"Feminist" media want to out sex workers

[InaraPage]

One of my country's largest feminist media says they're going to "investigate who's behind Rose Alliance". Rose Alliance (RA) is an organisation FOR and BY sex workers, you can only become a member if you have first hand experience of sex work and we are trying to work for sex workers rights. We are a part of NSWP.

Media is hoping to find proof that we're funded by pimps and traffickers, which we most certainly isn't - in fact last year we got funds from the government to look into HIV-prevention. So that's why they want to investigate "who's behind" RA. They don't seem to give a fuck about outing some of our members and thereby putting them in potential real danger and ruining their lives.
They have gotten the offer to get out annual report and have a chat with our chairperson, but that wasn't interesting in the least!

I'm just so angry and scared for my friends, needed to vent. Anyone got any suggestions on how to handle this situation? Or pics of baby animals or whatever?

 

[Alexandra Cole]

That's absolutely awful. Is it possible to get the global NSWP involved?

 

[mynameisbob84]

These people aren't feminists. They're puritanical fascists, who want not so much equality for women, but rather equality for certain women who they deem worthy.

Theoretically, if they did wind start "outing" sex workers, could those sex workers not sue the ever loving shit out of them?

 

[eclipse76]

These people aren't feminists.

Yes they are, they are Swedish feminists and they have been a pain in the ass for a long time.

 

[mynameisbob84]

These people aren't feminists.

Yes they are, they are Swedish feminists and they have been a pain in the ass for a long time.

Maybe feminism is a different thing in Sweden :?

 

[Gen]

These people aren't feminists.

Yes they are, they are Swedish feminists and they have been a pain in the ass for a long time.

Maybe feminism is a different thing in Sweden :?

There are feminists like that all over. It's tempting to pass it off as "they're not REALLY feminists" then but they say the same thing about me :lol: Obviously I disagree with their beliefs (that's an understatement), but there are a lot of very well known feminists who share these kind of views from all countries. Of course not all are as extreme but there are tons of feminists who are very anti sex work and don't really care if it outs sex workers in the process. Fortunately there are also lots of feminists who fight for sex workers rights and safety, but a lot of my sex working friends who believe in gender equality, women's rights, etc have stopped referring to themselves as feminists specifically because of how shitty a lot of feminism is to sex workers. (This paragraph said "sex work" and "feminist" way too many times...)

Anyways, tangent. Inara do you have a spokesperson for the organization who could try contacting a separate media organization at all? Or just pre-emptively publish your annual financial report to your website? I've worked with a couple sex worker groups and most had a few (usually former) sex workers who were open about that, which made it easier because they'd do all the public speaking. I second Alexandra that contacting NSWP might help! I'm sorry you have to deal with this stress.

 

[JickyJuly]

Bob's right. They're not feminists. They're no more feminists than Westboro is a church.

 

[eclipse76]

Bob's right. They're not feminists. They're no more feminists than Westboro is a church.

Except they are the dominant discourse in Sweden and here too. you can't simply say "they're not real feminists". For all intent and purpose, they are the blood of the Swedish movement.

 

[Nordling]

The word "feminism" has kind of lost its meaning because the umbrella (or circus tent) has become so large that people who claim to be feminists are often seriously at odds with other feminists.

Compare Gloria Steinem with Phyllis Schlafly with Camille Paglia with Mary Wollstonecraft with Alan Alda. They simply are too broad in their various philosophies for the word to have any discrete meaning any longer.

 

[JickyJuly]

Bob's right. They're not feminists. They're no more feminists than Westboro is a church.

Except they are the dominant discourse in Sweden and here too. you can't simply say "they're not real feminists". For all intent and purpose, they are the blood of the Swedish movement.

I didn't say real. I said they're not feminists. Feminism means wanting equality of the sexes. That means everyone. These people obviously don't see women in sex work as equals. Elitism has no place in feminism. People use causes for their own agendas all the time. It's just my opinion. Nothing worth getting bothered over.

 

[IndicaDesires]

Bob's right. They're not feminists. They're no more feminists than Westboro is a church.

Except they are the dominant discourse in Sweden and here too. you can't simply say "they're not real feminists". For all intent and purpose, they are the blood of the Swedish movement.

I didn't say real. I said they're not feminists. Feminism means wanting equality of the sexes. That means everyone. These people obviously don't see women in sex work as equals. Elitism has no place in feminism. People use causes for their own agendas all the time. It's just my opinion. Nothing worth getting bothered over.

