex workers, want them to be able to continue doing that work (because you can't just abolish the industry anyway) and want a future where that economic coercion is eliminated. What happens after that is so far off in the distance and so far outside of our current experiences it's not worth imagining.

        • geikei [none/use name]
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          2 years ago

          while actual sex workers reiterate why we’re not human trafficking victims and that claiming “sex work is SA” is extremely offensive and misogynistic

          A lot of the issues in these struggle sessions is that the solutions and experiences discussed often regard very different parts of the global sex worker experience ,both legit in their own context. So when the Marxist Leninist analysis ,handling ,history and theory regarding sex work is informed and rooted in the conditions of nations that had successfull or large ML movements (basicaly most non western european and non USA developing nations) while the sex worker experiences and viewpoints that dominate the discussion online are mostly from US and western european based sex workers who often are involved with Only Fans or amateur pornography (totally legit of course but vastly different to what sex work is and was in the developing world) there is a large disconect in the conclusions of what is or isnt coercive and sexual assault, what are the conditions, hazards and alternatives and what choice and concent is .

          A sex worker on twitter posting "We sex workers are just doing what we like and arent sex trafficing victims and ours is a legit occupation that should be treated like any other and there should be X and Y things under communists and communists should believe Z and A" is most likely correct for a very large section of sex workers in similar conditions as them but its a very shaky claim when extrapolated to different conditions and backgrounds that exist for tens of millions of other worldwide. So a pushback from communist against that ,coming from the fact that communism historicaly had and has to resolve the conditions of the latter group is SWERF-y in the context that the poster is tweeting from but not in a lot of others worldwide. A reply like "porn is filmed rape" is insulting and contrary to the experiences of the person tweeting and a ton of westerner sex workers and it shouldnt be stated as if it applies to them but also porn IS filmed rape more often than not world wide cause porn IS filmed rape in the conditions and industries of most developing nations and historicaly and a statement like that in a vacuum or about specific but large groups and nations isnt any more reactionary or non marxist than saying that it isnt rape

          So at any time statements and counterstatements happen we should be clear in what context we are working from and be aware how universal or not it is. Are these actual sex workers and their experiences representative of how the "sex industry" works and opperates in developing or formerly colonized nations. A lot of sex workers in Western Europe or the US may be absolutely correct on the nuance of it being the job of their chosing that they enjoy and should that should be supported and protected and rejecting of the "human trafficing label". Does this adequetly reflect what "sex work" is in thailand, phillipines , Africa or Latin America? Its conditions and how it connects with sex turism and with the legacy and traumas of the still recent feudalism and colonialism ? The margin of choice and scale of trafficing and sex slavery that constitutes the "industry" there? Does it reflect the experience and needs of millions of women in eastern europe in the 90s when just 5-10 years prior whould have been in the path of free education, housing ,healthcare and job of their choice were suddenly forced into sexual abuse in comicaly evil mafia controlled industries, grooming and scarring just to put bread on the table and not be homeless. Thats the reallity here and in most of the world and the vast vast majority of sex workers are helpless victims that didnt chose or consent to a life of abuse, sexual assault and destroyed dreams and didnt concent to the future and choice taken away from them.

          • Venusta [any]
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            2 years ago

            You are doing swerf apologia willingly or unwillingly, when people say sex work is work they say it meaning sex work done ethically without more undue coercion other than needing to earn a wage undercapitalism while having other feasible choices for work as well (bc every job is done to some degree due to coercion from capitalism) they are not saying that as an endorsement of abusive practices and trafficking in other places, and implying that they might be is also inherently reactionary.

            People have the right to use their bodies as they wish, but sex workers usually get singled out bc of deep seeded bigotry, no one tells seemstresses to stop sewing or construction workers to stop working because countless bodily injury and exploitation (practical slavery as well as human trafficking) happens in those fields in the rest of the world.(And an easy way to stop illegal trafficking and practices would be to, crazy idea here decriminalize and regulate it). You and others choose to single sex work out bc you have reactionary beliefs masqueraded as scientifically applying Marxism Leninism .

            I would hate for you be involved in active organizing and still have these beliefs, I can’t imagine having a just asking questions attitude about the humanity or dignity of your comrades.

            I’m not advocating for telling China etc. they need to change other than offering more support and protection for their people, but this is a western space, like it or not, and it’s unhelpful and usually harmful to make it more complicated than all explotation and abuse especially sexual should end, and, fully supporting your comrades and others who do this kind of work and not constantly making them justify or debate their existence to you.

      • Venusta [any]
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        2 years ago

        Yeah, of course, in a communist society where there was no monetary necessity to do so it would be much less problematic, but that doesn’t change the fact that’s it’s still done and still work on top of being rather widespread especially in places where it’s illegal and pushes those people who do it to the fringes of society bc they are now criminals.

        Most people who fit into the SWERF category are men (usually in socialist spaces specifically) who don’t consider it work / thinks it’s degrading to do sex work inherently bc of various brainworms and want to tell women what they should and can do with their bodies. And in that case the term is appropriate, for example if you think it’s shameful and should be illegal to run an only fans, you are a swerf. And it’s not such to acknowledge that the industry has a lot of terrible things going on as long as you’re coming from a place of that being the problem and not women (or people of any gender or intentity though it’s overwhelmingly women in practice) being able to choose what they do with their bodies as the issue.

        I don’t think China is necessarily completely wrong for banning it, but it does push their own people to the fringes of society and that does not seem like something in line w socialism. Obviously it’s classified as a crime but sex work is not inherently wrong (unless you are a bigot), although in practice it often is negative, but, if it was regulated the things that make it in practice so negative for people could be minimized and the workers have more power.

        • Lilith [she/her]
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          2 years ago

          Most people who fit into the SWERF category are men (usually in socialist spaces specifically) who don’t consider it work / thinks it’s degrading to do sex work inherently

          and yet they still subscribe to our OnlyFans and have pornhub bookmarked :thonk:

          thank you for everything you wrote here, you described my own views perfectly.

          • Venusta [any]
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            2 years ago

            :soviet-heart: I’m glad this is one of the few leftist spaces where terf, swerf, etc. shit doesn’t fly. The egregious user should be banned and it will be disappointing if he is not (unless they do some self crit and apologize)

            hopefully, they and others with similar views gain some perspective from listening to what you have to say too, and even if they don’t like the idea of it personally, hopefully they learn to genuinely respect sex workers and treat them with the full dignity a comrades deserves