Agreed. Anyone who shames a woman for sex work has no right calling themselves a feminist. But they do, in fact, consider themselves feminist, and feel justified spewing their crap because they think we're allowing ourselves to be degraded for money, and inadvertently perpetuating that women are nothing but sex objects. It's stupid.

 

[Ambers Troll]

Keep in mind the issues Sweden have had with sex trafficking.
The 'feminists' hearts are in the right places, but their actions may hurt alot of women, and into the future. Part of being a feminist is allowing free women to choose their own destiny, repressing their freedom is a backwards step, even if you free a few others from oppression.

My suggestion, the organisation (RA) should hire someone independent, under confidentiality agreement to investigate their funding on this issue. The real figure can then be publicly released while maintaining the confidentiality of its members.

 

[InaraPage]

Thank all of you for your posts!

We'll sit back and wait a little bit. A friend of mine actually works for this particular media and he said he would check out what it was all about and tell them to absolutely not out anyone. Haven't heard back from him yet though.

We'll talk about this in our next meeting, so guess I'll see then if we want to involve NSWP.


Suing someone privately here is expensive, especially so if you were to lose. And I don't think individuals could afford that, and not the org either. So I hope it doesn't go that far!


In my opinion you're not a feminist if you just think SOME people deserve equality. I call myself a feminist and don't discriminate. But there's as many types of "feminists" as there are different kinds of animals :/


GenXoxo: "have stopped referring to themselves as feminists specifically because of how shitty a lot of feminism is to sex workers" - I get so sad reading this! This is exactly why more sex work activists should call themselves feminists!

We do have a spokesperson, and I guess it's partly because she's the most "visible" of all of us that this is happening. I'll take your suggestions with me for the next meeting! Thanks!

 

[eclipse76]

Bob's right. They're not feminists. They're no more feminists than Westboro is a church.

Except they are the dominant discourse in Sweden and here too. you can't simply say "they're not real feminists". For all intent and purpose, they are the blood of the Swedish movement.

I didn't say real. I said they're not feminists. Feminism means wanting equality of the sexes. That means everyone. These people obviously don't see women in sex work as equals. Elitism has no place in feminism. People use causes for their own agendas all the time. It's just my opinion. Nothing worth getting bothered over.

They think they act toward equality, but they see women in sex work as victims. From their point of view, pro-sex work women suffer from internalized misogyny.

 

[HarmlessSquirrel]

Bob's right. They're not feminists. They're no more feminists than Westboro is a church.

Except they are the dominant discourse in Sweden and here too. you can't simply say "they're not real feminists". For all intent and purpose, they are the blood of the Swedish movement.

I didn't say real. I said they're not feminists. Feminism means wanting equality of the sexes. That means everyone. These people obviously don't see women in sex work as equals. Elitism has no place in feminism. People use causes for their own agendas all the time. It's just my opinion. Nothing worth getting bothered over.

They think they act toward equality, but they see women in sex work as victims. From their point of view, pro-sex work women suffer from internalized misogyny.

If there's anything the world doesn't need more of, it's self-appointed amateur psychiatrists.

 

[Albert_1]

Did someone say baby animals! :dance:

 

[SoniaSilk]

Bob's right. They're not feminists. They're no more feminists than Westboro is a church.

Except they are the dominant discourse in Sweden and here too. you can't simply say "they're not real feminists". For all intent and purpose, they are the blood of the Swedish movement.

I didn't say real. I said they're not feminists. Feminism means wanting equality of the sexes. That means everyone. These people obviously don't see women in sex work as equals. Elitism has no place in feminism. People use causes for their own agendas all the time. It's just my opinion. Nothing worth getting bothered over.

They think they act toward equality, but they see women in sex work as victims. From their point of view, pro-sex work women suffer from internalized misogyny.

So, they're having a paternalist attitude towards other women cause they've internalized paternalist ways of thinking/dealing with problems. Feminism just won't get to its goals like this. And that's why I only get involved with feminist groups that accept sex workers.

 

[eclipse76]

If there's anything the world doesn't need more of, it's self-appointed amateur psychiatrists.

I'm not playing psychiatrist? I'm talking about what they write on their news outlets/blogs.

 

[HarmlessSquirrel]

If there's anything the world doesn't need more of, it's self-appointed amateur psychiatrists.

I'm not playing psychiatrist? I'm talking about what they write on their news outlets/blogs.

Oh, I didn't mean you; I meant the people you were talking about who just decided that women they've never even met have internalized misogyny.